At SOCA, we approach public art as a powerful act of cultural storytelling—where memory and imagination converge in the landscape. Our work draws from overlooked histories, lived experience, and collective aspirations to craft spaces that honor the past while opening possibilities for the future. Through material, form, and spatial experience, we translate vision into built reality—making place for gathering, reflection, and intergenerational dialogue.

Our design for a memorial to Samuel Adams in Oakville, Ontario commemorates the life and legacy of a remarkable figure whose story embodies resilience, ingenuity, and community leadership. Set in Burnet Park, just steps from where Adams once lived, the memorial reintroduces salvaged foundation stones from his son’s 19th-century home—anchoring the site with authentic material memory. These stones are framed by newly constructed rammed earth walls that evoke permanence and craft. Sculptural iron seating gestures to Adams’ blacksmithing trade and longer histories of African ironwork, while the open, contemplative design invites visitors to connect with a profound local history of migration, invention, and Black community-building. The project honors Adams’ legacy not only as a skilled craftsman and entrepreneur, but as a builder of place—whose story continues to shape Oakville’s cultural landscape.

Learn more about Oakville’s Black history from TVO and from the Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton.

The plaque tells the story of Samuel Adams, who became a prominent member of Oakville’s Black community after settling here in the early 1850s, and the history of the home that once sat at 104 Burnet Street, owned by Jeremiah Adams (Samuel’s son).

Samuel had been freed from slavery and moved to the Oakville area from Baltimore with his family in 1851. He established a successful blacksmith practice in Bronte and used his wealth to help other refugees from slavery make a home for themselves in Upper Canada. He was also integral in the creation of the Turner African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1891, which was a large part of Oakville’s Black faith community and a hub of social activity.

Jeremiah was a dedicated member of the community who worked at the Chisholm family’s mill and volunteered at the church. In 1909, Jeremiah and his wife Eliza purchased the home at 104 Burnet Street and lived there for nearly 40 years, raising five children together. Shortly after celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary, Jeremiah and Eliza both passed away in 1948. The home was left to one of their daughters, Nina Adams, and was then passed onto other members of the Wayner, Duncan and Skeete families — descendants of Jeremiah. The home remained in possession of Jeremiah’s family and descendants for over 100 years before it was demolished in 2016.

Text from Town of Oakville Heritage Update, 2021 Edition