Photograph by Bob Brink
Sir Wilfred Grenfell, 1970
by Hans Melis
Sculpture
(Bronze)
Confederation Hill, St. John's
100 Prince Philip Dr., St. John's, NL A1B 3R4
This photograph shows the statue of Sir Wilfred Grenfell, wrapped in orange on September 30, 2025 as part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation rally organized by First Light.
"This statue honours a physician-missionary. Many received care through Grenfell's work, including at St. Anthony hospital, coastal nursing stations, and on mission ships like the Strathcona.
The International Grenfell Association he founded operated residential and boarding schools at North West River (Yale), Cartwright (Lockwood), and St. Anthony Orphanage and Boarding School; the Moravian Mission ran boarding schools at Nain and Makkovik.
These schools separated children from families, erased Indigenous languages and culture, and injured how love and care could be passed down across generations.
We wrap to hold help and harm in view and to commit to services shaped with communities."
Public art is powerful - every monument is a choice about what we uphold.
Artist bio
Hans Melis was born in the Netherlands in 1925. He studied at the Academies of Fine Arts in The Hague, Munich and Dresden. He emigrated to Canada in the 1958 and became the official sculptor of Newfoundland under Joey Smallwood.
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