OTTAWA -- A warm hug is waiting for you at Ottawa City Hall.

The “Warm Hug” interactive sculpture is located at Marion Dewar Plaza, near the Sens Rink of Dreams. When you “hug” the sculpture, it will simultaneously respond to the hug by glowing and lighting up.

The Warm Hug is the creation of artists Kanika Gupta and Amit Kehar.

“This piece started with a trip to the sauna,” Gupta tells CTVNewsOttawa.ca. “The best creative ideas come from everyday life.”

Gupta says the inspiration for the project came after her husband Kehar visited the sauna.

“He came home that day and was sharing with me that while he was in the sauna he felt like he was being wrapped in a warm hug.”

Gupta says once they decided to create the sculpture, the couple issued an open call for artists to commission a piece of artwork that would sit outdoors.

“Back and forth, we were brainstorming ideas and we loved the idea of using light as a metaphor for warmth,” Gupta said.

“Where a heart came about is this idea of love and the universality of love, and it’s something that is instinctive and we can all recognize it. So, if you give this inanimate object your love, it will respond by lighting up and giving you a hug. “

The “Warm Hug” sculpture made its debut in November 2018 at the Winter Light Exhibition at Ontario Place in Toronto. It also appeared in Waterloo and Mississauga before coming to Ottawa.

A second “Warm Hug” sculpture has been created and set up in New York City.

Gupta says the sculpture speaks to a more serious issue of the need in our society for more hope and love.

“There is nothing but depressing stuff out there, and so much is filled with hate, with prejudice, with discrimination, like those are the root causes of a whole bunch of horrible things that are happening to humanity in this moment,” Gupta said.

“So a piece like this kind of is in response to all of that. This sculpture doesn’t know who you are, doesn’t know where you come from, your background, but you will approach it with this very primal, instinctive thing of let me go approach this and give it a hug.”

Gupta says she’s noticed children will just run right up to the “Warm Hug” sculpture and give it a hug.

The “Warm Hug” was located on Sparks Street during Winterlude, before moving to Ottawa City Hall.

Gupta says the sculpture will remain at City Hall until the Sens Rink of Dreams closes for the season. Gupta is now hoping an organization or someone in Ottawa will come forward and propose a new home for the sculpture.

“Anyone in need of love, go get your hug. It’s there waiting for you and I promise you’ll feel better afterwards.”

For more information on the “Warm Hug” sculpture, you can give Gupta’s website at www.bykanika.com and Kehar’s website www.amitkehar.com