Cornwall Ontario – A new grassroots community initiative is helping to showcase local art in a whole new way – and generate some much-needed revenue for artists at the same time.
The Cornwall Gallery in Motion project grew out of a desire to bring awareness and support to local artists who have been severely impacted by Covid-19.
“For these artists, their art is their prime means of income and they have been hit hard by Covid,” said Jane McLaren, the community leader and art enthusiast who is the driving force behind the project.
Through the project, five local artists – Tracy Davies, Pierre Giroux, Yafa Goawily, Louise Mignault and Laura Stevens – each created an original artwork celebrating different aspects of the community. The creations are being featured on t-shirts by Mike’s Printing & Apparel and being sold for $25 each, with all of the proceeds going back to the artists.
“Our hope is that people will buy the shirts, wear them proudly and create a living ‘gallery in motion’ of original art featuring the work of local artists,” McLaren added.
The shirts feature a variety of themes related to Cornwall ranging from landmarks like The Port Theatre to fishing, cycling, wildlife and placemaking.
Tracy Davies, for example, paid tribute to one of the lifelines of the community – the St. Lawrence River – with da zentangle-themed design of a walleye.
“Fishing is a big draw to the city and it’s also enjoyed by many in the community,” said Ms. Davies, the owner of Cailuan Gallery in Downtown Cornwall. “I’m thrilled to be taking part in this initiative. It’s a fun way to raise awareness of the arts and the important contribution they make to the quality of life of a community.”
Where to buy
The t-shirts are now available online through Mike’s Printing & Apparel (www.mikesprinting.ca) for $25 each. A limited number of long sleeve t-shirts are also available for $30 (please check with Mike’s Printing on sizes and available colours). Details on the designs, sizing and colours can all be found through the website.
Showcasing the work
Come March, the original pieces of artwork behind the t-shirts will be on display at the new home of Mike’s Printing & Apparel in Downtown Cornwall on Pitt Street. The original artworks will, at that time, be available to purchase. Further details will be announced in the near future.
In the meantime, everyone who purchases a shirt between now and the opening of the store will be entered into a draw for a $50 gift certificate that can be used at Mike’s Printing.
The importance on art
Cornwall is home to a vibrant arts community, and that community has been hard hit by Covid-19, with venues, performances and live events mostly shuttered for the past year and no certainty on when things will return to normal. That was the driving force behind the initiative.
“It is the arts that carries the message of the heart of community to the people who call it home. Through this initiative, we hope to share our pride, our hearts, and our hope for the future of this community we call home,” McLaren said. “We hope that this is the first of a series of activities celebrating community through art.”
The project has been supported by Cornwall Economic Development and the Downtown Cornwall Business Improvement Area (BIA).
Additional information
For additional information on the project, please visit:
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
