to visit or not to visit

In the past year there has been a lot of talk, discussion and thinking about how to bring more visitors to the National Gallery of Canada. This conversation has hit a certain high note this year with the on-going and numerous, I should say countless cuts to various budgets ordered by our dear Leader Stephen Harper has slowly but surely destroyed many areas of service to Canadians. Many agree that we have entered an age of Corporatist politics, where Corporations are people and their voices count whereas the average taxpayer does not. This means a slow but certain degradation of anything and everything the Federal government does.

In the case of all our National Museums they are Crown Corporations, meaning that they receive a lump sum each year and the rest of their financing must come from the public through sales of tickets and other items such as memberships or donations. It has to be understood that for decades the main source of funding came from the Federal government who financed almost everything. Including building infrastructure and maintaining existing building, renovations, landscaping etc... the public was used to the Providential State stepping in at every turn to maintain these national institutions. Not understanding that they did not pay anywhere near enough taxes to support it all.

In other countries depending on their national history either the King or Emperor maintained private museums of their own collection, i.e. the Hermitage, the Prussian Royal Collections, the Saxon Royal Collection or the collections of the Bavarian Royal House or the Vatican Museums which until not so long ago where not open to the public.

In the USA it was Andrew W. Mellon who was the creator and founder/builder of the National Gallery in Washington DC.  Mellon bought the main European art works from the Bolchevics in Russia after 1919 who were selling off treasures of the Tsars and the Hermitage to finance their endeavours. In turn upon his death he donated to the American Nation all of it for the enjoyment of future generations. In the USA the Spirit with a capital S of endowment and gifts is well and alive, in Canada not so.

In Canada our National Museums were a government creation, unlike the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal which was a private sector creation. In 1905 our first Canadian Museum in Ottawa was the Geological Society of Canada located in a castle like structure named the Victoria Memorial Museum on Metcalfe Street, it is the very popular Museum of Nature today.

The National Gallery had one small room in the basement of that building. Ottawa was a very small town at the time and the development of the museums in general was overseen by Civil Servants. There were some wealthy donors but they were few, unlike cities like Montreal where a well established group of British and Scottish well to do families had their Clubs and Art Circles.

The situation only began to change in our National Museums with the Trudeau (father) era 1968-1982. He had a personal interest in seeing new National Museums built and started a dialogue with the public to get them to involve themselves in the development and enhancement of the collections.
He saw a program similar to the USA where endowment funds and donations would drive museum expansion and not government funds.

The old Lorne building (1959-2012) former seat of the National Gallery until 1987, named after Governor General Sir John Douglas Sutherland, Marquess of Lorne. 

The main idea was that donors would form circles of friends and actively support all the activities of a Museum in particular. This happened with the building of the new Canadian War Museum in 2005, an idea which came about with Barnie Danson (1921-2011), a veteran, member of Parliament and Minister of Veterans Affairs who gathered supporters and to this day continues to thrive on that idea.

The New National Gallery of Canada building opened in 1988, the design alone created a buzz and people where fascinated with it. On the opening year close to one million visitors came to see it.
However this was not a sign that the public was more interested in art in general because suddenly there was a new building dedicated for the first time to our National Art Collections.

National Gallery of Canada (1988)

Whereas in the case of the Canadian War Museum where every Canadian, Veteran or active military is sought after and welcomed, the National Gallery had an image problem very often based on false assumptions and opinions. The public had and has to this day the overall impression that it is a place for the elite and the wealthy. Amongst our French speaking population it is seen as an English institution not open to others. Nothing could be further from the truth but it is a tough perception which will not die easily. Thus an empty museum with the lowest attendance record of all our National Museums including the currently closed under renovation Science and Technology Museum.

The Alarm bell has been ringing and the Board of Directors of the National Gallery have decided that something must be done. I remember prior to 1988 when the National Gallery was located in the old Lorne Building on Elgin Street, a converted office building, the museum was empty then. It was a small dark crammed display area. Not really enticing to promoting the arts and it had that academic approach in the display of the art collection.

This academic approach to the collections is still very present and that is a big turn off for a lot of people in this day and age, when education and intellectual pursuit is ridiculed and seen as worthless in Canada by a clear percentage of the population which includes our Prime Minister who was often quoted in the last 10 years with negative comments towards Arts and Culture. The Media in general has not helped either, a certain popular press is quick to pounce on any type of art which is not appealing to the masses, this includes contemporary, modern and lesser painters of any era.
The tone of the articles is always the same, ''Your tax dollars bought that thing your 5 year old kid can paint'' This type of populist attack which appeals to the lowest common denominator is very popular and sells well.

The other problem, and this is one of society in general, the lack of conversation in Canada about what kind of society do we want to live in. Everything in the last 10 years has come down to the notion of not wanting to pay taxes, having lots of rights and no responsibilities for anything or anyone, the promotion of excessive consumerism, not needing education, i.e. traditional schools, we need more babysitting services instead, not needing arts or culture which is seen as too expensive as long as we have big name sports team and stadiums and prioritizing shopping malls and highways.
As one of our Conservative politician put it so succinctly, ''We are not in Europe here, we don't need that stuff'' meaning arts and culture. A good example of this current political way of thinking is the sudden announcement two weeks ago of the renovations and rejuvenation of the National Arts Centre of Canada on Elgin Street. This is a much needed project however if you look at the details you will quickly notice that we are renovating all the public areas, bar, restaurant, lobby, parking and toilets, nothing is done to the concert halls themselves. This does not mean that more people will be coming to the performances.

The same is true with block buster Art exhibits, one quick solutions to bring people in. Two years ago we had a Summer exhibit of works by Van Gogh, which gave the National Gallery the highest attendance records in decades. However other Summer shows by equally great names like Monet and Renoir have failed miserably to attract record numbers. We did have a show organized with the Tate Modern London in 2010 entitled Pop Life with artists like Andy Wharhol, Jeff Koons and many others, it was a flop despite being a North American exclusive. The cost also of mounting theses big name exhibits has become exorbitant, one cost is the insurance, transport and logistics. Such exhibits need a minimum work of 5 years in planning.
It would appear that Ottawa, the region and as a tourist destination fails to promote/market its museums or maybe the interest is just not there in the Ottawa Valley.

The National Gallery could for starters become more visitor friendly, while retaining a certain academic approach could vulgarise and popularize exhibit space, market the museum as open to the public and at the same time tell the public at large of what we have in our collections. Many Canadians are not aware of the vast richness and diversity of our collections making the National Gallery of Canada one of the truly great world museum.  Maybe the public in general should be asked to support financially the NGC and make a donation upon entry or at any other time. Why rely only on big name donors who are a few hundred at most.

Given that our public often has no information or knowledge on art and may not know artists beyond a famous name and is unable to recognize a work of art by any artists it is crucial to bring things down to a level that is inviting and inspire the imagination. Before we jump to the conclusion that our National Gallery is not at the level of museums in Europe like the National Gallery London or the Louvre in Paris or any other museum in Italy or Germany, we should remember that Europe suffers from the same problem. The Louvre director was saying recently that if it was not for 5 works of art everyone wants to see, the museum would be empty, same phenomenon in Rome, St-Petersburg, Vienna, London or Berlin. Because we live in an anti-education age, the dawn of a new Middle-Age perhaps, the attention span of the public is extremely short, they must be brought to climax quickly because they have other things to do.

The secret of our success in Ottawa depends on how far we are willing to go to reach
a public who is difficult to please or simply unaware of the beauty around them.

Christmas Tree at the National Gallery of Canada

I was at the National Gallery of Canada this morning and in the Great Hall, the staff was decorating the Christmas Tree, it stands 45 feet high, a natural tree. It is to be inaugurated on Thursday evening at 7pm when the lights will be turned on. It will remain in the Great Hall until 5 January 2015.


Here is a preview

It was very sunny this morning around 11am and the great hall is all glass so it was difficult to get the light out. I would like a picture of the tree at night because it is spectacular from the street as it is from inside.

Museum volunteer work

I finished by assignment at the Canadian War Museum and have now returned to the National Gallery of Canada to start a new Season of Lectures and school work with visiting schools and introducing children to art, age group 6 to 12 years old. I am also a docent-guide and give small lectures 10 minutes or more on a specific works of art in the Gallery. All this is volunteer work and requires a lot of preparation and reading, you simply cannot do it cold turkey, not possible and very dangerous since there is always someone lurking about with that clever question or observation.

So preparation is everything and it also has to be entertaining. The Mercredis Culturels lectures is a 54 year old program and I have been the convenor for the last 2 years organizing lectures with various experts on an Art Topic of their choice. I had prepared a lecture just in case of an emergency if a lecturer cancelled and this did happen last week. I re-wrote the lecture in 48 hours and re-arranged my slides. My topic was the Hermitage Museum it's history from 1764 to 1936. This year is the 250th Anniversary of its foundation by Catherine II of Russia. It went very well and got a standing ovation and many compliments from the audience which surprised me no end.

The School program is just as complicated they may be in the 6 to 12 year old range they know what is of interest to them. Usually abstract, modern, contemporary art is a hit, kids understand that easily, it appeals to them. Classical, Academic, old Masters, Renaissance gets a big yawn, unless there are children or animals in the painting.

Maman by Louise Bourgeois at the NGC

So this year I will do tours inside the Museum and at local schools in the region of the National Capital. At the museum the tours are 50 minutes total and you take the kids around the galleries and present chosen selected paintings, at least you get a break after your tour is done and can have a coffee. Not so in local schools, this is a free program and since the Provincial Government cut all Art programs in schools some years ago, we are the only free outlet for them and you spend all day in school without as much as a pee break. This year again I am presenting a program on the Renaissance because one school asked for it. As for the other schools it will be about Abstract and Surrealism, Kandinsky and Magritte. The goal is to give the kids a first appreciation for Art, they often have no exposure what so ever in their lives unless a relative is an artist. I engage them by asking what they see in a painting or what attracts their attention, getting them to talk about a painting and playing a game of discovery works well. I also try to challenge what they may have been told about art or how to interpret it. I talk about the painter, the history behind the making of the painting, the people in it, who they are, etc.

It can be very challenging because they do not know why they should even be interested. It is also important to get the teachers into the act, many have never set foot in a Museum. My goal is to reach the kids if one person is happy and engaged then it is all worthwhile.

As for the public at the Museum who come for the talks and presentations, the goal is to make their visit worthwhile and hope that they will come back regularly. Unfortunately in Ottawa going to a museum is not an activity anyone considers. Many people I have spoken to have been in a museum once in 30 years, usually for an hour. It is a challenge to get them to come and stop to look. This is all part of the job and I take it to heart. Again I find that if you give visitors background on a painting and the artist, a bit of history and compare one artist to another to highlight differences or similarities people respond well to that, they can connect and it is no longer just a painting on the wall. We even get into conversations about framing, often people will ask how we got that frame or why this type of frame, they may not like it and think it is ugly. The whole idea is to make Art approachable and easy to assimilate.

It did work fairly well this summer when comparing the painters Otto Dix and AY Jackson. In the end despite the fact that Jackson is well known to Canadians many preferred Dix. The reason was that they had discovered a painter who was complex and controversial and was not afraid to explore difficult themes. He was a puzzle for viewers whereas Jackson was just plain.

All this to say that I do enjoy what I am doing as a Volunteer.

Three Summers ago

We have now been living in Ottawa for 3 years, we lived here off and on since 1976, but with my postings there were long periods when I was away from the City.

Our return after many years abroad was not easy on many levels. Strange to say but there was culture shock when we returned and also a long period of adaptation. It is difficult to explain to anyone who has not lived abroad, physically out of Canada. Re-entering Canadian life can be very difficult, you forget so many things about life here, the attitudes, culture and the tempo of life in general. We had to re-learn a lot of things, life in Canadian Society has its peculiarities.

Going from a small office where you have real responsibilities to a giant one at HQ where you have no responsibilities and dozens of managers who are more of less incompetent is an adjustment. The first year back at HQ was difficult, nothing made sense and it felt like working with a bunch of chickens running around whose head had been cut off. More uncertainty, more lies and more hypocrisy about where we were going as a Government. Our Minister Jason Kenny could not bring himself to saying Good Morning to people, it was beyond his capacity, this is how much he loathe his own employees. Senior Management were shitting their pants so afraid they were for their jobs and all hoping they could retire before things got too ugly or out of hand. I certainly did not recognize HQ after a 7 year absence, too much had changed for the worst unfortunately. To many 20 something running around pretending they knew it all and had seen it all, they had a University diploma don't you know. To many experienced hands retiring or being pushed out because they were over 55. What is the point of staying anywhere if you are no longer wanted. Better to leave and forget the rest, and this is what I did, I can honestly say now that I have no contact with my former employer and frankly I do not miss any part of it.

We were lucky that we found a very nice apartment immediately, with good neighbours and were able to settle well in a pleasant surrounding. We also had our friends in Ottawa, they must have found us a little strange with our comparisons. We had to reason with ourselves and admit that there was no comparisons to be made and just stop looking at things in an odd fashion as if we could wake up from a bad dream. It is at this time that I started to remember old colleagues who had spent 20 or more years living abroad and never returning to Ottawa. When they finally returned near the end of their careers many simply could not live in Ottawa the cultural shock was too great.

Even today many colleagues retire elsewhere in Canada or abroad. We chose to retire to Ottawa for the time being.

I had the good fortune of having the presence of mind to start thinking about two years ago before my retirement of what I wanted to do once retired. I do not think I could have simply stayed at home and do a little reading and walk the dogs. Luckily I fell into a very good opportunity and it has worked out very well for me at the museums.

I also made a trip back to Rome in March of 2012 and this was a very good trip and was enormously helpful in focusing what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It has not always been easy to go forward in the last three years but now I feel that we are settling in Ottawa and I have lots of interests in what is going on in the City and in the volunteer activities I am involved with.

Rome and Italy will always be with us and as we discovered anytime we go back and we have returned many times, it is like home. We are building a new life here and a more permanent one.
Renewing our lease for another 2 years also adds permanence and this is helpful to give us a feeling of belonging.

This painting by Giovanni Paolo Pannini of an art dealer's emporium in many ways reminds me of what I am now doing as a docent and how much I enjoy it and all the other activities connected to it.



  

1968 Blackbird

Summer starts Saturday and I hope it will be better weather and a real summer not what we got so far.
Heard this Beatles song today and it brought back memories of past summers.

Today I became a docent at the National Gallery of Canada, am very happy with this development since it is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I also visited the Gustave Doré showcase exhibit, beautiful and stunning show. I realized while seeing his work that I knew this artist and his illustrations. He was also a painter and a sculptor, a man of great talent who died at 50 in 1883.
See website: http://www.gallery.ca/en/

A new APP, National Gallery of Canada

I am getting involved at the National Gallery of Canada with promotion and I have ideas on how this wonderful museum can promote itself.

Here is a new app about the NGC, have a look.

A must see at the National Gallery of Canada

I had the good fortune of seeing this painting by Thomas Couture in the conservation area of the National Gallery a few months ago as it was being restored by Fiona Beckett. It caught my eye immediately, it is a big canvas, full of colour and quite interesting as a subject.
I am happy to read in our local newspaper that it is now on display at the National Gallery in Ottawa.

It underwent a restoration as is explained here by Stephen Gritt one of our outstanding curators at the NGC. He is the one who discovered in the vault of the museum a forgotten Titian thought to be a copy. Through his studies of the painting he was able to establish that it was an original and saved it from the garbage can.

The Souper à la Maison d'Or it is also known as Each party has its end by Thomas Couture was painted in 1855. It is now on display for a long term loan from the Vancouver Art Gallery, I believe the time frame of the loan is 35 years. It is well worth seeing, as the subject is very interesting.

Must see in Ottawa

This summer the National Gallery of Canada is featuring the largest Indigenous International Art Exhibit ever mounted entitled SAKAHÀN. It is a modern contemporary art exhibit. See  www.gallery.ca

At the same time the NGC is doing some much needed renovations to the Great Hall, this video shows how an artist was able to transform the Great Hall into a  gigantic Iceberg. It is so big in can be clearly seen some 5 Km away.

To light a fire in the Algonquin National language. The Capital of Canada, Ottawa is built on the lands of the Algonquin people. Making of Ottawa the only capital in the world built on land belonging to another Nation.

The Iceberg is a creation of artist Inuk Silis Hoegh's Iluliaq, a native of Greenland.

Benjamin West, painter

This week in the mail I received a financial solicitation from the National Gallery of Canada regarding the purchase of the original frame of the painting entitled The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West, 1770. See www.gallery.ca
In 1918 Hugh Lord Grosvenor the 2nd Duke of Westminster gave this painting to Canada in recognition of our heroic contribution to Victory during the First World War as part of what was then called the War Memorials. The painting has become an unofficial national treasure.

The Neoclassical frame was made in London in the same period as the painting. It is carved with various classical motifs, has its original matte and burnished water gilding. For unknown reasons we only got the painting and not the frame. So the National Gallery of Canada now wants to purchase the frame so it can be reunited with the painting.

Death of General James Wolfe, on the Plains of Abraham, September 1759, Quebec City

It is a very interesting picture and depicts the moment of the death of Wolfe as a messenger arrives to inform him that the British forces have won the battle. General Wolfe was 32 years old. By today's standard he would be considered a War criminal but then he lived in the 18th century when such concepts simply did not exist. Of course in French Canada, General Wolfe is a controversial figure as much as the Marquis de Montcalm, commander of the French Army at the Plains of Abraham is seen as a figure to pity, he too died at the battle. Whereas Wolfe is buried at Greenwich in the Church of the Naval Academy in London, Montcalm's body is in a Mausoleum in the Cemetery of the Hôpital Général de Québec. He was previously buried at the Ursulines Convent in a bomb crater.

back on the ranch

Well back home and back to the business of the Museum, I mean the National Gallery of Canada.
Before I left for my European vacation, I had completed the program for the new season and had done up the brochure.
Today I had a look at the brochure mock-up for our ''Mercredis culturels'' Wednesday Art lectures (in French) for the new season starting in September.  Did some proof reading and I am told it is going to the printer this week or next. I also re-wrote some letters and instructions we give to invited lecturers.

I now have to prepare a lecture on a topic of my choice that I could present in case of emergency when a lecturer for whatever reason backs out at the last moment. It did happen once this past year and luckily my predecessor, in this volunteer job of coordinator, had a film to show which turned out to be interesting and instructive.

I do have a topic picked out for this emergency lecture (its a secret) based on a book I read recently, so I have to put together a PowerPoint presentation which will mostly be photos, no text. I will comment and the photos will accompany-support what I am saying.

I am also currently working at completing the program of the Season 2014-2015, so I have two years of programming done for the lectures. There is a lot of public relations involved in this type of work, you have to be able to talk to people to get their interest and get them to agree to do a lecture. The lectures are on Art and Culture or on an area of expertise in Art, can be restoration, conservation, museology, an artistic movement in time, a school of painting, etc... I am trying to get new and different topics not presented yet. The general public and members are always looking for something new, so it is a challenge to come up with something innovative.

I also have to go and see the new summer exhibit which opened just a few days ago entitled Sakahàn (pronounced Sagahan) International indigenous art. Canada and Ottawa feature many of our First Nations artists in this show, including from Ottawa, Algonquin artists.
The website of the National Gallery has the details: www.gallery.ca

We are celebrating 25 years since the opening of the new buildings of the NGC at Nepean Point in 1988. Buildings designed by architect Moishe Safdie. Entrance to the NGC is FREE on Thursday's from 5pm to 8pm.

 

Canal Rideau, Ottawa

Volunteers, bénévoles

This week is volunteer week in Canada, being a volunteer I got to partake in the Festivities. It is interesting to me that since I retire I have taken on a new job, that of being a volunteer at the National Gallery of Canada.  I first called the NGC back in May or June of last year, I was still fully employed then but was thinking of the future. I had this Epiphany while in Rome in March so this led me to the NGC. I gathered all the info and at the same time looked at other museums in the Capital and read about what they wanted or offered to people who wished to volunteer.

The Canadian War Museum is a bit of a private club, in the sense that it was built with the approval and in-put of the Canadian Legion and Veterans. The architecture recalls the trenches of the First World War and though from an architectural point of view it is interesting to look at, once inside it is rather depressing, the concrete walls appear to be caving in on you, this is apparently what the Veterans wanted. There is a heavy emphasis on the First World War, Vimy Ridge and the Second World War.
There is a little about other wars in the French Period prior to 1763 and then a gap. Cannot say that I found it interesting, it is very heavy on historical detail and you have to know your history before you go, otherwise you might be a little lost amongst the display. Very few people actually go to this museum which sits in isolation on Le Breton Flats next to the Chaudière Falls. Until the Flats are re-built and people actually live in the area, this museum will continue to look disconnected from the rest of the City. People who wish to volunteer at that museum need to have an army background. Though I am not sure given the lack of visitors what there is to do, it's a bit of a white elephant.

The other museum I was interested in was the Museum of Civilization built by the architect Douglas Cardinal who designed a truly amazing structure on land sacred to the Algonquin People. The buildings of the museum look like Long Houses which were the housing structures of the Native people living in this part of Canada. At the time of construction much was said about how difficult it was to build, new techniques had to be employed. This new museum gave a much needed face lift to the City of Hull, now Gatineau on the Quebec side of the Outaouais River. It does receive a lot of visitors because of the wonderful parkland around the museum and the striking views of Parliament and the cliffs on the Ottawa side of the river. The Museum has now been renamed Canadian History Museum by the Harper Government who wish to impose a politically controlled agenda on the Museum. The museum has received a special grant of $25 million dollars to re-furbish and re-organize the exhibition space. Not much when you think of it, given the size of the exhibit space. The last time I visited I found it a little sad, there was not much to look at really. It is almost as if the Curators did not know where to go or what to do with their mandate. The museum trains their volunteers and it can be intensive but the volunteers are given little to do that is of interest. With the change of mandate I was also disappointed in the direction the Prime Minister announced he wish to take things. Very old thinking in terms of museology, but then again our PM has a very old fashion way of thinking.

Finally I came to the National Gallery of Canada because it was for me, by far, the most interesting museum. The architecture of the building, the art work exhibited, the training and opportunities offered to the volunteer was by far the most interesting. I started taking the training at the NGC back in September and by end November was involved in the school program. It is quite the challenge to go and speak to classes of children about art. They may be young but they are a demanding audience.
Everything you say is noted and they have extraordinary imagination and have a way of interpreting a painting that may not have occurred to you. Presenting art to a class is a performance and requires a lot of preparation. You also have to learn to say that you do not know the answer to a question instead of trying to bluff your way around. The kids will trip you up, they know when you are making things up.
I also discovered that they love modern or contemporary art, it really strikes a cord with them.
They have a way of looking at it that shows the power of the imagination.

So this to me was a great experience and also re-introduced me to our school system which has gone through enormous changes in the last 40 years. I barely recognized the schools so un-structured the whole classroom system is nowadays. It is also poorly funded by our Provincial governments who prefer loads of administration to better educational programs.

About a month ago I was asked by our coordinator if I would like to organized our French language art and culture lectures on Wednesday afternoons, called Les mercredis cultures.
I said yes only to realize the next day that I had to start from scratch and had to build up a portfolio of contact names. I also had a very tight deadline to put together the coming new Season which starts on September 25.

I did it, 14 lectures over a period of 7 months on a variety of topics from painting to sculpture to photography, looking into art restoration, sociology and art in our modern society, etc.
I am also preparing, what I call emergency lectures just in case one lecturer can't make it at the last minute. I am currently also working on the program for 2014-15, trying to find new fresh ideas and topics.

So today on this beautiful sunny Spring day in the restaurant of the NGC the Director Marc Mayer and other curators gave a reception for the 173 volunteers of the museum. It was nicely done in a very thoughtful way. He recalled the hard work of the volunteers, one lady put in 950 Km driving to different schools in the greater National Capital area. Others put in hundreds of hours of their time on various programs. It sounded more like a full-time job than retired people on pension doing volunteerism. In this age of cutback and Political neglect, this type of dedication helps the NGC weather the storm. He said he did not think that the NGC could function as well as it does without the volunteer. Thank you to Marc Mayer for such kind words.

Pictures

I started working as a volunteer with the education program of the National Gallery of Canada. We received a good training and much help from the staff of the Education department of the Museum.

I went with some old time Museum volunteers to my first school to see how this is done, much trepidation wondering what are schools like these days in Canada. Needless to say they are nothing like when I was in school 50 years ago. Schoolrooms look like a playground with lots of colours and material for the students to interact with, some classes have a computer on each desk. So the task is to prepare carefully all the material and make the presentation as interesting as possible and hope that the kids will be engage and find the presentation interesting. The teachers also have a role to play, that is if they are interested, this is not always the case.

National Gallery of Canada on Nepean Point.

Inside the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Canada looking at Parliament on the hill across from the Rideau Canal.


The presentation is in several parts, first introducing myself and who I am, secondly, speak of the Museum, ask if the students have been or heard of it. Luckily so far the groups I spoke too most if not all the kids had been to the museum. I also say a few words on the Artissimo program which is dedicated to kids from 5 to 11 years of age and introduces them to art with a mixture of adventure, treasure hunt which is fun and easy. Finally I make my presentation by asking them questions on the art work presented and on what they think of it. That can be a problem, some students will not answer or participate, others want to participate and have all the answers, but I find that thinking about what you look at is not always easy for them. A painting or a sculpture is not always giving away all its secrets and it requires some observation, some critical thinking. This is where students have the most problems,
thinking and critical thoughts are not their strong points. I wonder if this is the phenomenon of what is called Snowplow parents, this expression comes from the fact that parents today will do everything for the kids so they do not have to think for themselves.

I also find that children are not terribly aware of their surroundings or geography or history or time periods. They cannot understand anything outside of their immediate world and time period. Now so far I have only done French Immersion schools in Ottawa but I am schedule to speak at French school in Quebec on the other side of the river in Gatineau. I was told that I would find that the students in Quebec are very different and much more engaged and aware. It could also be a factor of language, the vocabulary of the English student in French Immersion program is not as developed as that of a native French speaking student. I will have to wait and see what I discover.

My first presentation on my own was a series of 3 portraits, one by Tintoretto, one by William Breczy and one by the American artist of Pop Art fame Wayne Thiebaud. The students loved the painting by Thiebaud, it is closer to them in time period and it is Pop Art, so easier to digest.

I have now decided to change my presentation and go for representational painting, I have one of the Montmorency Falls near Quebec City in the winter of 1815, another of the Port of Hamburg, an allegory on Canada and one painting by Simon Vouet, the Fortune teller, because of the subject matter and action in the tableau. Vouet sought his inspiration from Caravaggio. Will see what happens and how it is received by the students.

It is hard work and I am usually very tired afterwards but it is great fun.