HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-06-25, Page 23THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015. PAGE 23.
This year the Blyth Festival Art
Gallery will be celebrating its 40th
anniversary and founders Ron and
Bev Walker find themselves
constantly in awe of how far it has
come. The founders will be
celebrated with a special exhibit to
open this year’s season.
One season behind the Blyth
Festival, which celebrated its 40th
season last year, the Gallery began
when James Roy, co-founder of the
Festival and its first Artistic Director,
first approached the Walkers with
the idea for an art gallery hosted in
conjunction with the Festival,
sowing the seeds for what has
become the modern Blyth Centre for
the Arts.
“We said ‘sure’,” Ron said.
Ron and Bev had recently moved
to their current home on a rural
property between Blyth and Auburn
from Toronto where Ron taught art
and English with the North York
Board of Education and Bev worked
as a lab technician with the
University of Toronto.
During their time in Toronto, Ron,
a Saskatchewan native, and Bev, an
Alberta native, maintained a Queen
Street studio loft. They both
exhibited art at various galleries
around the city, Ron with his
paintings and drawings and Bev with
her prints.
Upon moving to Huron County,
the pair renovated a farmhouse from
the 1850s and built a studio. Ron
resumed his teaching career with the
Huron County Board of Education,
where he created the art department,
which is now flourishing in the
Avon Maitland District School
Board.
In the 40 years that would follow,
the Walkers’ contribution to the
Huron County art scene has been
two-fold. Through contacts in art
communities in Toronto and all over
Canada they have brought some of
the country’s greatest artists to
exhibit in Blyth, but through school
programs and the Gallery’s annual
student show and community show,
another Walker creation, arts in
Huron have been on the rise for the
last 40 decades.
So it is only fitting that this year’s
Gallery season will begin on
Saturday, June 27 with a celebration
of Ron and Bev’s work with “From
The Beginning – The Founders’
Retrospective”.
Walker says that the retrospective
will focus largely on his landscape
paintings, for which he is most well
known, and on Bev’s printmaking
work.
The Gallery has come a long way,
Ron says, from its humble
beginnings to what it has become.
“The initial exhibition, consisting
of all the local artists we could
uncover, was mounted on wobbly
flats in the basement of Memorial
Hall,” Ron said.
Both Ron and Bev say that interest
in the Gallery only took off from
there, but they both admit they didn’t
think it would last 40 years. They’re
pleased to see how well received art
has been in Blyth, Huron
It’s back and you’re invited to
dance, eat and be merry! The Libro
HuronSound and Arts Festival – a
daylong celebration of the finest in
local and emerging talent from
Huron County and beyond – will
take place on Saturday, July 18 from
2 - 11 p.m. at the Clinton Raceway.
It’s a licensed outdoor event, for all
ages. Tickets are only $10 in
advance or $12 at the gate and are
available online at
www.Blyth1419.ca
Musical Acts include the
incredible/the incomparable: John
Lawless, of Owen Sound/Toronto,
Stuck Out Here of Bayfield/Toronto,
Three Forks of Grand Bend/Exeter
and returning to HuronSound by
popular demand, Texas King of
London, and that’s just
HuronSound returns
Walkers celebrated through Art Gallery’s anniversary
Celebrating the founders
A special exhibit at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery will open this Saturday night featuring Bev
and Ron Walker, right, the founders of the Gallery, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this
season. Ron, known for his landscape paintings and Bev for her printmaking will both have
pieces in the exhibit, which will span decades of their work. The Walkers are seen here
alongside longtime Gallery supporters Jerry and Carol McDonnell, left, late last year at an
exhibit recognizing longtime Gallery supporters Dan and Marg Webster. (Denny Scott photo)
Wednesday, July 1
Atwood Lions
58th Annual
CANADA DAY CELEBRATION
PORK BARBECUE
Completely Homemade Meal
4:00 to 7:00 pm
at Elma Community Centre
Adults $15. for 2 chops; $12 for 1 chop
Child 12 & under $5.
SPORTS EVENTS & GAMES
Baseball Tournament - Kids’ Games - Bingo
3 on 3 Ball Hockey - 6 players/team
Ages: 10-12, 13-15
Contact 519-292-6781
GIANT PARADE
Starts at 12:30 pm
ENTERTAINMENT
Bavarian Gardens following parade
BX93 Open Air VIDEO DANCE
Friday, June 26 ~ 10 pm start
$10. in advance $15. at the door
Call for more information
519-356-2488 519-492-0360 519-356-2392
NON-SMOKING EVENTS
14TH ANNUAL GODERICH CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
BB EE AA GG OO OO DD SS PP OO RR TT
Featuring Tim Holland, The Puppet Tamer and 2-time Guinness World Record Stilt Walker, Doug the Great,
also crafts, Fincher’s tent, inflatable bouncers, and lots of fun activities for kids all FREE of charge.
Come dressed in your favourite team colours or jersey.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR SILENT AUCTION
For more information contact Lori Patterson via email: goderichchildrensfestival@yahoo.com
or Tourism Goderich at 519-524-6600 or find us on Facebook
Silent Auction items include: golf passes, STEM Camp for a week, hats, cooler bags, golf umbrella and balls,
ROCK THE PARK passes, Hockey Hall of Fame passes and 30 NHL Fan Days Cards framed (value $500.)
Saturday, June 27, 201510 am - 3 pm at the Memorial Arena, McDonald Street, Goderich
Alex graduated from University of
Guelph on June 11, 2015 with an
Honours Bachelor of Commerce in
Food and Agricultural Business.
He is a graduate of St. Anne’s Catholic
Secondary School, Clinton and St.
James School, Seaforth. He is the son
of Cathy & Pat Melady, RR#2 Dublin.
Alex is employed with Hensall District
Cooperative Inc. Congratulations Alex!
Love Mom & Dad, Brent, Shayna,
Grandma Melady, and Grandma &
Grandpa McGavin.
Alex Melady
Graduation
Melissa Higgins, daughter of
Betty Jane and Greg of RR 5,
Brussels graduated from the
University of Guelph with an
Honours Bachelor of Science
in Agriculture on June 11th.
She is pursuing her career in
agriculture with Cargill in
Saskatchewan.
Good luck with your future
endeavours.
Mom, Dad and siblings.
Happy 75th
Harvey!
Sunday, June 28th
Love your Family!
Entertainment StopsStopsStopsStopsStops
a l o n g the wayalongtheway
A VISITORS’ GUIDE TO HURON COUNTY
stopsalonglakehuron.com
Look for
entertainment ideas
on our
Stops Along the Way
website at...430 Queen Street, Blyth, Ontario
226-523-9720
Specialty Coffees &
Espresso Bar
Lunches, Treats, Craft beer
and Ontario wine
Continued on page 24
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 24