What is Apples and Arts? Well, let me tell you:). It is a neat little weekend event that happens every Fall in eastern Ontario. Local artists are invited to open their doors and welcome people into their studios, allowing them to showcase their work and artistic environs.
And I was invited to join in on the fun!
Originally, I contemplated hanging all my photos at home, throwing an apple crisp in the oven, setting up easels under my apple tree ( yes, appropriately I have an apple tree in my front yard ) and opening my doors to the public.
Then reality hit...the end of September...wasps under the apple tree.
Walls in my house...frig, I need to paint.
Strangers cruising through my home? Um, no - those are the things my nightmares are made of.
Baking? Ha!
Add three children, two crazy dogs and a husband who could be traveling...and suddenly I was having heart palpitations at the thought of a little apple marking my home on the tour map...
So, anxiously I went back to the organizer and let her know that my home idea was just not going to work...and she had the best suggestion ever...
The Lost Villages Museum.
I am going to be setting up in this wonderful spot.
There is a neat little bit of history from where I live that is both unique and sad. A large part of this area was flooded for the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958, displacing hundreds of families and changing the landscape both physically and emotionally of the people affected.
Along Highway 2 - of which a large part of the "old Highway 2" is now submerged - there is a small outcropping of brightly coloured buildings, a mix of homes and businesses, that were moved before the inundation and have been since donated to create a lasting memorial to the villages and hamlets - 10 in total - that were lost to the creation of the Seaway.
Complete Villages. Family homes. Businesses. Farms. Churches. Graveyards. If the buildings could not be moved, they were burned. That would never happen today.
Okay...I get caught up in the history of this ( we live on a parcel of land created by the flooding...it was once a dairy farm ) and it is with no little excitement that I accepted a spot in the Lost Villages Museum. Immediately.
A huge number of my photos involve the lake I live on, the waterfront I live near and the remnants of the flooding. From my yard, you can see traces of the Old Highway 2 appearing and disappearing under the water. It is haunting to know that beneath the surface, for miles and miles, lie the histories of so many families that continue to reside in the "new" villages that were created to replace their lost ones...
I am in the process of selecting and framing the photographs I will be showing that weekend and I find myself choosing very carefully, something that surprised me. I hope the photos that I share will be pleasing to those who remember what the lie of the land was like originally.
I update information on the tour as it gets closer...maybe I will see some of you:).
Apples and Arts Tour 2010
http://www.applesandart.com/
( I am not listed yet - soon!)
And if you are curious, here is a link to the grassroots group that is behind the preservation of the memory of the Lost Villages.
http://www.lostvillages.ca/en/html/lost_villages.html
6 comments:
you are so cool, I'd be jealous if I didn't adore you from the bottom of my heart.
Oh I want to come!!! Why am I so far away from docks, apples, artists and Canada?
Woohoo!!
Part III on Angela coming up~
will most def be there :)
meg:))))) cool. right. ;)
samantha - you have a place when you can come:). miss h would love to have the girls to visit with and i look forward to having a little wine with you on the dock. my oldest would likely enjoy the company of your oldest as well,lol.
nelly - ha! thanks:) you can keep me company!!
This is so awesome! I've still got my heart set on writing a blog post about the Lost Villages and the Museum this summer, but now I can squeeze in a little promo for my favourite Long Sault photographer as well!!
i MUST come visit. sounds amazing.
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