Kawartha Art Gallery Marks the End of 2022’s Events Made Possible Through Support from the Government of Canada’s Tourism Relief Fund

Kawartha Art Gallery received a non-repayable contribution of $64, 994 from RTO8 to engage locals and tourists with entertaining and educational arts programs with a strong focus on environmental content and stories. This is part of the Government of Canada’s Tourism Relief Fund, delivered by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario). RTO8 received $3 million from FedDev Ontario to help local tourism organizations and businesses safely welcome back visitors, recover from the impacts of the pandemic and prepare for future growth.

Through an expanded film program that included both outdoor movie nights and in-venue screenings, Kawartha Art Gallery succeeded in bringing audiences together for safe, fun and often educational viewing experiences. Additionally, thanks to a new partnership with Fleming College’s Frost Campus in Lindsay, Kawartha Art Gallery was able to give Kawartha regional landscape artists a chance to shine with its Radical Landscapes juried exhibition.

This investment will help Kawartha Art Gallery adapt and recover to attract new visitors and drive economic growth in Kawarthas Northumberland.

“Our government is happy to invest $78 million through the Tourism Relief Fund to help communities across southern Ontario rejuvenate local tourist attractions. With this funding, southern Ontario’s Regional Tourism Organizations and Indigenous Tourism Ontario are providing hundreds of local businesses and organizations with the support they need to create jobs, attract more visitors and grow local economies, now and into the future.”

The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

“We at RTO8 are thrilled to be able to deliver the Tourism Relief Fund to Kawarthas Northumberland. The funding provided by FedDev Ontario will continue to support our regions vibrant and authentic tourism industry.”

Brenda Wood, Executive Director, RTO8

“These events and experiences that the Gallery is able to provide to a diverse audience is proof positive that art and culture are a valuable and attractive offering for tourism and economic development in our region. By continuing to expand this conversation, we can nurture these opportunities to show our area’s unique talents and voices, while also encouraging people to explore more culture and art experiences around the Kawartha Lakes. There’s so much we have to offer and so much room for us to grow as an arts community.”

Susan Taylor, Executive Director, Kawartha Art Gallery

Project Summary

Summer Movies on the Locks:

In July and August, Summer Movies on the Locks was an outdoor evening experience for all ages with classic movies to provide an atmosphere of comforting summertime nostalgia. Through support and sponsorship from the City of Kawartha Lakes and Parks Canada, as well as a partnership with Audio Plus Multimedia Solutions Inc., Kawartha Art Gallery was proud to present this free community event on two sites along the world-renowned Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site, as well as the grounds of Fleming College’s Frost Campus. By inviting audiences to view these popular films in public spaces like parks, school campuses and historic sites, Kawartha Art Gallery was able to highlight the value of community events as part of the local creative economy and cultural tourism in the region. The outdoor film screenings were attended by close to 400 audience members across the three different locations and six different film nights, with only a single night cancelled due to inclement weather.

In-Venue Film Nights at Fleming College:

From September to November, Kawartha Art Gallery and Frost Students Association at Fleming College’s Frost Campus presented a series of film nights that included additional educational components to invite film audiences to explore the themes of those movies more deeply, including speakers, trivia games, and arts and crafts. The series began on September 30th with films and activities that spoke to the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. In November, two more screenings took place that spoke to themes of bird migration and conservation and science communication, with showings of the locally-filmed and inspired Fly Away Home and fan-favourite blockbuster Jurassic Park. This experience of looking below the surface of movies and documentaries and the themes, issues, and broader conversations they represent will become the basis of future film projects coming in 2023 through the partnerships established within this year’s endeavors.

Radical Landscapes Group of Seven Juried Exhibition: A partnership project between Kawartha Art Gallery and Fleming College Frost Campus in Lindsay, to adapt the Gallery’s current juried exhibit around the Gallery’s collection of the Group of Seven artwork by the artists A. J. Casson and J.E. H. MacDonald to promote the footprint of the Group of Seven artists in the Kawarthas.

Visiting Lindsay, Bobcaygeon and Coboconk, while spending time along the banks of the Gull River, Casson and MacDonald, each through their own individual style, left an indelible footprint of their vision of the Kawarthas. The Radical Landscapes exhibit was in place at Kawartha Art Gallery from September until October 2022, with over 40 original and reproduction artworks of A. J. Casson and J.E.H. MacDonald on display. Regional artists, 18 years and older, were then invited to submit a painting that represented their interpretation on their visions of our country’s landscapes. Over 30 entries were received and then juried by four judges. Five winners were selected with all the entries on exhibit at the Gallery from October to November 2022. A weekend awards reception was held in late October, at which time Jim & Sue Waddington, authors of the book In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven, did a presentation for the reception audience.

Kawartha Art Gallery is grateful to the Government of Canada, FedDev Ontario and RTO8 for the funding and faith in Kawartha Art Gallery’s projects. The Gallery will continue to develop and grow both of these events in 2023 to consolidate regional creative partnerships to develop strategies that leverage and create opportunities for increasing the benefits of the tourism sector in the RTO8 region.