We have returned to our building and are steadily preparing for the Spring and Summer activities. YES!! Spring… it’s on the way, even in today’s sub-zero weather, I can feel the change in the air and I can smell the shift from Winter to Spring… I know I sound crazy, but I have a good sense for these things. 

With that being said, there has been some renewal happening at the museum too and new exhibits are either here already or are coming this Spring/Summer for you to enjoy!  

 

A Place To Call Home

This new semi-permanent exhibit opened last summer but due to COVID hasn’t had many visitors to enjoy it. This special exhibit highlights the history of our county, with a special focus to the people that have lived here. With considerable thought, we are orienting are exhibits to be about the people that make this county so wonderful, its their stories we keep here and it’s the museum job to bring these stories to life. 

We tackled how we condense 200 years of history in a smallish gallery space…and honestly I think we did a brilliant job of doing this. You will leave this exhibit with a nugget or two of new information and hopefully a real sense of pride for just how beautiful this little piece of Ontario is. 
 

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Spiritual Echoes of Northern Lennox and Addington

This spring we have invited artist Carla Miedema to exhibit her original works of art that feature the northern landscape of Lennox and Addington County, specifically Bon Echo. Carla Miedema, although, born in the Netherlands, spent 47 years living in the Cloyne area, near Bon Echo Provincial Park on the edge of the Canadian Shield.  

Carla’s love of nature and the environment is reflected in her artwork.  Nature is her inspiration.  Bark, seeds, flowers, grasses, and other bits of material found in nature become part of her paintings using acrylic and mixed media on canvas.  Wetlands and Bon Echo Park have been a focus on many of her expressionist paintings. Miedema believes that canoeing along Bon Echo Rock is almost a spiritual experience.  Her artistic journey is not to be missed and can be viewed from mid- April to the end of August. 

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A New Gallery Is Underway

Last year we decided to retire the large Gibbard exhibit that took up a major footprint of the museum.  Don’t fret, the Gibbard story will still be told, it’s just moving to a smaller area of the museum. 

I had a vision to break down the exhibit walls and bring this room back to what it originally was, a large multi-purpose space, let’s face it, this museum needs more exhibit space, so we can bring out different stories and present programs among the exhibits. Renovating this gallery was going to help us achieve that. 

However when the walls came down – gorgeous limestone walls were revealed, along with an original fireplace, and large bright windows (we knew they were there), but to see them in situ…WOW!  There was no way we were covering this back up as we originally intended. 

SO now the work begins to make this a functional museum space that meets museum standards but still allows us to honour what this room was – the Jailer’s living room and kitchen. For those who don’t know – the museum was the former County Jail, and the jailer lived on site, the front part of the jail (museum) was where he lived with his wife, who was typically the matron. 

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This new space will be fitted with new LED lighting, windows treated for UV and LUX limits, new drywall placed in area where the old burlap wall was, and a new floor fitted to make it flexible for exhibit purposes but aesthetically pleasing too!  LOTS to think about and considered when renovating a museum space.  Our Property Services Department has been monumental in helping us achieve what we dream for this space.  

What’s the plan? Well this exhibit space will be multi-purposed, it will allow for exhibit cases to move in and out of the room for easier exhibit change outs, travelling shows will be featured here, and Amber can use this space for more programming too!  More to come on this new gallery and the first exhibit planned this summer. I have something planned that will make you romantics smile!

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There are many new exhibits coming between now and next Winter, including these two incredible travelling shows Tales of Fantasy from the Sherbroke Science Museum and Health In Space from the National Aviation Museum.

Stay tuned and check back to our website frequently. But for now you really need to come see our great exhibits.  Book your appointment on our website today www.CountyMuseum.ca