6 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y E D I T I O N - J U L Y 2 0 1 6

Dundas Museum & Archives

Your Community Museum

The Education Campaign has reached

our goal of $50,000!

Thank you!!

Hours:

Tues, Wed, Fri:

10am - 4:30pm

Thurs:

10am - 8pm

Sat:

1pm - 4pm

Sun & Mon:

Closed

Admission is Free.

Donations Welcome.

MAKING AN IMPRESSION When someone thinks of a “print”, quite often a photograph or reproduction will come to mind. In fact the idea of a “print” and the art of printmaking have existed well before the invention of photography. Impressions – 500 Years of Printmaking intends to show the evolution of printmaking over the past 500 years. “This show is the first of its kind at the Museum,” said Collections Manager Sandu Sindile, “it follows the art of printmaking from early German woodcuts from around 1500 CE to contemporary Dundas artists, covering the art history timeline from the Renaissance to the present day.” The

exhibit features works by iconic artists like Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edouard Manet, complimented by Canadian artists like Wesley Bates, Leonard Hutchinson, Homer Watson, Norval Morrisseau, and James Keagey. When brought together, the pieces in this exhibit create a timeline through the history of printmaking, emphasizing the areas of continuity, while also highlighting the changes in technique, medium, and subject matter over time.

Conceptualized by Sindile over three years ago, this exhibit draws from many sources. The

majority of the pieces in this exhibit are on loan to the Museum from the collection of the McMaster Gallery in Dundas. These works are complimented by pieces from the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Art Gallery of Guelph, the McMaster Museum of Art, and various private collectors, making this exhibition an expansive and impressive display.

Impressions runs from June 25 - September 3, 2016.

Written by Louisa Orford

CONNECT

WITH US

ONLINE!

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IMPRESSIONS LECTURE SERIES Included with the Museum’s feature exhibition, Impressions-500 years of Printmaking, will be a collection of talks and demonstrations. Lectures from local experts and printmakers will be given in the gal-lery spaces, surrounded by masters past and present. The dates for each lecture is as follows:

August 4 - Dr. Ihor Holubizky “The Second Hand and the Third Man - 500 Years of Making and Remaking”

August 11 - Ralph Heather “Printmaking Today”

September 1 - Wesley Bates, Printmaking Workshop.

All Lectures take place from 6-7pm and will be Free Admission. Suggested Donation of $5.00 per person.

Many of you may have seen or even chatted at length with our new friend Andy Stocks as he was hard at work painting the front of the Doctor’s Office recently. Andy is a friendly and cheerful soul who cares about his work and it shows! You may not notice at first, but hours of careful work was put in to repair years of damage caused over time by the elements to our largest artifact. If you’d like to talk to Andy about your own residential facelift, he can be contacted at 289-775-2741.

FACELIFT FOR DOCTOR’S OFFICE

The Board and Staff of the Dundas Museum would like to thank and publicly recognize the work of our outgoing Volunteer Coordinator Lori Scapinello. Lori has been coordinating the comings and goings, communication and appreciation of our sizable volunteer corps for the last few years and has done much to organize and streamline the position. Thanks Lori for a job well done! You will be missed!

THANKS LORI!

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CHANGING OF THE GUARD

TRAVELLING EXHIBIT ABOUT TO BEGIN ITS JOURNEY

Thanks to a Community Enrichment Fund grant from the City of Hamilton, the Museum created its first travelling exhibit – and it will begin its journey soon. You may remember the 2014 exhibit at the Museum called A War Without End which shared the World War I experiences of three Dundas boys. Now a condensed version of the exhibit is available for display free of charge to schools, community centres, retirement homes, and other public spaces. Look for it at the Dundas Town Hall this fall. If you’d like more information about the travelling exhibit contact Sandra at 905.627.7412 or email sandra@dundasmuseum.ca

Written by Sandra Kiemele

The Board and Staff of the Dundas Museum regretfully bid farewell to two stalwart members of the Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting on June 28th. Clare Crozier and Ron Simpson stepped down from their positions after having played significant roles in the Museum’s successful renovation and expansion project and relaunch in 2013. As Board Chair and President for the last decade, Clare worked hard to grow the Museum as the welcoming community space it is today. A fixture around the Museum, Clare helped staff on many projects, worked within the community to raise much needed funds, and could even be found weeding and watering the gardens when he had a spare moment! His dedication and commitment to the community of Dundas and its Museum are deeply appreciated.

As Treasurer for the last five years, Ron Simpson skillfully navigated the Museum through the rough financial waters of our $1.6 million renovation and expansion project. Keeping the Museum’s books in order, spending in check, and fundraising on target, Ron worked to ensure that the Museum came out the other side of the project with zero debt! The Museum is pleased to welcome Russ Powers to his new role as Board Chair and President while the vacancies have been filled by new Members Janie Hartwell, who will also take on the role of Treasurer and Michael Kovacevic.

MADE IN DUNDAS: ONE OF A KIND

The success of this years’ Made in Dundas Community Family Festival

can be attributed to many things, but the main one is the great

support we received from our demonstrators, new and old, and our

fantastic volunteers. We had an amazing array of people who were

eager to help the Museum and donate their time to our annual free

family festival!

The volunteers that flocked to the Museum’s aid were out in force on

the day of and in the days leading up to our event; putting up road

signs, cleaning the grounds, and preparing the rooms for activities.

Our volunteers were hard at work serving tea, taking photos in the

dress-up booth, and helping visitors at craft stations. We could not

have done it without their help!

New this year was a special guest, Bob Young, his wife, and their

apprentice, who came out to give a blacksmithing demonstration for

visitors. They tirelessly smithed works of art all day and sold their

wares to the visitors. The Museum has been hoping for a blacksmith

for many years and we are so grateful to finally have had an amazing

talent like Bob!

The Red Door Cucina was another new addition this year. The new

restaurant on King Street happily agreed to bring their wood fire pizza

oven and offer lunch to the masses. We had many comments saying

that it was some of the best pizza visitors had ever had! We can’t wait

to keep working with the Red Door!

Another one of our returning demonstrators was our friends from the

Dundas Valley School of Art Print Studio. Both kids and adults loved

trying their hand at printmaking with our Made in Dundas logo!

These are just some highlights of the amazing volunteers and

demonstrators that came out to support the Museum on May 28. If

you have any suggestions on how to make this event even better, let

us know! We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Written by Esther Brouwer

Photos courtesy of 20two19 Photography

ADULTS ONLY

DUNDAS COLLECTS

From the Classroom: Adults Only! The DMA After Dark Is A Hit!

The canal fever that characterized much of Upper Canada in

the 1830s was alive and well at the Dundas Museum and

Archives the evening of May 19! Under the guidance of the

DMA’s Director of Education, John Picone, the museum

hosted its first Adults Only program. More than 20 members

of the community signed up for an interactive evening

exploring the significance of the Desjardins Canal as it shaped

the history of the town through the middle of the 19 century.

Working in small teams, the participants investigated artifacts

such as a train lantern from the 1857 rail disaster, a pad-lock

from the malt house, the Canal Company Seal, as well as old

newspaper clippings describing the drowning of four young

people in 1865, archival documents with records of imports and exports, and much more. At the end of the

evening, each group shared their findings. Dr. Picone and others filled in gaps and spiced things up with

stories of their own canal memories. “I didn’t want this to be a lecture,” said Picone. “Our education

programs are characterized as object-based-discovery-learning. That’s what the school children enjoy when

they come here. I wanted to offer the adult members of Dundas the opportunity to have the same kind of

experience.” He adds, “It’s not only fun and, I believe, a more meaningful connection to the museum’s

wealth of resources, but a great way for newcomers in town to get to know its history.” It was certainly a fun

-filled experience for Diana Wiggins: “Our meeting about The Desjardins Canal was truly a fun night and I

learned a lot. It felt like I was back in school and back at work… all at the same time!”

The museum will be continuing Adults Only! The DMA After Dark in the fall, look for it on our website!

With a train lantern from the Desjardins rail disaster of 1857

before them, DMA Director of Education, John Picone, left,

discusses the event with participants.

Dundas Collects is a new feature at the DMA. The exhibit welcomes local Dundas collectors to bring their

personal collections, whatever they may be, to be exhibited in the Museum’s gallery. The first

exhibitor is Dr. Dennis Kavalsky, whose collection of historical documents includes an example of the

first prepaid stamp and “Mulready” envelope; a letter from Queen Victoria; as well as a proclamation

signed by Mussolini and King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, which stripped Jewish people of their Italian

citizenship. The second half of this exhibit has a focus on Canadian art, and showcases a painting of the

Crooks Hollow Mill, near Dundas, by Group of Seven member, A.J. Casson, as well as three

complementing photographs of the same location at different times of the year.

This exhibit is on display in the Museum’s first gallery and runs until September 3, 2016

Written by Louisa Orford

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FROM THE COLLECTIONS

ORAL HISTORY ONLINE

Recent Acquisitions in the Collection

Railway Lantern Recovered from 1857 Desjardins Train Disaster

On March 12, 1857, a railway train carrying passengers from Toronto to Hamilton derailed over the Desjardins Canal and crashed through the ice. In order to get to the injured, ropes and ladders were lowered into the chasm and rescuers entered the freezing water to reach the victims. In the following days, members of the community helped to clear the wreckage. This lantern, which was donated to the Museum in May, was recovered by the donor’s great-great-uncle who was part of the cleanup. The lantern did not go unscathed from this event. The exterior glass lens of the lantern is cracked and the interior green and red glass filters are also damaged, forever marking this artifact with the memory of that day.

Written by Shawna Butts

If you follow us on Facebook or YouTube you will have noticed that over the past year and a half we have been creating videos to share with the people of Dundas. We have a number of interviews recorded and preserved on our server awaiting transcription.

All of our full length video interviews are now available on our Oral History YouTube channel and will soon be available with transcripts on

our website. We hope in the future to continue releasing these interviews and transcriptions for everyone to enjoy and learn from.

The Museum would like to acknowledge the great work of Devin Bateson, our Oral History Program Coordinator for the past year and a half thanks to a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Written by Esther Brouwer

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COMING SOON... HEMLINES Our fashion exhibition series continues this fall with Hemlines, exploring the fashion trends from the early 1910s until the 1960s. Volunteers, Judith Mureika and Libby Toews, have been carefully selecting the garments that will be on display this September. If you thought our Silhouettes in Time exhibit had fantastic dresses you will be blown away by our next series of gems! Hemlines will open on September 24, 2016.

FROM THE ARCHIVES DMA receives grant to improve access to archives!

We are happy to share our good news! Your Dundas Museum and Archives is the grateful recipient of $14,972.00 from the Government of Canada through the Documentary Heritage Community Partnership program administered by Library and Archives Canada. This new funding will allow the Museum to continue to provide access to highly used records while preserving the originals. We have already purchased a ScanPro 3000 digital microfilm scanner with funds from the grant. “This is a game changer for us,” says the Museum’s archivist Sandra Kiemele. “We can now retire our fragile paper newspapers and other at-risk documents and use a microfilm copy. But this is not your parents’ microfilm reader! The ScanPro provides the user with a more comfortable research experience and allows us to balance preservation and use.” Funding was also received for the Museum to purchase a scanner which will be used to digitize the

extensive glass negative collection and other graphic collections. This project has been launched, and Collections Assistant Shawna Butts has already discovered and digitized some amazing images from the glass negative collection. Volunteers will assist as the pro-ject moves forward. The digitized images will be uploaded to the Museum’s website and featured on social media. Curator Kevin Puddister is excited about the possibilities this grant allows. “Probably one of the most important issues the Archives faces is how to make this fantastic collection available for people to use, while ensuring its long term preservation. This grant is a huge step forward in allowing us to do just that.”

For more information about this project, contact the Museum.

Board of Directors

Russ Powers Board Chair & President Keith Green Vice President Kerry McNamara, Secretary

Janie Hartwell Treasurer Tom Bontje

Peter Curtis

Michael Kovacevic

Dorothy Richardson

Arlene VanderBeek

Staff

Kevin Puddister, Curator & General Manager Sandu Sindile, Collections Manager Sandra Kiemele, Archivist John Picone, Director of Education

Esther Brouwer, Museum Assistant Shawna Butts, Collections Assistant Rebecca Hicks, Claudia Palermo, & Austin Strutt Museum Attendants

Are you interested in helping at the Museum? If you would like to volunteer please call

905-627-7412 Or contact our Volunteer Coordinator Volunteer @dundasmuseum.ca

for more information.

mail@dundasmuseum.ca /DundasMuseum @DundasMuseum dundasmuseum

NEW FACES Louisa Orford

Joining us this summer is Collections Technician Louisa Orford. Louisa is a recent graduate of McMaster University with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History and will be attending Algonquin College's Applied Museum Studies program this fall. Louisa has been involved in the installation of our new exhibits as well as researching and photographing artifacts and updating their records. The Collections Technician position is funded in part by the Govern-ment of Canada through the Young Canada Works program.

Carly Bedford

We are pleased to welcome Carly Bedford as the Museum’s Archives Technician this summer. Carly attends the University of Toronto’s iSchool where she will begin her final year in the Masters of Information program this fall. Carly is creating a location register for archival material and assisting with the inventory of the Museum’s digital assets. The Archives Technician position is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Young Canada Works grant program.

Austin Strutt

Austin Strutt is a student at McMaster University. We first met him when he came to do research for a history class project. Once school was out, he returned and offered his services as a volunteer. He has worked in the archives digitizing the Mackenzie and Lesslie records and has assisted with exhibit installation. We are very happy to welcome Austin as our newest Museum Attendant.