North Hills interpreted

By Carolyn Sloan

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

Now entering its third year, Artifacts and Interiors is an opportunity for public to watch artists at work as they interpret the community treasure that is the North Hills Museum.

On July 13, from 10 am to 5 pm, a group of artists, working a variety of mediums, will set up inside and outside the museum in Granville Ferry. With the gates to each room open, visitors will be given an intimate look at the ongoing creative process and the rare antiques and collectables within the farmhouse, which was built in the 1760s.

After the event, the artwork created that day will be on sale at the museum. As Artifacts and Interiors is a fundraiser, 20 per cent of sales will go to the museum, while the remaining 80 per cent will be given to the artists. Invited artists include Wayne Boucher, Geoff Butler, Tom Forrestall, Sharon Kennedy, Stephen Kuzma, Mary Lynn McWade, Lucky Rabbit Pottery, James Povah, Jane Racine, Ray Sanford, Sheila Tinker, Louise Williams and Rick Zenkner.

After the pieces are finished, the entire body of work will be exhibited until September 6, when there will be a closing show, sale and tea. This final event, Tea at Two, will be an opportunity for the public to meet the artists as well as purchase any remaining paintings for sale.

According to North Hill’s Janice Slauenwhite, even though the farmhouse and its contents were left to the Nova Scotia Museum, the museum itself is still responsible for raising funds toward the budget. Thus, without support from the community, it is not possible for the museum to continue. As such, staff have developed a series of community events and programs this year to bring local people into the space.

“We’re really trying to encourage the local community to visit,” says Slauenwhite. “This is a treasure that they would have to pay big money to see in museums in Europe, and here it is in rural Nova Scotia.”