Remembering Art & Artists

By Ken Maher

The final instalment in this year’s series of Oral History Evenings, titled “Remembering Art & Artists," will be held Thursday, October 4 at 7 p.m. at ARTsPLACE in Annapolis Royal. The Annapolis Heritage Society (AHS) is sponsoring the event to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Annapolis Region Community Arts Council (ARCAC).

Everyone in the audience is urged to share recollections and to bring along memorabilia of visual artists from before 1982, when the arts council was formed. Many local residents will be familiar with Granville Fireside Industries and the Hillsburn rug hookers, two early ventures in organizing and promoting the work of local craftspeople. It’s expected that many people have saved works by artists such as Kelsey Raymond and Ruth Eisenhauer, who may not be well known to today’s collectors.

The format of this event will be a show-and-tell, and several artists and craftspeople -- Wayne Boucher, Geoff Butler, and Daurene Lewis among them -- have agreed to provide digital photos of their early work for a PowerPoint slide show. Anyone who wishes to have a piece photographed for the slide show can contact Ken Maher at Sinclair Inn (532-0996 or 532-5552).

Oral History Evenings, facilitated by Ern Dick, are devoted to capturing on audiotape the living memories of historically significant events and institutions.

The recorded conversations become part of the archives of the Annapolis Heritage Society and will be available for the use of researchers. There is no admission fee, but donations are welcome. All donations will be divided between AHS and ARCAC.

For more information, please contact the Annapolis Heritage Society at 532-7754.