05 Sep 2013
Ottawa: Le Petit Mort Gallery and other Affronts to Linear Thinking in the Nation's Capital
Lucky Ottawa! It gets to be home to some of Canada's greatest art collections and some of its top museums: The National Gallery, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Canadian War Museum; all must-see stops when visiting the national capital for the first, second or even third time. But after visitors get a handle on the public galleries it is time to explore the private ones and none is riper for private exploration than Le Petit Mort at 306 Cumberland Street. And although the Supreme Court is only a hop, skip and a jump away, no one at LPM is judging anyone. Let us not forget The Ottawa Art Gallery at 2 Daly Avenue, where you can admire your Group of Sevens, Harold Towns, and Florence Wyles, and if you have the readies you can own them as well. If art collecting is a bit rich for your blood enquire about the OAG's rental plan. Better yet, catch the rising stars of contemporary art at Gallerie SAW, which has both a gallery exhibition space and a night club, Club SAW, for performance-based pieces. www.ottawatourism.ca
Toronto's Other Film Festivals
Torontonians are internationally distinguished for their astoundingly diverse restaurant scene and their film festivals. During the Toronto International Film Festival these two affections meld together in a ten day whirlwind of cinema, celebrities and parties. But Torontonians are not content with just one film festival! There are documentary festivals, short film festivals, silent film festivals, LGBT festivals, indie festivals, Jewish film festivals, film festivals about madness, about breasts, and labour unions; there are film festivals focusing on countries like Brazil, Japan, and Italy; there are film festivals specific to certain neighbourhoods (stand up Cabbagetown), and film festivals about rebels, specific film genres, and films about the planet. There are as many nights-worth of film festivals in Toronto as there are live music performances in most other cities. And speaking of live music venues, somebody is playing in a Toronto venue somewhere at least 360 days of the year. If you can listen to some live music while dining before going to a film festival, you have an idea of what a Toronto Wednesday night is like. To find all these film festivals and more visit www.torontofilmfestivals.com
How to Glide Through the Frozen North Without Getting Your Feet Cold (or Wet)
Yes, one can skate, ski (downhill and Nordic), snowshoe, snowmobile, ice-rock climb and dog sled in Ontario during the winter. You can go for sleigh rides, hay rides, and sample a variety of winter carnivals. But the only way to get out and experience the crystalline, white-blue beauty of a Northern Ontario winter while keeping your feet warm and cozy is to take the Snow Train through the Agawa Canyon. I'm just sayin' . www.agawacanyonontourtrain.com
How Many Painters in the Group of Seven
This is a skill-testing question: The answer “seven” is correct for only one show: Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley's first and only collective show was in 1920 at the Toronto Arts and Letters Club three years after their inspiration, Tom Thomson, drowned in Canoe Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park. Edwin Holgate, A.J. Casson and LeMoine Fitzgerald were the eighth, ninth and tenth members of the Group of Seven, and although she showed with the G of 7 Emily Carr never formally joined. Clearly one can go to Algonquin to walk in the footsteps of The Group, but let us not neglect to mention Killarney Provincial Park, which Lawren Harris was instrumental in founding, the waterfalls of the Niagara Escarpment, or the islands within the Lake Superior breakwater in Thunder Bay. If you really want to immerse yourself, visit the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Vaughan, just north of Toronto. You can hike the trails in the surrounding grounds outside, spend time with the paintings inside, and pay your respects to A. J. Casson, who is buried there. You can also take time to learn about great First Nations painters, notably Norval Morrisea and the Woodland School.
The Reds Are Coming: Hidden-Gem Merlots, Popular Pinots and a very Special “blanc de noir”
As the leaves colour during an Ontario Autumn thoughts turn to an essential, timely question: What is the best Ontario red wine and what promises to be the best in years to come? Oenophiles no longer ascribe the steadily rising class of Ontario reds to a climate that latitudinally parallels Bordeaux's or the geological invariables of the terroir. They basically agree that the wines are getting so good because the winemakers have figured out, really figured out, what works. Here are some notable examples: Sandbanks French Kiss Cabernet Merlot, 2010; Malivoire Guilty Men Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, 2010; Strewn Tollgate Merlot, 2010; Lakeview Cellars Estate 2006 Merlot Reserve; Tawse Winery Growers Blend 2007; Le Clos Jordan Pinot Noir 2007; Henry of Pelham Estate Winery Pinot Noir 2009; and you have to experience Flatrock Cellar's Rogue Pinot Noir, a rare “blanc de noir” that is made with pinot noir grapes but looks like a white wine. Why? Ask Flatrock founder Ed Madronich when you visit the winery on the “bench” of the Niagara Escarpment. Flatrock's creative programming includes The Pinot Affair: Block Series Vineyard Experience, October 19, 2013. For the programming and special events in most other Ontario wineries check www.winesofontario.org.
Rock the Catwalk
Ontario designers' collections have consistently rocked the catwalk during Toronto's Fashion Week, which will be showing Fall / Winter collections March 18 – 22, 2014. Speaking of Fashion Weeks, Ottawa's Fashion Week is wowing the crowds September 13 to 15. www.ottawafashionweek.com and www.seetorontonow.com/annual-events/world-mastercard-fashion-week
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