We noticed that during the lockdown and everything that has followed, one thing that people have turned to is culture.  As a museum this is something we support whole heartedly!  In fact we would like to encourage people to, not only embrace arts and culture, but to have fun with it.

One of Simcoe County’s best kept secrets is that Huronia Museum has a great Group of Seven display, and it is open to the public seven days a week. The spectacular Georgian Bay landscape drew members of Canada’s Group of Seven, to paint and sketch. Works by J.E.H. MacDonald, A.Y. Jackson, Franz Johnston and Arthur Lismer are represented in the collection of Huronia Museum.

We decided to advertise that fact by having our staff duplicate their favourite Group of Seven painting in our collection using canvasses from the dollar store and crayons.  The results were…interesting.  What did we learn?

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING!

So true, but we had a lot of fun making them.  Now we are challenging others to give it a try.  We want you to pick your favourite, or just one you like, Group of Seven painting and duplicate it.  If you have come, or are planning to come to the museum you can copy one of the paintings we have on display.  Or you can just find one that you like from any other source and copy that.

There are only 2 rules:

1. It has to be a work by a member of the Group of Seven
2. It has to be done using crayon!

Once your picture is complete just email a copy to huroniamuseum@gmail.com along with the title of the piece you copied and your contact information.  You can also include a picture of the original if you are able.  All submissions will be posted on our website and Facebook page.

The contest will be running from September 1 to October 12 (Thanksgiving Monday) after which we will announce our winner.

It is my unfortunate duty to let parents know that Huronia Museum will not be holding our Summer Jam Day Camp this year.

Safety is always the first priority of our day camp and, after reviewing the guidelines and requirements set out by the province  and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, we simply lack the facility and resources to meet the required safety standards.

This is not a decision that we have made lightly and it is certainly not what we had hoped for.  Not only is Summer Jam a large part of our programming, it is also a huge part of what makes summer fun here at the museum.

We understand that this will be difficult for parents who are in need of child care and hope they can understand that our decision to cancel was made for the safety of everyone, staff, campers and the families of those campers.  We do this now in the hope that this time next year we will be back better than ever.

Museum staff are currently working on creating some resources to help make the summer a little more fun at home, so please keep checking our website and facebook page.

If you have any questions you can contact us at education@huroniamuseum.com or 705-526-2844

Stay safe and have a good summer,

Gillian Ross—Education Coordinator

Huronia Museum wishes our readers and friends all the best for a happy and safe holiday season.

We will be closing on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at noon and will re-open on Monday, December 30. 2019 at 9 am.