The Minto Arts Council is currently hosting two new exhibits at the Minto Arts Gallery.
Minto Heritage Quilts and Allie’s Kids: Illustrations by Lois Beams MacKenzie both run until Sept. 29 at the gallery, located in the Harriston branch of the Wellington County Library.
Minto Heritage Quilts
This exhibition from the Wellington County Museum and Archives textile collection is all about quilting in Minto in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and features examples of the artistry and spirit of Minto women.
The museum’s collection has grown over the decades to encompass a significant number of pieces from Minto Township quilters. Some were made by individual quilters and others were made by community groups as fundraisers. This tradition is alive in Minto today, a magnificent new quilt was donated by the Four Corners Quilting Guild at the grand reopening of the Harriston Library in June 2012.
Allie’s Kids: Illustration by Lois Beams MacKenzie
The stories that communities have to tell are the threads in the tapestry of living history. Allie’s Kids is a visual and written treasure designed to resonate with people in Minto.
In 2009, Elora resident Lois Beams MacKenzie published her memoirs of growing up as a child of the Depression in Wellington County. The images from Beams MacKenzie’s memoir show with frankness and good humour the life of her mother, Allie Beam, as seen through the eyes of one of her children. The exhibit features a dozen colourful illustrations with accompanying excerpts. Copies of the memoir will be available during the exhibition.
Both exhibitions will be part of Minto’s activities for Canada’s Culture Days September 28 to 30.
The Minto Arts Gallery is located on the third level of the Harriston Public Library, 88 Mill Street, Harriston. The gallery is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8pm, Wednesdays from 1 to 3pm and 6 to 8pm Fridays from 1 to 5pm and Saturdays from 11am to 1pm.
For information email info@mintoartscouncil.ca or call 519-327-8529.
