The Sweet Taste of Liberty

Whether it's a government shutdown or the seemingly endless revelations of misconduct, news about federal institutions is front page right now and the frustration people feel about our leaders and governments is tangible. I can commiserate. Politics and what it can do to change lives (for better or worse) is something that has fascinated me … Continue reading The Sweet Taste of Liberty

An Artist’s Calling

By Alexia Naidoo UDATE: Here is the letter Sophie Grégoire Trudeau sent to Lydia after reading my article: Lydia Pepin knew all along she had a creative impulse, but she didn’t make the leap to follow her passion until her mid-twenties. “Even as a child I was always drawing and painting. I was more interested in art than … Continue reading An Artist’s Calling

Protecting Heritage & Environment in Old Ottawa East

Greystone Village is a 26-acre development project in the heart of Old Ottawa East between the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River. Settlement in the area, which used to be called Archville, goes back almost 200 years to when the Catholic monastic community, Les Oeuvres Oblates de l’Ontario, built the main building on the Édifice … Continue reading Protecting Heritage & Environment in Old Ottawa East

James Wilson Morrice: A Gift of a Lifetime’s Work

  It may be one of the most significant gifts in the history of the National Gallery of Canada: a collection of 50 works by one of the most celebrated names in Canadian art history, James Wilson Morrice (1865–1924). The benefactor, Ash Prakash, is a renowned author and collector of Canadian art, as well as … Continue reading James Wilson Morrice: A Gift of a Lifetime’s Work

100 Million Reasons to Smile: Ottawa’s Finance Deal of the Year

After launching Canada’s biggest tech IPO in the past four years – not to mention the country’s largest software-as-a-service public offering ever – Kinaxis is an easy choice for Ottawa’s finance deal of the year. © Cole Burston Kinaxis CFO Richard Monkman Kinaxis, which has its headquarters and R&D operations in the capital, specializes in … Continue reading 100 Million Reasons to Smile: Ottawa’s Finance Deal of the Year

Bringing the World of Impressionism to the Prairies

Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, The Hudson River (n.d.), oil on burlap, 50.6 x 40.9 cm. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift from the Estate of Arnold O. Brigden, G-73-328 There are two ways in which Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald (1890–1956) is typically remembered: as the last artist to join the Group of Seven or, as Montreal … Continue reading Bringing the World of Impressionism to the Prairies

The Concrete Hip-Hop Poetry of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat, A Panel of Experts (1982), acrylic and oil paintstick and paper collage on canvas with exposed wood supports and twine 152.4 x 152.4 cm. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Gift of Ira Young. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat / SODRAC (2014). Licensed by Artestar, New York We’ll never know if the name “Madonna” … Continue reading The Concrete Hip-Hop Poetry of Jean-Michel Basquiat

Canadian Ensemble of the Italian Baroque

Ciro Ferri, Joseph Turning Away from Potiphar's Wife (c. 1675), oil on canvas, 75.6 x 104 cm. Agnes Etherington Art Center, Queen’s University, Kingston, Gift of Alfred & Isabel Bader Shining a spotlight on twelve Italian Baroque masterpieces from prominent Canadian art institutions, the Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH) has put together an ensemble cast … Continue reading Canadian Ensemble of the Italian Baroque