Thirty years of Umbrella

By Carol Bauer

There have been many programs and services offered by the Quinte Arts Council (QAC) since its inception in 1967. But the most enduring and successful of them all is Umbrella. Since 1991, this little tabloid newspaper (and now magazine) has helped spread the word about the arts in Quinte throughout this community and beyond. Many other arts councils have used Umbrella as an example on which to base their own publications.

It was the Scarborough Arts Council's newspaper that inspired Susan Stevenson, QAC's Executive Director back in 1991, to set into motion the steps it would take to produce an arts newspaper for this region.

At the time, the QAC was creating a placemat-style calendar, but Susan felt it was a poor representation of the quality of work being produced in Quinte. She secured funding to hire Jan Dolby, and so began Umbrella. Peter Davis was later hired to do layout and design. I got in touch with Dolby recently and she shared some fond memories:

“The production of Umbrella made the office hum. There was always lots of action during the process: laser printer running off copy, readjusting the copy columns, editing, great conversations and laughter. Umbrella was created before the internet, email, Photoshop or InDesign, but we made a great publication.

Susan was in charge of content and editing, Barb Hallam collected member information as it came in over the phone or drop-offs to the office. I was in charge of typesetting, layout and design with the help of the incredibly talented Peter Davis... He taught me so much about laying out a publication. He taught me to love an exacto knife, to use wax and rulers and to make sure copy was straight.”

Peter Davis

She adds: “The paper definitely brought the QAC closer to its membership. It was an excellent communication tool for member events, as well as for municipal and provincial arts information.”

I took over Umbrella at the same time as the arts community was growing bigger and more active, and over the years, the paper more than doubled in size. As the editor and producer, I did pretty much everything except layout. It was a lot of intense work and there were a few very late nights before each print deadline. Thanks to volunteers like Jane Mackenzie, who helped edit and proofread almost every issue, we always got 'the boards' to the printer on time.

Jane Mackenzie

It was with great pleasure that in 2018, I handed Umbrella over to Janet, Adam and Fiona who have turned it into a full-colour glossy magazine. No one, except those of us who have worked on it over the years, will know how much time and effort goes into producing and distributing it. I feel for you guys – but better you than me!