Spring 2022 Vol. 31 No. 1
What's Under the Umbrella? o
Photographer Bill Bickle engages with nature
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Female artists RISE at the Quinte Arts Council Gallery Chrystelle Maechler creates A New Place Called Home
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Visual I Performance I Literary I Heritage I Education
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Janet Jarrell, Executive Director janet@quinteartscouncil.org Fiona Campbell, Communications Director fiona@quinteartscouncil.org Heather Christiansen, Program Director heather@quinteartscouncil.org Andrew Gray, Graphic Designer drewgraymatters@gmail.com Kim Lidstone, Bookkeeper qac@quinteartscouncil.org The Quinte Arts Council is a not-for-profit, charitable organization, registration number 107869448 RR 0001. Publications mail agreement number 40667523. Published by: The Quinte Arts Council, P.O. Box 22113 Belleville, Ont. K8N 2Z5 Printed by: Willow Publishing Material may be reprinted only with permission. Umbrella is mailed to members and delivered to distribution points throughout the Quinte region. The information contained within is believed to be reliable, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. We do not assume responsibility for any errors and/or omissions related to submitted content.
QAC programs are funded in part by:
John M. & Bernice
PARROTT F O U N D AT I O N
The new buzzword is regeneration! Things are happening. Shuttered organizations are opening their doors, shelved events are back in the plans, and people are out experiencing art and culture. Whether we realize it or not, we are coming out of this, changed. So much has happened; being on lockdown gave us the time we needed to grasp it all. (And it’s ok if you need more time.)
connect with the arts. It is one of the most important programs at the QAC – thank you for supporting it. In this issue, we celebrate local film, music, literary, visual and performing arts. We talk of heritage, reopening the arts (a new gallery space at the QAC) and arts education. As schools shift from virtual education back to allowing artists into the classrooms, the QAC grant program continues to support those artist fees. We take a special look at former QAC board member and local classical musician, Eugene Lang (1920-2000). In his memory, a bursary was established with the QAC to bring music education projects to our schools.
We are eager to get together, and a little anxious about it too. We are dedicated to reconciliation, but unsure how to accomplish it with the honour it deserves. We want equity, diversity and inclusion and are willing to put the work in to achieve it. We have embraced the virtual/digital world; some have come to prefer it, while others crave live arts. Moving forward with the challenges of post-pandemic transformations, we urge One thing is for sure: the way forward is you to remember those who are vulnerabeing willing to learn and grow. ble in our communities as we aim to come together in strength. As we watch in disWe recently celebrated the opening of belief the atrocities in the Russian invathe newly renovated gallery/professional sion of Ukraine and wonder how we can development space at the QAC. Further, help, know that the simple act of kindness our new website and event app are live! you show your neighbour has reverberaCheck it out at quinteartscouncil.org. tions around the world. Through it all, the QAC team has con- With renewed energy, passion and a lot tinued the important work behind this of kindness, we are geared up for a fanUmbrella magazine. We have had some tastic 2022. Regeneration at its best. great reader feedback and we thank you! For some, this magazine delivered to their door has been the most personal way to Cover: Bill Bickle
Back: Elizabeth Dinkle
Table of Contents
Bill Bickle
Message from the Chair + Contributors
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Art Education Eugene Lang and “Artist in the Classroom” bursaries
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Photography Bill Bickle: An interest in nature
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Visual Arts Tom Ashbourne: Revealing the sculpture within These 4 Walls: Local gallery, global pandemic The faces of Elizabeth Dinkle
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Music Dustin Bird: Singing about Every Little Town Making waves with Sands of Time
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Quinte Arts Council QAC Reopening / RISE: Because We Are Equal 2022
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Film DocFest: Ten years after Chrystelle Maechler: A New Place Called Home
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Theatre Tweed & Company Theatre: reimagines the future Festival Players of Prince Edward County: 16 years and growing
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Literary Allison Pilling: A young widow’s story of transformation Lindsay Brant: Kawennenhá:wi “She carries the words”
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Heritage Memories of Belleville with Connie Carson
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Artist to Watch: Debra Vincent Power in Flight Sponsored by the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board
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MESSAGE FROM CHAIR OF THE BOARD At the Quinte Arts Council, our board and staff are constantly reminding ourselves of our vision and mission. Naming our core values ensures transparency and accountability to our members and the community we serve. We are in the process of auditing our work and centering ourselves in equity, inclusion and diversity. This means taking action against bias and oppression, building awareness in our community, providing relevant programming, and removing barriers for artists. Not only that, it means listening. Our community is rich with diverse artists and cultural expression. Our communications team and our quarterly issues of the Umbrella aim to shine a light on these voices. We have videos, curations and projects ongoing which amplify injustice and human rights. Let us know how we are doing. We welcome your feedback. Andrea Kerr
Another call to action for our readers is to notice the abundance and joy that the arts bring to our community. Please help us reach out to the furthest corners of the Quinte region to find makers and creatives. Tell us their stories. Lastly, gratitude and reverence: we want to acknowledge our former board member and chair Anne Cunningham. Anne’s contributions to the work of the Quinte Arts Council over the course of over 50 years has been unbreakable. Now, although she lives a fair distance away from our region, she has been a part of making this issue possible. You are remarkable, Anne. Thank you!
Contributors
Scott Williams
Lin Parkin
Greg Ceci
Peter Paylor
Jennifer Shea
Ardith Racey
Joy Lynn Goddard
Full bios can be found at quinteartscouncil.org/umbrella/contributors
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A Belleville Treasure and the Eugene Lang Memorial Fund By Heather Christiansen
the Quinte arts community as a walking encyclopedia of classical music, Eugene Lang is a Belleville treasure. He devoted more than half a century to advocating, profiling and supporting the arts in Belleville. Eugene was an accomplished pianist in his youth and his extensive resume spanned from radio broadcaster, columnist, educator, board member to volunteer. From the 1940s to 1986, Eugene hosted a classical music radio program on CJBQ and then on the Loyalist College radio station CJLX-FM until his death in 2000. In 2003, Belleville Intelligencer columnist Chris Malette wrote of Eugene’s concert reviews in the newspaper: “widely read, cherished, occasionally criticized and always bemoaned by whomever in this office had to retype them, are sorely missed on these pages.” Chris referred to him as Jeep or Jeepster, a nickname from Eugene’s youth used by his colleagues.
Eugene’s passion was classical music. He dedicated three decades of adjudicating the Rotary Music Festival. In the early 1950s, he was a founding member of the Belleville Community Concert series bringing Canadian and international classical musicians to Belleville. Eugene associated with many international musicians, writing letters to them and receiving personal replies. His son, Gene recalls two handwritten letters from Jean Sibelius and a personal audio tape from classical pianist Glenn Gould. Eugene was also a mentor to Belleville-born Canadian classical conductor and radio personality Kerry Stratton. Eugene taught music appreciation classes in the 1970s and 1980s and advised customers on classical music at Sam the Record Man for 15 years. Eugene served as a board member for the Quinte Arts Council (QAC) and the Quinte Symphony. Donna Davies, former
QAC Arts Coordinator and former Manager of Quinte Symphony, says, “In my 20s, my father and I worked hand in hand on many projects, festival events and concert productions. I will always cherish those father-daughter times and our shared love of the arts.” “Aside from his encyclopedic mind for musical history, our father was known to many for his colourful sense of humour and his outgoing, friendly manner to all who passed by or greeted him,” says Donna. “He could be the life of the party, as well as the serious interviewer, a man who always carried a joke or two in his pocket or one who could offer an in-depth analysis of a piece of music on the spot.” A testament to Eugene’s impact on classical music in Belleville, the Quinte Symphony dedicated their 2000-01 season to Eugene and his family established the Eugene Lang Memorial Bursary with the QAC to encourage musical education projects in the schools. Donna says, “Dad was also a school board trustee for many years. We think he would be proud to see the good it’s done over the years to introduce young audiences to classical music and also provide artists opportunities to share their own love and passion for music.” On May 4, 2001, The QAC hosted a Quinte Symphony classical concert fundraiser and reception to benefit the Eugene Lang Memorial Fund. More than 20 years later, the fund has supported numerous classical music workshops, lectures, master classes and concerts in Quinte schools. The QAC provides funding for music, performing and visual art in Quinte schools. To make a donation to the Eugene Lang Memorial Fund or the Artists in Schools programs, or to learn more, visit quinteartscouncil.org.
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Arts Education
K nown to many in
Bill Bickle Roslin, ON
An interest in nature Photography
was formed early for Bill. Photography as a hobby came later. Now both come together to produce beautiful images as he captures birds, animals and flowers in their natural surroundings. It is the love of nature's flora and fauna that stimulates Bill's extensive research into habitat and characteristics of his subjects. Armed with this knowledge he then commands patience most would not endure, waiting for the ultimate posture, lighting and, sometimes surprising interaction that results in some of his most outstanding photographs. Bill's ability to anticipate action before it happens allows him to capture images that, for many, would be halfway out of the frame. The crisp clarity of his work allows those who only witness nature from a distance to realize the beauty of his specimens up close and personally. Perhaps even encouraging us to take a closer look ourselves next time we encounter nature's gifts. It is this combination of creativity and camaraderie with nature that provides a calm and rewarding harbour for Bill. And it is his dedication in search of engaging images that will continue to provide us all with a view of nature we may not otherwise experience. billbickle.com
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Photography
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Photography
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Photography
Tom Ashbourne: Revealing the sculpture within
Fine Arts
By Lin Parkin
Moonlight
During their careers,
dancing stone sculptor Tom Ashbourne and his wife Linda spent weekends touring Prince Edward County’s many boutiques, antique shops, and art galleries. So when they retired from corporate life in Toronto, they already knew they would end up in The County. Although Ashbourne was always an avid art collector, he didn't discover his own talent until he took a set of sculpting
Echo
lessons a year before retiring. Once he tried it, he was hooked on the process and stunned to learn he had this hidden ability.
“What it all comes down to is bringing an energy to the piece.”
Celestial, photo by Bob House
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At his studio, he gestures around the room: "All these pieces, I often marvel that I made them. It brings a real joy and a real satisfaction. Each one of them is so totally different, yet they all came from these rough pieces of rock that you would never, ever imagine what it's going to end up being." Ashbourne has been immersed in creating sculptures since 2014, and his work is receiving international attention. In 2021, he received an unexpected invi-
Autumn
tation to exhibit his art at the Florence Biennale in Italy – an immersive event where artists worldwide show their work and participate in an intercultural and interdisciplinary experience. Attending the Biennale proved to be an extraordinary opportunity to learn
from peers. "When I talked to other artists, the thing that they kept talking about was the energy in my pieces, and I had never thought about it that way. It's usually about the symmetry, a focal point, and colour, texture and shape; all these components of art that you need to make a successful piece.” He adds, “In the end, when I was in Florence, I realized what it all comes down to is bringing an energy to the piece." Ashbourne likens that to how it feels when walking through a forest, sitting by the lake, or gazing up at the sky. There is an intangible connection, perhaps partly due to the medium being a natural material, primarily alabaster stone.
Thunder
Stone sculpting is a reductive art form. Ashbourne works off the rough outer layer, what he calls "the rind." As he sands, chips, or grinds the stone down, it begins to reveal its inner contours and unique patterns. It is an interactive experience between the artist and his subject. Ashbourne is the only artist in Canada 09
who is currently an elected member of the Sculptors Society of Canada (SSC), Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), and the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA). He was also listed among DESTIG Magazine’s "Best of 2020." His sculptures are displayed at his private studio in Wellington, Ont., located along Prince Edward County's Arts Trail. Photography by Mike Gaudaur/Quinte Studios (except where indicated) tomashbourne.com
Linda Tuck Chapman
Fine Arts
Winter's Coming
These 4 Walls: Local gallery, global pandemic Fine Arts
By Scott Williams
Quinte
West artist
and owner Brandy Calvert Ringelmann plays a long game, not letting inconvenient circumstances get in her way. Like when the province went into a protracted lockdown in early 2021, just days after she had signed the lease for space that would become These 4 Walls Gallery. Some might have been overwhelmed
– and Ringelmann does admit that the timing was a bit “intimidating” – but she and her newly hired gallery curator, Wendy Capp, rolled up their sleeves and reinvented their roles: drywalling, painting, laying floors… whatever was necessary. The renovation process took twice as long as expected, but the gallery finally opened
Nathan MahaffyJL Morgan Photography
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in August, and the resulting space – beautiful, airy and spacious – is built, as Ringelmann says, “on the blood, sweat and tears of the entire team.” From the beginning, Ringelmann’s vision for the business was to bridge the gap between gallery owner and artist. “Art should be warm and celebratory,” she says, “not stiff and intimidating.” Her retail experience (she is also owner of Off The Hook clothing boutique) also taught her that shopping is a social activity. The design of the gallery reflects that vision, featuring not just art on walls, but also a bistro with eclectic fare, comfortable seating, and upbeat music. And when a second lockdown closed indoor dining, the team converted the bistro to an enormous temporary studio, spawning a series of public workshops that are now a permanent fixture. As artists themselves, Ringelmann and Capp both know how difficult it can be for an artist to find an audience for their work. Fully 65% of the work at These 4 Walls is from local artists – and the team is working hard to increase that number. “It’s tough for artists to make money from their art,” says Ringelmann,
“but we can certainly help.” A recent auction and upcoming Square Foot Show are examples of events dedicated to supporting and encouraging the local artistic community. Some aspects of the current business might not have been in the original plan – like the pandemic-inspired workshop series, or the popular af-
ternoon teas (both of which are now booking several months in advance) – but Ringelmann is willing to let the business take its own course. “You can’t get caught up in what you want for the business,” she says. “You have to accept what the business and the market are telling you.”
JL Morgan Photography
That willingness to adapt and change, coupled with Ringelmann’s clear vision and her team’s “whatever it takes” attitude to overcoming obstacles are what have brought this beautiful new gallery to life, right in the heart of downtown Trenton. these4wallsgallery.com
JL Morgan Photography
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Theatre Fine Arts
JL Morgan Photography
two Burmese Mountain Dogs. “It came out so well,” she says. “It was like a spark that started the flame. I couldn’t stop. I wanted to just keep doing another one and another one and another one. You just need that spark.” She’s created her own Christmas card every year for at least 23 years now. And she keeps going back to those faces.
Fine Arts
The faces of Elizabeth Dinkle Belleville, ON By Peter Paylor
S ome
year s ago
I had the good fortune to pose for some artists who sketched, drew, and painted live models in a studio space above a storefront in Belleville on Front Street. The space is owned by Paul Dinkel. The studio was run at that time by his wife Elizabeth, who had taken over from the late Jo Grieve who had taken it over from Loyalist College. If you are lucky enough to have seen the space, you’ll know that the walls are filled with hundreds of Elizabeth’s pastel portraits. Local artists, dignitaries and celebrities, and ordinary people from all walks of life line those walls. Decades of history. The story of us. It’s one of our region’s hidden treasures. I asked Dinkel about the portraits. “Oh, the faces,” she says. “I still remember
being in grade one, doing princesses with tiaras and trying to make their faces. I was just fascinated with faces and all over my books – you know the way kids doodle all over their books. I love doing eyes with long eyelashes and then eventually the whole face started to come in.” She tells me she was fortunate to have had good teachers right from public school. She always sketched and drew and doodled, as she calls it, but never took her art all that seriously. Paul once gave her a box of 100 fine pastel pencils. It sat around for over a year. And then came a Christmas card from her friend Dayna Law that Dayna had created from her own artwork. Dinkel knew immediately that she wanted to create one herself. She took out the pastels and created a picture of her house and her 12
“It was just fun watching them come alive. Many nights I would sit there in the evening with all kinds of floodlights around me and Paul would get up and he’d tell me to go to bed and I’d say it’s like reading a good book, you don’t want to put it down because you want to see how it turns out at the end,” she says. “And that’s how the face was, and you were never quite finished, you’re always adjusting and fixing because every time you got away from it for a couple of days and you saw it with fresh eyes, you could see that it needed to be adjusted to make it even better and then when you think you were satisfied, you look at it a year later and you say: ‘Oh God! I did that?’” She adds: “It is meditative to sit there and paint. I don’t get bored doing it. You have to like your own company because it’s a very quiet, solitary thing to do. I can get lost in it.” People often tell her that they can’t draw at all. “If they say they wish they could draw I tell them that that’s the first step,” she says. “You have to want to. If you don’t want to, you’re never going to be able to draw, because it’s not something you’re going to enjoy. But if you want to, all you need then is to have somebody to guide you.” Dinkel is a member of Gallery 121 at 48 Bridge Street East in Belleville’s downtown art district where her work can often be seen. “It feels like you’ve accomplished something,” she says, “just by having it on the wall where someone can see it.” The studio above the storefront on Front Street is still there, but it hasn’t been active for the past couple of years now. She says that Paul keeps telling her that she’ll have to move out one day, but, she says, he’s been telling her that all along.
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Fine Arts
Dustin Bird: Singing about Every Little Town
Music
By Greg C eci
Lee Zavitz
M ode r n
count r y
musician Dustin Bird was raised in Belleville, but hangs his hat in the sleepy, tight knit community of Stirling, Ont.. He attended elementary school in Prince Edward County and often finds himself drawing upon childhood experiences to fuel his creativity. "Family is the main part of my journey,” says Bird.
To say he's enjoyed fantastic family support is a gross understatement as Bird credits them for all his successes. "My dad first introduced me to his guitar, I think it was an Ovation, when I was 3 or 4. I wanted one of my own immediately. When I was 5, Santa dropped one off in a box from Sears. I was hooked,” he says. It wasn't long before Bird was attempting to write his own songs.
Poatus
Lee Zavitz
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“If TikTok had been around back then, I shudder to think about what we’d be looking at today."
Bird's songwriting process is fluid, wide open and free of rules...
Bird’s whole family is musical: “My grandpa Norbert was a really solid fiddle player. I remember he’d sort of skip around the kitchen playing some old fiddle tunes from the Valley (Pembroke area). My family on my dad’s side have always been about campfire tunes. My uncle Charlie has played with his band for as long as I can remember. My cousin Joe rips blues tunes and builds some really cool cigar box guitars. I’ve actually used one on a few records."
does what he does and Bird is both grateful for and humbled by their support. At his shows, one can expect high energy entertainment, solid musicianship and deeply meaningful well crafted songs. Riding a wave of backing from community, fans, friends and family, Bird is destined for much more and is most assuredly a local artist to keep an eye on. dustinbirdmusic.com
Although he visits Nashville for inspiration and collaborations, he always longs for Stirling and loves coming home to recharge his batteries - especially considering that Stirling has whole heartedly adopted him as their own. The support offered by his community is not lost on Dustin and he avows Stirling will always remain his home. His influences include Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Jo Dee Messina, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, and Dean Brody. Bird's songwriting process is fluid, wide open and free of rules while he often assumes the production helm in the studio. His proudest achievements include opening for Tim Hicks, playing at the iconic El Mocambo, collaborating on Together We're Strong for the Unison Benevolent Fund and releasing soul searching songs like Broke And Lonely. Bird sees country music continuing to diversify, is excited to contribute to that variegation and has every intention of continuing his quest for years to come. His fans are the reason he
Poatus
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Music
Poatus
Making waves with Sands of Time Music
By Greg Ceci
The year was 1966.
War protests continued, race riots erupted, a brash charismatic boxer named Cassius Clay captured the world, Martin Luther King continued to fight for equality and music charts were dominated by four Liverpudlian lads. However, four teens from Belleville were making waves of their own – all in an unassuming, humble Canadian fashion steeped in camaraderie.
Friends Ken Williams, Tim Campbell, Ted Elvins and Al O'Hara formed the group while attending Moira Secondary School. Initially dubbed Ken and the Continentals, they soon became Sands Of Time. Denny and Eric Baragar were added, Vernon Martin replaced Ted Elvins and the final lineup consisted of Eric Baragar, Tim Campbell, Mike Goettler, Steve Smith and Dave Conley, with Williams acting as manager.
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Influenced by British rock, they eventually adopted a funkier five-part harmony Soul/Motown sound. From 1966 through 1970, Baragar describes a vibrant Quinte music scene: "When the Beatles hit the airwaves, everybody wanted to grow their hair long and be in a band. Bands would play the latest hit songs on the radio with a minimal amount of gear, no lighting
Music rigs, no large stages and no production. There were tea dances, teen dances, tiki clubs, parish halls, community halls, Zwick’s Island bandshells, all packed with teens grooving to the music." The early years were magical and even major decisions were done democratically. They passed around an ashtray and whomever held it had the floor to have their say. They honed their chops playing 300 gigs in a sixyear span – all while still attending school. They maintained friendships while incessantly rehearsing and touring crammed into a small car.
Other major accomplishments included being the youngest Canadian touring band, a full page back cover for Billboard Magazine and an entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia of Rock, Pop & Folk Music. Their most memorable gig? The 1971 “Man and His World” performance during the day and a premiere Montreal club opening for The Guess Who the same evening.
The final lineup recorded and released I've Got A Feeling, which hit #2 on the Canadian charts and #23 all-time for Canadian hits of 1970. Says Baragar: “The band was driving to my house on Purdy Street when we heard our song come on the radio for the first time. We started cheering in excitement, the doors flew open and we were dancing in the street." 17
Sands Of Time lived the rock and roll dream, weathered a few storms but ultimately stood the test of time by displaying their most endearing accomplishment of all – friendship. To this day they remain close, living blocks apart while still writing, recording and performing music – older and wiser as Bentwood Rocker. Images courtesy of Ken Williams
Quinte Arts Council
QAC Reopening / RISE Show By QAC Team
As
an u m brel l a
organization that represents the collective interests of our artists and arts organizations with the mandate to elevate the arts community as a whole, our goal is to offer this space as a beautiful gallery, vibrant workshop and performance hub for artists of all disciplines -- a creative
place to accommodate a wide range of arts programming and educational activities for residents and visitors of the Quinte region. This space is a means to safely promote artists in our community and connect them to audiences and thereby increasing their opportunity to achieve creative success with viable, sustainable careers.
Marilyn Warren
The new QAC Gallery and office space was designed by Krista Ross with support from the Parrott Foundation, the Ontario Arts Council, Arts Response Initiative and the City of Belleville. International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8 is a global day honouring and celebrating the social, economic, cultural
Marilyn Warren
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Gender inequality is still a real issue in Canada’s arts and cultural sector. To be a part of fostering representation of women in galleries, Quinte Arts Council hosted their fourth annual RISE: Because We Are Equal show to celebrate the voices and aesthetics of women artists.
artists featured at the QAC for the month of March are Maria Moreno, Ilse NelLanders, Sarah Winn, Lola Reid Allin, Briana Godden, Barbara Högenauer, Lise Lindenberg, Melissa Brant, Adey
Singer, Sabrina Jovic, Shani Doucet, Ingrid Kao and Ella Wagner. Visit our online gallery to view all artists works from this exhibition.
“Galleries and curators have traditionally discriminated against women, but just because women artists haven’t been sufficiently celebrated, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” says Janet Jarrell, executive director of the Quinte Arts Council. “RISE seeks out women doing interesting and innovative work, so we can celebrate their contributions to the arts.” Open to all who identify as women, working in painting, illustration, photography, mixed media, textiles, sculpture, and ceramics, this year’s show features 13 Quinte-based local
Heather Christiansen
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Quinte Arts Council
and political achievements of women all over the world. The IWD campaign theme for 2022 is #BreakTheBias.
Quinte Arts Council
Brianna Godden
Barbara Hogenauer, See Me
Maria Moreno, Canaima
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lse Nel-Landers, In The Moment
Sabrina Jovic, Lady Icicle
Ingrid Kao, An Ocean of Uncertainty
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Quinte Arts Council
Adey Singer, Zewditu
Ten years after Film
By Peter Paylor
There
have been
months of preparation. The films have been chosen. The schedule is set. The only thing that could go wrong is for the power to go out or for one of the films not to show up or for no one to show up to see them. Everything else has been taken care of. March 2, 2012: Day one. Friday morning. A windstorm. Flashing has blown off from the roof of The CORE, where volunteers are still putting out chairs
in the main screening room because there has been a dance class in the room the night before. The lights flicker and go out. They come back on. They go out. They come back on. They go out. It’s a few hours away from the first screening. Word comes in that the DocFest banner is now flying over the Moira River, twisted and in tatters. Indecipherable. More words come in from the festival programmer. The gala film hasn’t arrived yet. She is waiting at the bus station. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, DocFest organizers huddle
InQuinte/Amanda Lorbetski
22
downstairs at The CORE. Festival passes have not sold in great numbers. There is tension in the air. There is nothing to do now but wait. It’s less than an hour until the first screening. The wind dies down. The lights stay on. The Gala film arrives. People start coming – in droves – lining up for Festival passes. There is a buzz in the air. It won’t go away all that weekend. The Gala goes off without a hitch. Bruce Macdonald’s brilliant documentary film, Music from the Big House, about
In Thy Dark Streets Shineth
Fruits of Labour
Threads of Love
Film
Bridge 10-46
Hamilton Blues legend Rita Chiarelli and her work with musicians in prisons is screened before an enthusiastic sold-out audience at the Empire Theatre. After the film, Rita Chiarelli and her band hit the stage, and the rest, of course, is history. In one day, the fate of DocFest has been established for years to come. Ten Years Later March 2, 2022: The festival is two days away. There are no chairs to set up. No concern about windstorms or power failures or films showing up. The last of the films has been loaded on the festival’s streaming platform. The Gala concert with Peterborough’s Four Lanes Wide has been filmed from the Empire stage and it’s loaded, as well. So has the Gala film, Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm by British filmmaker Hannah Berryman. The Q&A’s have all been recorded. They’re loaded too. Cody Bennett is in his first year as DocFest’s Program Coordinator. He’s in Kingston this morning with his partner, waiting for their twins to be born. They think today might be the day. The twins were born on the evening of March 2 -- ten years to the day from the first day of DocFest. Cody says that they are home and doing fine.
Welcome to the world of virtual DocFest. “You try to anticipate as much as you can – what might go wrong – but I think we’re in good shape,” says committee chair, Holly Dewar. She’s been with DocFest since year two. “You work all year towards this and it’s really exciting to have it happen.” This is the second year that DocFest was completely virtual: “We were all really looking forward to the tenth year [last year] being a real milestone for us, but I was so proud that we were able to shift to going digital and move forward with
the festival. It took real courage from the team, and it was so appreciated. The comments from the community were wonderful and the community support was amazing, so I’m really so glad that we didn’t decide to just wait.” She adds: “I think next year we’ll definitely be able to do a live festival and go back to having the community together. To watch films together. To go out to dinner. To support the downtown. That would be wonderful.” downtowndocfest.ca
Faith and Branko
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A New Place Called Home Film
By Peter Paylor
When documentary
film director Chrystelle Maechler moved to Prince Edward County from Toronto with her husband, cinematographer Andreas Krätschmer, she immediately started searching for a project: “I knew that I wanted to find a way to anchor myself in The County,” she says, “and I thought what better way than by telling its stories.”
A New Place Called Home is a sixpart documentary series about people who moved from elsewhere to make a
new home in The County. Melissa and Paul Tobias met in Toronto, then moved to The County where they opened Idlewild Asian Kitchen in Wellington. Alison Lawtey left the corporate world to open The Acres of High Shore, a Bed and Breakfast in Ameliasburg. Susan and Glen Wallis opened Away in the County, a Bed and Breakfast in Cherry Valley. Aaron Armstrong left his job at a toy company to start Blue Wheelbarrow Farm in Hallowell. Amor and Joaquim Conde run Quinta do Conde, a farm and farm stand business in Milford. “It's difficult to uncomplicate a complicated life,” says Conde. “Changing everything…maybe halfway through your life…it’s very daring. There’s a lot of uncertainty.”
Andreas Krätschmer
Uncertainty is a recurring theme in the series. “Uncertainty is the only constant,” says Maechler. “I like that these people didn’t know what would happen, they just wanted to make it happen and they did, and I really, really respect that. You just never know what’s going to happen and there are some people courageous 24
enough to embrace that and just say this is what I want to do. At least I want to try it, and they go for it and to me that is super inspiring, and I think this is also the reason I wanted to do this series." Sleiman Al Jasem fled Syria to find a new home in The County. Now he runs his own business, County Catch in Picton. “To feel like home,” he says, “it’s like to be safe in a country. You have human rights. You’re free to say the things you want to say and free to go anywhere. People are nice. Nice living, you know.”
Film
Home is what the series is all about, really. “I think I never really felt, or rarely felt, a sense of home,” says Maechler. “For me…I was trying to find if there was a home for me, and sometimes in the making of something, through the meaning and definition of what it is for other people, you hope to find what it means to you.” As she learned about people who leave a home to create a new one, Maechler’s own understanding of home evolved: “For me now, my definition of home isn’t a place, it’s the people,” she says. “I guess that through the making of the doc series, I probably learned that more than anything else.” She adds: “I was very touched by Sleiman’s definition of home which was so drastically different from everything I’d heard before and it was also something I’d taken for granted. I think when he said that…that was like, okay, I could just stop right there. You just learn so much when you just ask someone what home means for them.”
A New Place Called Home was nominated for Best Documentary at T.O. WebFest in 2021. It was an Official Selection at the Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival and an Official Selection at The Toronto Short Film Festival. It is currently available for streaming on Bell Fibe TV. chrystellemaechler.com
Self Portrrait
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Tweed & Company Theatre reimagines the future By Ardith Racey
Theatre
Hastings, The Musical
Professional performing arts have long been sporadically brought to rural communities. But now, Tweed and Bancroft have their own dedicated, professional theatre group and venues.
Tim Porter, artistic director of Tweed & Company Theatre (T&C), is proud and excited as he looks forward to the 2022 season and beyond, describing the group as “a young, vibrant, motivated company with ideas, connections, and vision.” Given that T&C was recently gifted the Marble Arts Centre in Actinolite (north of Tweed), as well as a 10year lease of the Village Playhouse in Bancroft, the sky's the limit. With the two venues under company control, the now larger organization, which currently employs five people, is in the process of applying for funding for significant renovations to make both venues more useable year long.
Ardith Racey
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Porter’s dream for the venues is big. At the Marble Arts Centre (aka the MAC), he imagines a glass foyer that will act as entrance and lobby and create additional storage. The Village Playhouse in Bancroft “opens up a whole new world.” As well as growing professional music productions and plays, there are many other plans in the works: he’s hoping that the Ontario Festival of Small Halls will be back, and they plan to offer Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) screenings, young company programs, summer jobs for students and a theatre arts apprenticeship program with St. Lawrence College, “all of which allow young people to gain experience, confidence, and teamwork skills.” He also plans to partner with local businesses to expand cultural tourism “because we now have access to Broadway and professional productions in our own backyard for a fraction of the price.”
Theatre
Tim Porter
Rehearsal for Tales from the Lighted Path
Porter’s enthusiasm for the upcoming season is palatable. She the People, written and performed by Toronto-based Second City, will be “their first thing out” at both venues in May. He’s equally excited about Ride the Cyclone, “which he fell in love with 10 years ago.” It’s scheduled for July at both venues. Mama Mia!, a musical that “broadens the group’s horizons given the larger venue in Bancroft” will run there in August. They are also actively looking for talented locals and will be doing auditions in both locations this spring. tweedandcompany.com
Luke Hendry
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Festival Players of Prince Edward County: 16 years and growing Theatre
By Jennifer Shea
Festival
Players of
Prince Edward County is hitting their stride. With 16 seasons and more than 100 performances under their belt, the Players settled into a new groove at The Eddie Hotel & Farm’s BMO Pavilion in Bloomfield in 2021.
Carolyn Taylor & Elvira Kurt
Says artistic director Graham Abbey, “It’s been an interesting evolution as a company, and really a beautiful evolution, because the company has performed everywhere, from vineyards to barns to churches to storefronts. That creates a strong, interesting, eclectic company.”
Their partnership with The Eddie last year was just one of the unique new approaches taken by Festival Players. “In 2021, we engaged with some amazing dancers in the area who were looking for a home for the [contemporary dance] Flight Festival. We partnered with them and we’re doing that again this year.” The dancers involved with the Flight Festival wanted to connect with the community, and that led to dance classes for County children between the ages of 3 and 12, and, for the fourth year, Festival Players offered the PIC (Play Incubator Camp) and PEC play development camp geared to youth between 12 and 17 years of age; a free program for PEC youth.
Kristen Foote
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In August of 2021, well-known standup and sketch comics Elvira Kurt (DeGeneres HBO Special/The Tonight Show) and Carolyn Taylor Ellen (Baroness von Sketch) performed over four days. Adds Abbey: “We’re going to try and branch that out this year and run a more fleshed out comedy festival.”
Theatre
Elvira Kurt
Festival Players is also currently seeking an Indigenous theatre creator for a newly-funded position that will open doors for a young Indigenous artist from the region (or inspired by the region). Festival Players is collaborating with the Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na Language and Cultural Centre (TTO) in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. “They agreed to partner with us and help us vet applicants,” says Abbey. “They will be involved the whole way in terms of nurturing. The (successful) applicant will be chosen by Indigenous artists. We’re willing to look at any sort of art form.”
Syreeta Hector
Abbey and his wife, like many newer County residents, were attracted to the area after a visit from outof-town. His background as an actor and director at the Stratford Festival for 25 seasons, among other professional roles in Toronto and across North America, has given him an appreciation for the lifestyle Prince Edward County has to offer. “The County is a beautiful ‘muse’. It’s an escape from city life. We’re really trying to lean into it and be inspired by the region that we’re in. You can’t do better than Prince Edward County as an inspirational place.” Photography by Sarah Kirby festivalplayers.ca
Beany John
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A young widow’s story of transformation By Joy Goddard
Literary
Despite
her fresh-
faced, happy-go-lucky appearance, Allison Pilling has been in a deep dark place where she has faced her worst fears. Climbing out of it, the young woman has gained wisdom beyond her years and hopes to help others by what she has learned. Her book, R.I.P: Restoring Inner Peace, is doing just that. Just after the book’s release in January, it hit the number 1 best-seller spot in the grief and bereavement category on Amazon.
Pilling was living the Canadian dream. She and her loving husband, James, were well-respected engineers with two healthy children, a beautiful home, and a wide circle of family and friends. Their downward spiral began with her husband’s secret drinking problem.
“I saw it as the beginning for us to move forward and repair what I felt was lost in our relationship.” Since he hid it well, she had no idea he was an alcoholic. He wasn’t a mean drunk, for instance. James disengaged from everybody, preferring to tackle his demons on his own. When she was occupied bathing the kids after dinner at night, he’d pull out his stash of vodka hidden in his hockey bag. Sometimes, he’d finish a 26-ounce bottle in one sitting. Alarm bells rang out the night she caught him stumbling down the hall, ricocheting off the walls, while carrying their baby to her crib. 30
His full disclosure gave her hope after months of feeling abandoned within their marriage: “I didn’t see this as an end,” she says. “I saw it as the beginning for us to move forward and repair what I felt was lost in our relationship.” Still, she was consumed by guilt because she hadn’t recognized he was in trouble before. When she tried to help him, he pushed back. It wasn’t until after they’d separated, she faced her worst nightmare. The police had found him dead. She was a widow at 36. Her life experience in the book is raw and heart-wrenching at times, told with honesty, respect, and compassion. She isn’t afraid of the truth. It has helped Pilling relate to others who have faced similar situations of abandonment through death, divorce, alcoholism, and more. As a certified life coach now, she offers practical strategies to find peace and empowerment when life drops you into a deep dark place. Is there another book in the works? “Funny you should ask,” she says. “I’m hoping to have a book out next fall. It will be based on my life experiences too.” allisoncoaches.com
Literary
Her life experience in the book is raw and heart-wrenching at times, told with honesty, respect, and compassion.
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Kawennenhá:wi She carries the words By Jennifer Shea
Literary
Rheana Maracle Photography
L indsay Brant is a
proud Indigenous woman with a clear vision for her life. Not yet 40, she is a mother of two school-aged boys, an educational developer and adjunct lecturer at Queen’s University, a storyteller/writer, a motivational speaker, and a PhD candidate.
She describes her life priorities: “First, I stand in my identity as a Mohawk woman and that orientation to family and community and connection is what brings about my storytelling.” Since she was 7 years old, Lindsay wanted to be a writer. She published her first story in the school yearbook and was excited to see the reaction of those reading her work. “I struggled for years with self-confidence because of trauma in my life. I realized that I had to rely on something, and that something has been my spirituality, my connection to my culture, and my words. It was when I was in moments of crisis that I had whispers in my mind of ‘Be brave’ and ‘Use your words’. I realized my words are my strength.”
Brant’s poetry has been captured in the published books This is Me Now and Sharing Anthologies – Volume 5. She has also written and published a children’s
“I’m really proud that I can present something to the academy and to the world that is fully me.”
In fact, Brant’s Mohawk name “Kawennenhá:wi” means “She carries the words.”
book Sammy the Sensitive Seal as a way of supporting her oldest son when he was 3: “I wanted him to know that he could navigate things (emotionally). My son immediately knew that he was Sammy in that book. Now, my (younger) son who’s 8 says, ‘I’m Sammy’ when we read the book together.”
“I had forgotten about that part of me. ‘She carries the words’ makes so much sense to me because I feel like I’m just a vessel sometimes. These words just find me. They almost drop into my mind and that’s how I create.”
In her early twenties, Brant wrote a book about self confidence. “I was extremely, painfully shy growing up and I wrote about what it takes to be an ‘unshackled soul’; what it means to free yourself from the shame and
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embarrassment of being who you are,” she says. “I had a lot of confidence issues to work through and the way I worked through it was to write myself into that space to fake it until I made it.” Another children’s story by Brant, The Happy Home Fairy is currently being printed and a collaboration with Countybased visual artist Karole Marois was on exhibition at the Parrott Gallery in Belleville until March 30. The pair have worked together in the past, with Brant supplying poetry to accompany Marois’ artworks.
terms of scholar Lindsay, artist Lindsay and writer Lindsay. I’m really proud that I can present something to the academy and to the world that is fully me.” Brant’s vision for the future includes helping to lead the charge in pushing back against inaccurate and stereotypical
Brant’s storytelling and cultural connection play an important role in her employment and studies at Queen’s University. As an educational developer, she works with other faculty to incorporate concepts of decolonization and indigenization in their curricula and research programs. As a lecturer, she teaches a commerce course in the Queen’s Smith School of Business called Relationships and Reconciliation. Her research and writing for her PhD revolve around the same subject matter: “My portfolio for my PhD will include my poetry, my writing, and everything that I’ve done in 33
narratives about Indigenous people. “I see myself as a change-maker. I’ve been given that opportunity at Queen’s and it’s something that I don’t take lightly. I hold it as a deep responsibility to represent myself and my community well.” lindsaybrantauthor.com
Literary
Rheana Maracle Photography
Heritage
Memories of Belleville with Connie Carson By Lin Parkin
When the pandemic
was unfolding, local realtor and author Connie Carson suffered a stroke and battled cancer. A natural people-person, being isolated during her recovery was tough, but Carson devised a way to overcome the seclusion.
"I was home one evening, sitting around, and it was getting late at night. I was feeling really disconnected from people. This pandemic has been going on for a while now, and I'm not talking to anybody, and I'm not getting out like I'd like to. So, I thought, why don't I start a Facebook group?"
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As a lifelong resident of Belleville, Carson has always been fascinated by the city's rich history. So she wanted to create a group that would be fun and a place where people could connect over their memories.
Heritage She called the group "Sharing Belleville Memories," and by the next day it already had 100 followers. Fourteen months later, it is 12,000+ members strong. Carson's healing process was a time of great reflection: "I was a really busy real estate agent for 42 years, and after I had the stroke in March of 2020, it's like my brain slowed down a little bit. I would sit for an hour and just look at the birds in the backyard. It was like there was a little piece missing in my brain that slows everything down, which made me want to paint and start writing stories."
ting sick. I just didn't think that what happened to me ever would, and it did,” she says. “It made me stop and think about my life and that I would like to leave a little bit of history behind."
took a trip in my own head back to when I was a little girl, being born here, and all the stuff that happened to me as I was growing up. Stuff I didn't remember, but it all came back to me. It was quite a journey."
In Carson’s self-published book Memories of Belleville she shares over 27 heartwarming stories of the people and places she has known over her seven decades living in the city.
To request a copy of Memories of Belleville visit the Sharing Belleville Memories group on Facebook.
"It's some of the crazy things I did, trips I took and being in real estate,” she says. “I
A friend from the Belleville Downtown Business District BIA suggested she write a series on the history of the downtown district for their blog. The more Carson wrote, the better she got at it. Encouraged by the interest in her Facebook group and blog posts, Carson embarked on a deep dive into her own past. "I wanted to get my memories down, and this kind of goes back to me get35
Vintage photos courtesy of Community Archives
Debra Vincent
(Bear Clan) is a proud member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. She resides in her ancestral community of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. As a Haudenosaunee artist, Debra is always looking for the next opportunity to translate her everyday experiences into artistic expressions. With an ever-evolving aesthetic, Debra is inspired by clean lines, bold colours, and the opportunity to share her culture with others. Threads of Haudenosaunee knowledge, Mohawk clan systems, and teachings of the Great Law of Peace are ever present in her work. With this, each piece is personal. “My pieces are for me. I love to hang them on my walls first before seeing them go. When people send me pictures of the work hung on their walls, it comes full circle - I love seeing how my art brightens their lives.” Debra’s artwork has been commissioned by both Queens University and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation. The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada has been presented with Debra's art.Debra's work has been shown in Tyendinaga, Belleville, Stirling, Brighton, Brantford, Amherst Island, Kingston, Ottawa, Toronto and Gatineau, Quebec. Artwork: Power in Flight debravincent.com
Content created in collaboration with the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board
