Tag Archives: Doreen Guthrie

Birthing of the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery

“I think that artists have a finger on the pulse of what’s going on. We need a place  to show work, and we need to gather and see what’s going on.” – Janet Turpin. 

“For me personally, it gives me a sense of connection to the deeper understanding of what’s behind art and it’s a mirror of what’s going on in the community. It’s a mirror of what’s going on in the world.  That’s what I think artists tap into.” – Lynne Barker 

“Art reflects life and then life reflects art again.  Personally, it helped me grow as an artist. If I look back in 1997 and I look back now,  I grew in this gallery. As artists, we come together. We talk about the shows. We talk about art, I have learned so much.” – Meinsje Vlaming. 

They were responding to the question, ‘why is the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery important?’

The Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery just celebrated its 26th anniversary. Some of its early posters and reproductions of artwork were put up on the walls for the society’s recent AGM. During conversation with some of the earlier members, Cortes Currents learned the gallery was in operation prior to the beginning of written records in 1997. 

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Fresh look at an iconic display: The Cortes Island Water Cycle

Wild Cortes came into being as a result of a series of interactions between Laurel Bohart and Lynne Jordan, former President of the Cortes Island Museum. They started in 2005, shortly after Bohart moved to Cortes Island.  

“I met Lynn Jordan on on the ferry. She had this parrot, an African grey, and it was dead and frozen. She wanted to find a taxidermist, so I mounted her bird. That was the beginning of Wild Cortes, because we did ‘Ravens Relations,’ and put it up in the museum for a few years. People were absolutely enthralled. They wanted to know if we would have more animals, so we dreamed up the original Wild Cortes, the story of water,” she explained.

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The Squirrel Cove Bear

Curt Cunningham first encountered the Squirrel Cove Bear while it was still a cub. Not knowing where the creature’s mother was, Cunningham took refuge inside the Cove Restaurant. No mother bear appeared and the cub disappeared into the woods. That was a year or more ago. 

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