Arnprior, Ontario, is a true gem. Here, you can enjoy gazing at towering pines in a protected old-growth forest, discover our past at the museum and revel in the airy brightness of a new art gallery that’s aiming to be a community hub.
Come March, Ottawa Valley roadies are eager to get out and about. As the spring sunshine strengthens and invigorates our spirits, it’s a super time to get outside, “forest bathe” in nature, and explore the secrets of our region’s villages.
Arnprior hums—so come check out its vibe!
John St Shop
Liam Racine is the owner and creative director of this gallery, whose soft opening was on Sunday, March 1. This refreshingly unpretentious gallery is a light, bright space full of colourful art, beautifully offset by lush green plants. Its white walls, honey-coloured heritage maple flooring and splash of greenery conspire to soothe the mind and soul.
Says Racine, “My vision was to open a gallery which would be something with a different personality of its own. I’m working with Arnprior artist Kevin Dodds, who’s the gallery’s art director. We want to create a space where our community can always find a warm and safe environment.”
It looks like it will be a happening hub complete with varied activities, including book launches and special events, such as a talk on how to tend to house plants. Featured regional artists will be here, too, demonstrating their techniques.
Each artist has a three-month gallery contract. Racine emphasizes he’s dedicated to ensuring visitors can get to know different artists and their work.
“Kevin and I love having a space where we can not only showcase and sell art but demonstrate to our community how many wonderful artists we have right here in the Valley.”
Both gentlemen invite you to come to the ribbon-cutting on March 21 at 10am. “There’ll be ‘live art’—artists painting—too, as well as live music and other activities throughout the afternoon,” Racine says.
Address: John St Shop, 109 John Street North, Arnprior, (613) 404-4734.
Arnprior and District Museum
Located in the former Arnprior Post Office and Customs House, the Arnprior and District Museum is undoubtedly the town’s heritage landmark. Because the clocktower’s front doors are angled toward the crossroads of Madawaska Street and John Street North, the building appears to welcome investigation with open arms.
This sense of welcome is repeated inside, where both a volunteer and Anita Brown, the museum’s administrator, greeted me warmly.
Exhibitions are pleasingly varied. Appropriately, one hall highlights the Ottawa Valley lumber industry, explaining the involvement of Philemon Wright, the Gillies brothers and Daniel McLachlin in this major Canadian resource industry.
My favourite exhibit was the upstairs collection of exquisite First Nations artifacts. Not all are local in origin; a beautifully beaded Chippewan fire bag dated 1905 hails from Fort Simpson. A sign explains that the porcupine-quill baskets, beaded picture frames and other items on one shelf “are examples of Canadian First Nations artwork made for the European settler population. After they were removed from their ancestral lands and placed on reserves, First Nations peoples adapted their traditional art to create financial security for themselves.”
Also at this museum is a particularly timely exhibition about the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic, which has obvious and fascinating parallels to our current coronavirus situation. And talking about masks? One photograph depicts an entire family wearing masks, and even their pet cat is protected. This gesture in a very frightening situation touched my heart, revealing how the human spirit triumphs during such extremely dark times. Surely the parents, I thought, would have wanted to demonstrate that they deeply cared about their kitty in what must have been a very scary time for kids.
Address: Arnprior and District Museum, 35 Madawaska Street, Arnprior, (613) 623-4902.
Gillies Grove: An Arnprior forest
Are you a Narnia person? I am. Author C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe introduced me to a fantastical world that I still believe in…a world of magic and mystery. At Gillies Grove, I feel this sense of Narnia-inspired wonder, because this remnant of old-growth forest seems enchanted.
After seeing the museum’s exhibition of the economic importance of the Ottawa Valley’s eastern white pine forests, it’s wonderful to be able to walk amid these immense trees. Looking up, up toward the sky along a towering pine’s straight trunk, I appreciate how crucial these trees were to the British Navy. In 1806, Napoleon had blockaded the Baltic, and Britain urgently required a source of trees for the Navy’s ships’ masts. No wonder the lumbermen became wealthy, as they cleared the forests.
Happily for us, the Nature Conservancy of Canada owns and manages Gillies Grove. Please stay on the designated trails so as to conserve the understory of this magnificent, all-too-rare remnant of old-growth forest. Trails are flat, broad and welcoming.
Take time to pause, hug a tree and listen to the spring breezes stirring the canopy. And in early May? Come back to appreciate spring’s ephemeral wildflowers on the forest floor, such as hepaticas and violets. Bring your binoculars and scan for white-breasted nuthatches and chickadees—or even barred owls.
Bring the kids and grandchildren so they, too, can forest bathe amid giants.
Address: 412 Gillies Grove Road, Arnprior; go to the Town of Arnprior website for trail maps.
If you go
For more information on Arnprior, see these websites.
About the author
Katharine Fletcher is a freelance writer, visual artist and author of historical guides such as Capital Rambles: Exploring the National Capital Region. She invites you to like her artist page on Facebook.
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