Anna Maria Tremonti to moderate Group of Seven discussion

NEWS RELEASE

ALGOMA FALL FESTIVAL

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Anna Maria Tremonti moderates experts’ Group of Seven discussion

SAULT STE. MARIE - A panel of experts will discuss all things Group of Seven on Saturday with the CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti (pictured) as part of the Algoma Fall Festival.

Along with Tremonti the talk will feature bestselling author and art historian, Ross King, former CEO and Curator of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and current Deputy Director and Curator of the Art Gallery of Sudbury, Tom Smart, and producer and researcher for White Pine Pictures, Nancy Lang who co-produced West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson.

The event, entitled Redefining our Defiant Spirits, makes reference to Ross King’s novel Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven, which traces the artistic development of the future members of the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson over a dozen years in Canadian history.

The discussion will focus on the questions: Who were the Group of Seven and why did they paint in the style they did?

The speakers will re-examine the lives and times of this extraordinary painting movement and its artists who found enduring images of the Canadian nation in the landscape of northern Ontario, particularly in and around Sault Ste. Marie.

Questions posed will relate to the originality of their styles, their relationships to modern painting in Europe and their lives and loves during a time of great upheaval following the First World War.

Their answers are sure to startle and surprise, while giving new insight into their contributions to the development of Canadian art and the formation of a national identity.

The talk is free to the public and will be held on Saturday, October 18 at 2 p.m. at Algoma’s Water Tower Inn and Suites.

Seating can be reserved by emailing [email protected].

Both Tremonti and King will then participate in A Novel Dinner along with authors Jeanne Beker, Terry Fallis and Dr. E. Paul Zehr the evening of Saturday, October 18 at Algoma’s Water Tower Inn and Suites.

Redefining our Defiant Spirits will also touch upon the current exhibition of Group of Seven paintings showing at the Art Gallery of Algoma throughout the month of October.

The Algoma Fall Festival has assembled a one of a kind exhibition that features original paintings from private collectors and prestigious art institutions including Toronto’s Arts and Letters Club, the Women’s Art Association of Canada, the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the Art Gallery of Algoma.

These loans feature two paintings with significant meaning to the region of Algoma including A.Y. Jackson’s Pic Island and J.E.H. MacDonald’s The Solemn Land.

Also on exhibit is George Walker’s The Mysterious Death of Tom Thomson which tells a remarkable story in over 100 wood engravings.

The exhibition runs from October 2-26 at the Art Gallery of Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Admission is $9 (including HST).

For more information visit: www.algomafallfestival.com

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