Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence program launches

TORONTO, Jan. 14, 2015 /CNW/ - This week, the Ontario Heritage Trust welcomes the first of six artists selected to participate in the Trust's Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence program. This program provides artists with free accommodation and studio space where they can concentrate on their creative work.

The six artists selected to participate in this year's program are:

• Hussein Janmohamed, a singer, composer and conductor from Coquitlam, British Columbia
• Todd Stewart, a printmaker from Montreal, Quebec
• Kate Wilson, a painter from Toronto, Ontario
• Lydia Adams, a choral musician and composer from Caledon East, Ontario
• Jan Coates, a children's author from Wolfville, Nova Scotia
• Gerald Hill, a writer/poet from Regina, Saskatchewan

In keeping with McCarthy's wishes when she donated the property to the Ontario Heritage Trust, her former residence, Fool's Paradise, located on the Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto,  has been converted into an Artist-in-Residence Centre. The Centre embraces the multi-disciplinary nature of the arts, strives to demonstrate the positive and restorative influence of landscape and the environment, and fosters excellence among contemporary Canadian artists, musicians and writers.

QUOTES

"The Trust is proud to honour the memory of Doris McCarthy, one of Canada's most iconic landscape artists, through the launch of the Artist-in-Residence Program.  Fool's Paradise inspired Doris for over 70 years, and through this program it will continue to do so for future generations of artists."

– Thomas H.B. Symons, Chairman, Ontario Heritage Trust

"I'm proud of our government's ongoing commitment to preserving Ontario's heritage and investing in our artists. And thanks to Doris McCarthy's generous property donation to the Ontario Heritage Trust, the next generation of Canadian artists will get the opportunity to focus on their craft in a unique and inspiring environment."

– Michael Coteau, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport

QUICK FACTS

• The Trust has developed the Artist-in-Residence centre in consultation with an advisory panel consisting of representatives from national, provincial and local arts organizations and institutions.
• Doris McCarthy (1910-2010) was one Canada's most recognized landscape painters of the second half of the 20th century.
• Fool's Paradise is a unique heritage site located 13 miles (21 km) east of downtown Toronto, on the edge of the Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario.
• Doris McCarthy (1910-2010) donated Fool's Paradise to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1998 to conserve its scenic, aesthetic, natural and cultural values, with the wish that it would become an artist-in-residence centre and venue for heritage activities following her death.

LEARN MORE

Find out more about the Ontario Heritage Trust and the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program.

The Ontario Heritage Trust is an agency of the Government of Ontario dedicated to identifying, preserving, protecting and promoting Ontario's heritage.

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SOURCE Ontario Heritage Trust

about the Ontario Heritage Trust and the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program, contact Natasha Williams at 416-325-5074 or [email protected]. Ontario Heritage Trust, 10 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1J3, Telephone: [phone], Fax: [phone], www.heritagetrust.on.ca, www.facebook.com/ontarioheritagetrust, www.twitter.com/ONheritage