The Durham West Arts Centre is a 'hub' organization working to establish links with artists, arts groups and arts lovers. We host exhibitions, activities and events at the Centre as attractors. We want to meet and talk to the groups and individuals who are willing to help build the infrastructure for a permanent arts centre in Ajax-Pickering.
Introducing the 60 page illustrated book "The Thomsons of Durham: Tom Thomson's Family Heritage". Here is a section from the introduction:
"Tom Thomson was born Aug. 5, 1877 in a stone house on the 9th concession of Claremont in Durham Region. A mere two months later, the family left the region. Recognizing that two months is a slim thread on which to hang a theory of painterly influence, The Thomsons of Durham focuses on the 40 years the Thomsons lived in Durham. The stories of Tom's grandparents Elizabeth Brodie, Thomas Tam' Thomson, Kenneth Matheson and Ann Ross trace back to Scotland in the late 18th century. Their lives in Durham Region, set against the great events of 19th century in Europe and Canada, establish a background for Tom Thomson's interests, passions and capacities. Following forward from 1877 to 1917 with a focus on family connection, the continued influence of Tom's family weaves its way through the actions he takes and the decisions he makes. By contrast, Tom's siblings George, Henry, Fraser and Margaret show how these same family influences took root in different painterly forms."
The following is quoted out of the introductory passage to the Mathesons. Kenneth Matheson was Tom Thomson's grandfather.
"The ten year old Matheson twins, Kenneth and Murdoch, stared into the five foot deep murky depths of the stone-reinforced pit burrowed into the sand by the kelp harvesters near Score Bay. They had heard tales that the spirits of the dark men who had lived and died in these holes, haunted them still. Unafraid, the boys clambered into the bowels of the earth. The beating of the waves sounded eerily above them. Nothing else. The once crowded pit was empty. Ever since Napoleon's defeat, when European markets had once again opened, the kelp fires had gone out one by one. Families who had harvested 3 to 4 tons of kelp a year to meet their rent as tenants, were once again being evicted, unable to secure legal tenure of their lands. With their former Highland homes now grazing grounds for armies of sheep and their seaside crofts unsupportable, there was no future on the misty isle of Skye."
Photo above of Angie Littlefield, author, signing a copy of The Thomsons of Durham for Bill McLean, Regional Councillor for City of Pickering, at Artfest, Shashi Bhatia, Chair of the Membership Committee, looks on, by Mary Cook.
To order your own copy of The Thomsons of Durham click HERE.