The Group of Seven Canoe Murals are coming back to Huntsville for a third year.
Seven local artists have been selected to work alongside muralist Gerry Lantaigne to paint the bottoms of seven canoes. They’ll be painted in the open at River Mill Park, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on June 22 to 26.
Each of the artists will emulate a different member of the Group of Seven on their canoe:
- Jennie Seward will paint J.E.H. MacDonald
- Brenda Behan Turnour, painting Arthur Lismer
- Marike MacDonald, A.J. Casson
- Britney Ranson, Franklin Carmichael
- Ciara Ryan, A.Y. Jackson
- Liz Derksen, Lawren Harris
- Janell Penner, Frederick Varley
After they are painted, the murals will be displayed in the park through the summer as part of the Huntsville Art Crawl, at Muskoka Heritage Place’s Eclipse Walk with Light installation through the winter, and sold at next year’s Algonquin Outfitters Paddle Art Auction to benefit local arts initiatives.
The project started in 2020 with Lantaigne painting seven murals focusing on the Group of Seven. They were sold last year, raising more than $25,000 for charity.
In 2021, Lantaigne led a different group of artists to paint seven more canoes, focusing on Tom Thomson, which will be sold at this year’s auction.