By Robin Etherington
In the February-March issue of the Echo I listed a number of excellent cultural resources and events for all of us to enjoy in and around Lowertown. In this issue I’d like to focus on three cultural gems within walking distance.
Ottawa Little Theatre 400 King Edward Avenue https://www.ottawalittletheatre.com/ Let’s celebrate this remarkable community theatre on its 110th anniversary of providing us with stellar performances:
- A Canadian Comedy: Halfway There, April 5 – 22;
- A Drama: Twelve Angry Jurors, May 3 – 20;
- A Suspenseful Comedy: The Noble Pursuit, June 7 – 24
Bank of Canada Museum 30 Bank Street https://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/ Create your own avatar and engage in currency literacy, explore Canada’s economy and world economic history. Fun & educational for all ages! Free.
Supreme Court of Canada 301 Wellington Street https://www.scc-csc.ca/vis/tour-visite/index-eng.aspx There are free 45-minute guided tours for all ages. I have taken the tour, which was very interesting and entertaining. The tours are Monday to Friday; from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Security measures are in place. Remote tours are offered if you can’t travel to the Supreme Court building.
Events
Canadian Tulip Festival Byward Market, May 12 – 22
International Museums Day Visit your community and city museums, and don’t forget the Bytown Museum by the Canal. May 18
Rideau Canal opening May 20-22
City of Ottawa’s Doors Open Ottawa Various locales, June 3 – 4 https://ottawa.ca/en/arts-heritage-and-events/doors-open-ottawa
National Art Gallery:
- Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment, until August 20, 2023.
“Uninvited celebrates a generation of extraordinary women painters, photographers, weavers, beadworkers and sculptors from a century ago. Together, they opened up new frontiers for women artists in Canada, as seen in this cross-country snapshot of female creativity during the dynamic interwar period.”
- Beautiful and Useful: The Douglas Schoenherr Donation of Books published by Kelmscott Press; Library and Archives, until June 18, 2023.
- The Black Canadians (after Cooke). May 2023 until Fall 2024.
City Hall Gallery:
- Cat Attack Collective: Walk in the Park, until May 12
- John Healey: Plastic Beach, May 25 to August 25
Karsh-Masson Gallery, City Hall
Peter Kohut: The Other Side of the Vent, April 17 to July 14.
Richmond Room, second floor City Hall
Oskar Dap: We are all immigrants, until July 2.
Canadian War Museum:
- A Community at War, the Military Service of Black Canadian of the Niagara Region, until Sept. 4.
- Liberation! Canada and the Netherlands, 1944–1945, until May 28.
- Winners of the Legion National Foundation’s Poster and Literary Contest, until October 15.
Ottawa Art Gallery:
- Nicola Feldman-Kiss: After Africa, until June 11.
- Reference Point, featuring recent acquisitions of works created before 1988, until February 2024.
- Norman Takeuchi: Shapes in Between, until August 27.
- Five University of Ottawa Master MFA graduates: Le Rendu, until June 11.
Ottawa School of Art
- Over 70 international print artists: Ninth International Biennale Exhibition of Miniature Prints 2023, March 30 – May 14.