Pontiac artist Tina Michaud’s art is among others which is available for purchase at the fundraising show at Deep River’s Valley Artisans’ Coop until June 11. Photo by Katharine Fletcher.
Katharine Fletcher
DEEP RIVER – The second annual art fair at Deep River’s Valley Artisans’ Co-op (VAC) saw a substantial turnout of visitors on May 13. Despite blustery gusts, artists’ tents successfully protected the original artworks while visitors chatted, listened to musician Marc Audet sing Ottawa Valley ballads, and learned about the Dumoine from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – Ottawa Valley’s (CPAWS-OV’s) Executive Director, John McDonnell and other volunteers.
DRAW – Dumoine River Artists for Wilderness – is a group of diverse artists whose fibre art, paintings, prints, photos and other artworks educate the public about why protection of the Dumoine’s watershed is important. The Dumoine’s 129 km reach courses through MRC Pontiac, forming the political boundary between Pontiac and Temiscamingue counties and joining the Ottawa River north of Swisha.
Former Pontiac resident and artist Tina Michaud is well-known in Swisha and the Pontiac. One of the founding members of artPontiac, Michaud also helped found DRAW, participating in the first annual DRAW artist retreat in 2017, where artists camp alongside the river for a week, creating art inspired by wilderness.
“It’s important to donate art to this cause. Too much of Canada’s beauty — these exceptional natural areas that provide wonderful retreats for people — is dismantled, damaged, and destroyed by big corporations. We must keep these areas pure and protected for wildlife and people to enjoy,” she said.
Michaud created an acrylic pour of Red Pine Rapids. Until June 11, it joins other DRAW artists’ works in the ongoing Journey Through the Dumoine River art show and fundraiser at the VAC, where 100% of sales’ proceeds go to CPAWS-OV to fund increased conservation of the Dumoine’s watershed.
