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HistoryThe Northern Ontario Art Association (N.O.A.A.) got its start in the spring of 1949, when Ken Young, the Northern Ontario Representative of Community Programmes, with head office in North Bay, called together representatives from five active art clubs in the north to discuss the possibilities of an association. Sudbury, Timmins, Noranda, Kirkland Lake and Sault Ste. Marie were the five clubs. An organization meeting was held on September 5, 1949, in Temagami, and the Northern Ontario Art Association, a region of the Federation of Canadian Artists, was formed. That year, the group collaborated with the Community Programmes North Bay and the following was accomplished: . An Exhibition of Northern Ontario art circulated in Southern Ontario. . A news bulletin was sent to Community Programmes in North Bay, where it was edited. . . Entry forms for annual exhibitions were standardised. . Rules and regulations for annual exhibitions were unified. . An outside travelling exhibition was made available to member clubs. . Dates of annual exhibitions in the various centres were spaced so that paintings could be sent to each member club. . Each member received a subscription to Canadian Art Magazine. |
HistoryA second meeting was held in Kirkland Lake on May 20, 1950. The NOAA and the Community Programmes planned a two-week Summer School of Art in Haileybury, with the first annual meeting held at the end of the Summer School. In 1951, a second Summer School of Art was held along with the annual meeting, this time in North Bay. Holding the meeting following the summer school was important because credits from the Department of Education were available to teachers who attended our Summer School. During the third year, N.O.A.A. took complete charge of the Bulletin and various clubs were responsible for the cover. Summer School was decentralised and held in three locations, Kirkland Lake, North Bay and Sudbury, using the same instructors. The N.O.A.A. was responsible for all the costs of these summer schools. Several exhibitions were sent on circuit, including one by Gus Weisman. Up to this time three meetings were held each year, one at Summer School, one in late fall and one in the spring. In 1952-53, a new constitution was drawn up. Two exhibitions, ASix Trees@ and AGroup of Seven@, were circulated. It was decided that each club should handle their own summer school. In 1954, a jury of N.O.A.A. members was put together to select an exhibition to be sent on tour in Southern Ontario. This show was called the Circulating Northern Exhibition (CNE). At this time exhibitors were asked to start signing statements on the backs of the paintings, as to their originality. This first juried exhibition was sent in 1955. A leaders course was held in Haileybury, co-sponsored by Community Programmes and N.O.A.A., with ten attending. An attempt was made, but failed, to set up an additional Summer School. |
The Cobalt Artist ColonyIn 1956, a brief from our organization was presented to the Vancouver Conference of the Arts Council and all clubs in the organization received equal status. In 1957 the first annual N.O.A.A. Exhibition was juried in Sudbury, with Dr. A. Y. Jackson, Mrs. Housser and Clare Bice as Jurors. The second annual N.O.A.A. exhibition was juried at Sault Ste. Marie in 1958, by A. J. Casson, Gus Weisman and Louis Muhlstock. This exhibition was sent to the C.N.E. Also in 1958, a committee was named to apply for a charter, the first Artistsí Colony was held at Cobalt, convened by Carolyn MacArthur and The Canada Council granted $1,000 for the Spring Juried Exhibition expenses. The 1959 the Spring Exhibition was juried in Timmins. Mrs. Housser, Jacques de Tonnacour and George Pepper were jurors and the first programme was printed. The second Artistsí Colony was held at Cobalt and the N.O.A.A. also received its Charter. The 1960 Exhibition was juried in Kirkland Lake with Henry Masson, Eric Friefield and John Hall as jurors. Cobalt Artistsí Colony was held for the third consecutive year. Sudbury hosted the 1961 Exhibition with Henry Masson, Mrs. Stewart Bagnani and William Winter as Jurors. The Exhibition had a final showing in the Toronto Public Library. The N.O.A.A. were fortunate in receiving a grant of $1,500 toward expenses of the 1961 and 1962 Spring Exhibitions A library of coloured slides was created, and included most of the paintings in the Annual Exhibitions. A raffle to raise money was held, raffling two pictures, one by Dr. A. Y. Jackson, and one by Louis Muhlstock.. The membership in the organization was now at twelve. Art in the North looked very promising. Promising it was then and is now. The N.O.A.A. continued to grow and in 1978 had a membership of 18 clubs. In the year 2003, the organization has a membership of 14. The juried exhibition is hosted each year by a different club. The jurors have the tremendous task of choosing an exhibit of 20 ñ 40 paintings from a submission of 200 ñ 250. The opening show as well as the annual meeting is held at the host club. The show travels over a twelve month period, to galleries throughout the north. At one point a graphics show was added, but was dropped because the cost of shipping two exhibits was prohibitive. The library of coloured slides produced in 1961 continued with each annual juried show and has been used over the years, as an education tool by the members. The slides are now available for viewing on this website. The bulletin is now produced annually and is also available for viewing on this site. The Cobalt Artistsí Colony is still very successful and is held the third week of July every year. |
