Nuit Blanche North returns on Saturday, July 29, launched this year by a parade down Main Street. Not just any parade, mind you – this is Nuit Blanche North, after all. This parade will be a New Orleans-style funeral march led by the Heavyweights Brass Band and the Boxcar Boys. And it will feature canoe lanterns large and small in honour of the 100th anniversary of Tom Thomson’s death.
Three trapper-sized paper-sculpture canoes crafted by local artist Patricia Astley will be accompanied by smaller canoes – like those in the photo above – decorated by community members with the help of artist Krista Danby. You can decorate your own at one of three workshops this week at the Other Side Studio: Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday from 1-5 p.m. each day.
Danby says its a meaningful project for her – her parents had just one art book when she was growing up and it featured the works of the Group of Seven. “Those images are completely imprinted on my brain of my earliest memories of what is art,” says Danby. “It’s really an honour to be a part of it. He’s such a great artist to commemorate and remember, a great outdoorsman and so much part of what we think of as really iconic Canadian identity.”
Each canoe contains a small figure with angel wings. Danby envisions a fleet of canoes with figures representing the spirits of canoeists past that will accompany the spirit of Tom during the parade. Each will hold a small tealight to illuminate it from within.
She hopes that community members will join her to decorate their own canoes and the angel figures within them. No art experience is required and “it’s always fun to be part of things,” says Danby.
The canoes will be mounted on poles to be carried in the parade – which begins near the Tom Thomson statue in front of the Algonquin Theatre – and ends at the Town Docks. Danby hopes that those who create them will return to participate in the parade. When they reach the Muskoka River, the small canoes will be launched onto the water along with the three larger canoes created by Patricia Astley.
When Nuit Blanche North organizer Dan Watson asked Astley if she could create three large paper canoes, lit from within, to float in the river, she readily accepted the challenge. Thankfully, she has a large studio, she laughs.
To begin, she asked a cottage neighbour if they had an old trapper canoe she could use as a mould. They did, but when Astley went to retrieve it they discovered they’d forgotten the key to the bunkie and had to break in.
Back in her studio, Astley laid the canoe on sawhorses, covered it in plastic, and then began applying layer after layer of paper, eight in all, repeating the process two more times to get three canoes. She used cellulose paper so that she could sculpt each canoe a bit. It wasn’t difficult, she says – she usually sculpts animal heads and the canoes, despite their size, are a basic design. The most troublesome part was the weather – the many rainy, humid days don’t make for quick drying time.
Astley sealed the surface of each canoe to make it waterproof and then added paint – the one representing Tom is red with maple leaf shapes cut from the sides to allow light to shine through; the other two are cream and hunter green coloured with star shapes cut from their hulls. Tom’s canoe also includes a paint box and a toque. All three contain four to six ‘candles’, sculpted from paper and with a molded pop bottle for the flame, that will glow with LED lights and shine each canoe’s cut-out shapes onto the water.
Watson says he was looking for a different way to mark the 100th anniversary of Tom Thomson’s death. “When we talk about Tom Thomson, there’s a lot about the mystery of his death or the history – both can be very literal. We wanted to do something that’s a little more imaginative,” says Watson. “The image of the canoe is an image of his death… the vessel that was left behind.”
The funeral march, however, is intended to be joyous. “Funerals, whether joyous or sad, are a celebration of people so we wanted to find a way to celebrate in a more overtly joyous manner,” says Watson. “We wanted to have a way for people to make personal connections that aren’t necessarily about the mystery or the historical facts, but are about how they relate to both him and the landscapes he painted. And we wanted to have fun doing it.”
The parade will begin at 8:00 p.m. on July 29 near the Tom Thomson statue in front of the Algonquin Theatre. Participants are encouraged to wear white. Watson hopes that the illuminated canoes will be joined by paddlers on the water, as well. (See below for details on how to participate.) After the canoes are launched, an aerial performance will begin at the Town Docks.
“It’s going to be a great night,” says Watson. “There are lots of local artists and organizations participating.”
To be part of it, stop by The Other Side Studio – which is next to The Mill on Main facing River Mill Park – on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday this week (July 26-28) between 1-5 p.m. to decorate a canoe. You can create your own or collaborate with a friend or family member.
And if you are an experienced paddler who wants to join the canoe launch, contact Dan Watson at 705-571-4334 or [email protected].
Read more about the 2017 Nuit Blanche North here.
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