When the Arts Canada Institute wanted to commission a series of new books about the history of art and artists across Canada, it began by approaching Jim Burant to write a book about the art and artists of Ottawa.

The comprehensive book that resulted from Jim’s work is a spectacular illustrated tour of Ottawa’s surprising artistic past.

It also proves a striking reminder of how invaluable the earliest sketches and paintings of Bytown are to our understanding of our past… and of how the photographs of Topley and Karsh and others have provided us with further lasting images of those bygone eras.

Thanks to the brushes and camera lenses of these long ago artists, we are able to witness the Chaudiere Falls before tamed… the Rideau Canal first being surveyed by Colonel By… Vice-Regal couples hosting early skating parties… the great fires that swept through Ottawa-Hull… Winston Churchill visiting during wartime.

History from even further back is preserved in ancient Indigenous pictographs.

And what of 20th century artists like Mine & MacLeod and contemporary artists like Annie Pootoogook?

Join us on Wednesday, April 26 @ 7 p.m. on Zoom with archivist and author Jim Burant as guest speaker for our HSO Speaker Series presentation, “The Role of Art & Artists in Ottawa’s History”.