Press Release

As the city begins to reopen, as does the Brockville Tourism office! We’ve been hard at work to make sure that tourists visiting Brockville will have a great time, and this week we were able to make two big announcements involving Prudence Heward and new funding received!

Brockville Tourism Now Selling Prudence Heward Beaver Hall Group books for Brockville Museum

Can’t wait for the Brockville Museum’s “Painting Picnic with Prudence Heward” exhibit to open? Good news! Brockville and 1000 Islands Tourism has partnered with the Friends of the Brockville Museum to make two books about the Beaver Hall Group available for purchase locally: “The Beaver Hall Group and Its Legacy” and “The Women of Beaver Hall”.  Both image-rich, hardcover books feature works by Prudence Heward are available through Brockville and 1000 Islands Tourism for the $60 list price each.

Proceeds from the sale of the books support the Friends of the Brockville Museum, a registered non-profit volunteer organization that supports museum programming and exhibition initiatives.  For more information about the Friends, including ways to support them, please visit: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/friends-of-the-brockville-museum

Both books are written by Evelyn Walters, who was a tremendous asset in helping the Brockville Museum assemble their exhibit, including making the donation of a work by Fernbank neighbour to the Hewards, Ruth Eliot, who exhibited alongside Heward, the Beaver Hall Group, and the Group of Seven.

The Brockville Museum’s “Painting Picnic with Prudence Heward” brings together for the first time, works by Heward (1896-1947) which exclusively feature Brockville and area scenes.  An associate of the Beaver Hall Group of painters, a Montreal group of both female and male artists active primarily in the 1920s. Heward spent her summers at the family’s cottage at Fernbank.  There she was known to host “painting picnics” with her friends and colleagues including A.Y. Jackson and Sarah Robertson.  As a result of these gatherings, a number of lesser-known works by these well-recognized artists were created depicting the Brockville area.  The exhibit, which includes loans from a dozen private collections and institutions, was set to open March 31st.  Although opening has been delayed due to the pandemic, a scaled down version of the exhibition is available online: https://brockvillemuseum.wixsite.com/digitalmuseum/painting-picnic-with-prudence-hewar

From the publisher (Dundurn):

THE WOMEN OF BEAVER HALL

This beautifully produced book portrays the life and work of Emily Coonan, Nora Collyer, Prudence Heward, Mabel Lockerby, Mabel May, Sarah Robertson, Anne Savage, and Ethel Seath. Long-lost catalogues, old newspaper reviews, and personal papers document their story, and more than 60 reproductions bring to light paintings that have lain hidden for more than fifty years.

THE BEAVER HALL GROUP AND ITS LEGACY

(a follow-up to The Women of Beaver Hall) Delves into the engrossing life stories of the twenty-five artists who belonged to the Beaver Hall Group and the Women of Beaver Hall. Over seventy-five images gleaned from museums and private collections highlight the work of these pioneering artists who changed the course of Canadian art. Written for student and scholar alike, The Beaver Hall Group and Its Legacy is a must for every art lover’s library.  (Includes one of the local works featured in the Brockville Museum exhibit).

Brockville Tourism receives $98,000 RRRF Grant

Brockville & 1000 Islands, ON 2 July 2020 —The Brockville Chamber of Commerce Tourism Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) is delighted to announce it has been awarded funding from the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) from TIAO (Tourism Industry Association of Ontario). The RRRF represents 30 million dollars injected into the province of Ontario by FedDev Ontario to support DMO’s. The Brockville DMO has been awarded $98,000 from the fund that was approved to create new tourism experiences and market our destination. 

“We are very grateful to have access to this funding. These past few months have been very difficult for our industry and even harder on our tourism attractions and business owners,” said Katherine Hobbs, Tourism Manager for Brockville. “The funds will allow support for those businesses and visibility for our destination.” 
 
The Brockville DMO’s goal at this time is to provide safe experiences for the community and also for travellers.  As Brockville Tourism looks forward to the next year and beyond we intend to showcase our communities’ outdoor attributes, attractions and businesses that rely on traveller spending to survive; notably our restaurants, retail shops and accommodations. This also includes supporting local artists, musicians and videographers.  

A mural on the north wall of the Tourism building is planned in partnership with the Brockville Walls Project, pending Council approval, to showcase the attributes of our beautiful City. The mural is intended to engage and support local artists, pique interest in public art, and ultimately promote our City via photos posted from both locals and travelers. The mural will contribute to the heritage, beauty and culture of our community.   

Additionally, planning is underway for a “hyperlocal” campaign to help directly support our business and attractions. “The tourism staff are working on the details of a Safe Experience Campaign to assist local businesses in the near future. Details are to be unveiled by the end of July,” said Hobbs.  

 “The funding we have received will contribute to a long-awaited recovery for our businesses.  It gives us a chance to promote all we have here in Brockville and the 1000 Islands while still respecting social distancing,” said Pamela Robertson, Executive Director of the Brockville & District Chamber of Commerce.

According to recent studies by the Ontario Government, full recovery of the tourism sector is expected to take until 2024. The RRRF funding will complement the $350,000 in funding announced by Minister Lisa MacLeod during her visit to Brockville on June 13, 2020.  That funding is intended to market the 1000 Island Region and will be awarded to the South Eastern Ontario Regional Tourism Organization, RTO9, in the fall of 2020.  Details on how that funding will be used by RTO9 to help us in our region during the recovery years will be announced later this year.

About the Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce: The Brockville Chamber is part of a network of Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade that exist in every community across Ontario and Canada. The Chamber network consists of 65,000 businesses provincially and 170,000 businesses nationally. Locally, the Chamber has over 400 members and is recognized as this area’s official “Voice of Business” since 1906. This voice is an effective force in influencing issues and legislation affecting your business and our community. It is a membership-based and not-for-profit association that is led by an elected volunteer Board of Directors. The Brockville & District Chamber of Commerce manages the Destination Marketing Organization for the tourism industry in Brockville. 

For further information please contact:  
Katherine Hobbs, Tourism Manager  
613-325-8927 
Katherine@brockvilletourism.com