April 11, 2024 · 0 Comments
By Constance Scrafield
The artists and staff at the Alton Mill Arts Centre are excited to invite you to the Spring Open House coming up on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5, the weekend before Mother’s Day, as Bri Wilson, the marketing person at the Mill, pointed out.
“There will be open studios throughout the Mill,” she told us. “Most of the artists will be in their studios, working and talking to visitors.”
At least one workshop has been confirmed with Karen Brown, the hive and encaustic artist. She is offering a candle-making workshop in her studio. A fee will apply for materials. Others are planned and more information on them will be listed on the Alton Mill’s website.
A couple of additional artists coming in, including The Mill Fibre Art, and artisans are being introduced to the new ARTSON space within the Mill. Refurbished furniture, handmade items of wood, fibre and other materials are a new part of the whole.
The Spring Open House will host free children’s activities as well.
On Saturday, May 4, is an exciting creation with an old canoe, “flipping it over,” said Ms. Wilson, “and planting a pollinator garden in the canoe.”
“This could be interactive,” she suggested, noting, “They already have the plants and seeds ready to go.”
At any time of year, the wonderful grounds of the Alton Mill are a pleasure. Generously, the owners of the Mill, Jeremy and Jordan Grant, allow visitors to walk the grounds, even when the Mill is closed. The walk is rewarded by the collection of 19 sculptures, each very different from the others – startling, beautiful and interesting. A largely wooded property, there are plenty of songbirds to provide commentary to visitors of the sculpture gardens, walking about with a self-guided map, taking in the visuals at their own pace.
The Alton Mill is happy to announce the installation of free Level 2-EV charging for the vehicles that need them, offering free electrical charging stands for the next six months. A self-serve cafe is in the Mill near the entrance, making it a charming place to enjoy a treat and the ambiance of the building.
The Alton Mill Centre for the Arts, originally built in 1881 by entrepreneur, philanthropist and raconteur William Algie.
He built the Beaver Knitting Mill, the fleece-lined long underwear of which was famous across Canada. Mr. Algie’s building then, of a weir and dam on Shaw’s Creek, which runs through the Mill’s property, saved lives and property in the 1889 Alton Great Flood including to an almost miraculous extent, the Mill itself.
Fast forward to the 1990s, when in due course, Jordan and Jeremy Grant purchased the property from their father and were faced with advice to tear it down and sell the property.
They opted instead to restore it as an arts centre where artists could establish themselves in their own studios, to its present high standard: a mix of the heritage sections restored as possible, combined with modern interior “building elements” that compliment the overall sense of an elegant history so perfect to house the artists and their work as it does. The Mill is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act and placed on the Register of Historical Places in Canada.
The full history of the Alton Mill was written by Nancy Early.
Be sure to visit the Mill anytime between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. And especially for the Spring Open House on May 4 and 5.