The Arts Archives — Lindsay Advocate

Anarchy in Kawartha Lakes: A local history of punk rock

Published on April 5, 2019 in The Arts by Trevor Hutchinson

Part One

Where there is young people and vitality, you’re going to find punk rock. — Henry Rollins

One of Lindsay’s most famous bar brawls and the start of punk rock in the CKL happened on the same time at the same place on the same night. It was the late spring of 1980 and Lindsay’s first punk rock band, The Lindsay Huns, were playing at The Central Hotel on William Street — a long gone Lindsay landmark.

Musicologists will argue about the exact start of punk, and who started it, but punk rock had been around, and had been a growing musical and cultural movement since 1977, and probably earlier. The term itself — coined in the early 70s — was used by a few musical journalists to describe the style known as garage-rock.

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Council approves working group to research cultural centre for Kawartha Lakes

Published on March 28, 2019 in The Arts by Lindsay Advocate

Deputy Mayor Doug Elmslie and roundtable discussions.

At the March 19 Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting, Council heard from Dianne Lister and Susan Taylor, representatives from the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council (KLAC) and the Cultural Centre Committee, who recommended that Council strike a working group to examine the possibility of a cultural centre for the municipality.

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KLAC wants to work with new council to advance tourism, development

Published on November 27, 2018 in Community/The Arts by Roderick Benns

The Kawartha Lakes Arts Council and the Kawartha Lakes Heritage Network are looking forward to working with the new council to further strengthen cultural tourism and economic development in the municipality.

The groups were interested in electing candidates who support the cultural sector and who believe that long-term investment in the culture of the Kawartha Lakes is vital to economic and social growth.

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Dorothea Weise and the symphony of colour

Published on November 9, 2018 in Community/Opinion/The Arts by Jamie Morris

For close to 15 years Dorothea and her husband, Karl, lived two doors down from us. Quieter, more considerate neighbours you couldn’t find. And kind-hearted: The feral marmalade cat we chased from our backyard invariably found a warm welcome at their back door.

We didn’t really get to know Dorothea or Karl. We did know that at some point they had emigrated from Germany, and that Karl had been a writer and that Dorothea was an accomplished and well-respected artist. We’d hear of shows she was mounting. At Art on Kent we saw some of her work and LCVI art teacher and Kawartha Arts Network co-founder Anders Widjedal told us how much he admired Dorothea for her adventurous spirit, the way she took artistic chances with her work.

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Arts Council, Heritage Network host mayoral debate next month

Published on August 26, 2018 in Around Town/Community/The Arts by Lindsay Advocate

In 2014, a coalition of artists and organizations formed Kawartha ArtsVote to bring awareness to the cultural sector in advance of the 2014 municipal election. In the lead up to the 2018 municipal election this October, they are re-launching ArtsVote, working with Kawartha Lakes Heritage Network, and shining the light on the cultural sector once again.

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Large donation allowing for study on cultural centre for Kawartha Lakes

Published on March 23, 2018 in Around Town/Community/The Arts by Roderick Benns

A large private donation is allowing for a feasibility study on the likelihood of getting a culture centre for Kawartha Lakes.

Susan Taylor, chair of the cultural centre committee and president of the Kawartha Lakes Art Gallery, says there is “broad support” for having such a centre in the area.

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Books that matter (to librarians); what books matter to you?

Published on March 4, 2018 in Community/Opinion/The Arts by Jamie Morris

Every reader their book.
Every book its reader.

From S.R. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science (1931)

Sure, libraries have lots more than books to offer these days — everything from digital magazines to gardening workshops. But books remain the beating heart of every collection and the mission of librarians is still, as it was for Ranganathan, to be a matchmaker between books and readers.

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Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy: Canada’s prosperity should mean “a level of decency” for people’s lives

Published on February 8, 2018 in Around Town/Social Issues/The Arts by Roderick Benns

The co-front man for one of Canada’s greatest bands, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, says people are born into economic and social circumstances that either shows a wide horizon before them, or a small horizon – and when it’s small, it’s “suffocating.”

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What will Mary think? Academy doesn’t believe improvements will upset their ghost

Published on January 31, 2018 in Community/Opinion/The Arts by Roderick Benns

What will Mary think? Academy Theatre doesn’t believe improvements will upset their ghost

Lindsay’s storied Academy Theatre is almost unrecognizable on Monday. Almost.

As I step into the construction zone, every seat in the orchestra section has been ripped from the floor to make way for new ones. There’s a fresh base of concrete to support the memories of a new generation of theatre and event goers.

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“There is a town in north Ontario…”

Published on December 1, 2017 in Around Town/The Arts by Roderick Benns

“There is a town in north Ontario” where Neil Young will be tonight, one of Canada’s most legendary singer/songwriters — and it’s Omemee in Kawartha Lakes.

Young will play here at Coronation Hall, a venue which seats at most 225 people.

The acoustic concert will be livestreamed by CTV at 8 p.m. ET on various platforms, including CTV.ca, iHeartRadio.ca and on Facebook internationally.

On Friday, CTV said proceeds from the show would go to Scott Young Public School, named after Neil’s father who was a novelist, journalist and early host of Hockey Night in Canada.