THE GROUP OF SEVEN OOUTDOOR GALLERY

Since the establishment of The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery, the inaugural collection in Huntsville, the Lake of Bays and Algonquin Park, our concept has enjoyed tremendous success over the last 9 years, bringing focus to the Muskoka region and the individual communities involved.
The annual mural festival won the BIA award for best event in Ontario in 2008, and the community murals and collection have played an important role in the areas tourism.
The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery has dramatically grown in both size and scope with a collection that now includes over 40 major murals, 37 mini-murals in Huntsville, along with integral satellite galleries in Dwight, Dorset, Kearney, Baysville, Lake of Bays, Port Cunnington Lodge, Deerhurst Resort and Algonquin Park; and most recently a community mural project accomplished a major audience with world leaders at the 2010 G8 Summitt at Deerhurst Resort, garnering significant accolades and ongoing media attention for the collection and festival on a national and international level. Come join our special celebration of Art, Culture and Heritage, . . . in your own backyard.

FOUNDERS COMMENTS

The Group of Sevens’ artwork was inspired by their friend Tom Thomson; and Tom Thomson was inspired by the beauty he saw in Algonquin Park. These artists created a Canadian Art Movement that lies at the heart of our Canadian culture and heritage. Come discover the beauty of their works and discover Huntsville/ Lake of Bays at the same time. Our region was painted extensively by The group of Seven, as they sought out to discover a new method of painting. In so doing they revealed the wild and rugged nature of what Canada really is, and through their art, were able to translate that feeling to the public. Their story, is a story of struggle and acceptance, of never giving up on the ideals of a Canadian art; and bringing forth this concept as a gift to the Canadian people.

The works in our collection are an homage to these painters, and the goals they achieved. The murals are presented to the public and are free for open viewing all year round. They have been painted by some of Canadas’ top mural artists, whose mandate was to recreate the masterpieces, as close as possible to the originals, with little or no artistic license. The artist must try to match the original prints, colour for colour and brush stroke for brush stroke.

These murals represent our natural landscape, and so fittingly help us tell a story about ourselves. The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson were masters of composition, using colour, line work, light and design elements to strengthen their artistic statement. Please enjoy these murals as presented to you, for each one is a statement unto itself, and holds many secrets of what makes a masterpiece work of art.

It is our pleasure to present this collection to you.

Gerry Lantaigne
(Founder & Artistic Director - The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery)