Sir John A. Macdonald 13th Annual Dinner at the Kingston Historical Society
It was a pleasure to attend, on behalf of the Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission, the Kingston Historical Society’s 13th annual Sir John A. Macdonald dinner. The event was held at the Royal Military College on January 11th. The evening’s highlight was the fascinating presentation by guest speaker, Ms. Ruth Abernethy, acclaimed portraitist and sculptor. The audience was privileged to hear Ms. Abernethy’s passionate description of her creative process and her introduction, on a projected screen, of the life-sized head study of a teen-aged Macdonald.
Her model is part of a larger work entitled “Holding Court”, commissioned by The Macdonald Project of Prince Edward County. The planned bronze will portray Macdonaldsur le vif, standing at the dock circa 1834, in the Picton courtroom addressing twelve individual jury seats at his first ever trial.
Sir John A. Macdonald (Brian Porter), Christine Boucher of the Commission and Lady Agnes Macdonald (Renee Porter).
Ms. Abernethy commented, in good humour, on the significance of our late Prime Minister’s imperfections and characteristic “bouncing” curls, which apparently had a lot to say about his personality and which she faithfully reproduced. In her view, her study of Macdonald’s features clearly betrays his magnetism and the empathy he inspired. As an artist, Ms. Abernethy has clearly bonded with her subject and immersed herself in his psyche, in order to interpret, as realistically as possible, the persona of our first Prime Minister, despite the passage of two centuries. Due to her passionate eye and attention to physiognomy, we will all soon have the privilege of seeing her work unveiled.
Amongst those at the dinner were His Worship, Kingston Mayor Mark Gerretsen, Kingston and the Islands MP Ted Hsu, the Hon.Peter Milliken and other distinguished guests. KHS president Gordon Sinclairserved as Master of Ceremonies. Sir John A. was toasted as a Scot, a Kingstonian, an Ontarian and above all else, a proud Canadian.
Also on hand was John A. himself (Brian Porter of Brockville) as was Eva Barnes. Earlier in the day, she was a crowd favorite at Kingston’s annual noontime celebration at John A.’s statue in City Park, when she read out one of her famous limericks. Kingston also had the pleasure, January 11th, of welcoming the Honorable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. Minister Moore announced more than $800,000 in funding for the John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission and the Historica-Dominion Institute. He was joined by Anthony Wilson-Smith, president of the Historica-Dominion Institute and Queen’s University Principal Daniel Woolf, who is also on Wilson-Smith’s board.
All members of the Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission would like to extend our congratulations to the KHS, Kingstonians and all Canadians who took time out to mark Sir John A. Macdonald Day.
Her model is part of a larger work entitled “Holding Court”, commissioned by The Macdonald Project of Prince Edward County. The planned bronze will portray Macdonaldsur le vif, standing at the dock circa 1834, in the Picton courtroom addressing twelve individual jury seats at his first ever trial.
Sir John A. Macdonald (Brian Porter), Christine Boucher of the Commission and Lady Agnes Macdonald (Renee Porter).
Ms. Abernethy commented, in good humour, on the significance of our late Prime Minister’s imperfections and characteristic “bouncing” curls, which apparently had a lot to say about his personality and which she faithfully reproduced. In her view, her study of Macdonald’s features clearly betrays his magnetism and the empathy he inspired. As an artist, Ms. Abernethy has clearly bonded with her subject and immersed herself in his psyche, in order to interpret, as realistically as possible, the persona of our first Prime Minister, despite the passage of two centuries. Due to her passionate eye and attention to physiognomy, we will all soon have the privilege of seeing her work unveiled.
Amongst those at the dinner were His Worship, Kingston Mayor Mark Gerretsen, Kingston and the Islands MP Ted Hsu, the Hon.Peter Milliken and other distinguished guests. KHS president Gordon Sinclairserved as Master of Ceremonies. Sir John A. was toasted as a Scot, a Kingstonian, an Ontarian and above all else, a proud Canadian.
Also on hand was John A. himself (Brian Porter of Brockville) as was Eva Barnes. Earlier in the day, she was a crowd favorite at Kingston’s annual noontime celebration at John A.’s statue in City Park, when she read out one of her famous limericks. Kingston also had the pleasure, January 11th, of welcoming the Honorable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. Minister Moore announced more than $800,000 in funding for the John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission and the Historica-Dominion Institute. He was joined by Anthony Wilson-Smith, president of the Historica-Dominion Institute and Queen’s University Principal Daniel Woolf, who is also on Wilson-Smith’s board.
All members of the Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission would like to extend our congratulations to the KHS, Kingstonians and all Canadians who took time out to mark Sir John A. Macdonald Day.
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