Évangéline

14 x 12'', acrylic on mounted gessoed aluminium panel

painting #273, 2019

Since 1994, le Congrès mondial acadien (World Acadian Congress) has been held every five years. This summer, southeast New Brunswick and several municipalities on Prince Edward Island hosted the event from August 10 to 24. National Acadian Day is held annually on August 15. This year, I attended the festivities with my wife in Dieppe, N.B. Our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau along several dignitaries kicked off the Grand Tintamarre that was followed by a free show/concert featuring a who's who of Acadian singers that was attended by 20,000 people. 

The whole event inspired me to undertake a sister painting for ''Evangeline, an homage to Longfellow" that was completed in 2017.  Please click on this LINK for the backstory behind both paintings. The photo study for Évangéline was done during the same session at Fort Beauséjour, NB in late August of 2017. For the first study, the viewer is looking west in the direction of Grand-Pré, NS. For this latest painting, the viewer is looking south, towards the Missaguash River located on the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border. Fort Lawrence which was occupied by British troops once stood on the other side of the river from Fort Beauséjour at the time of the deportation of Acadians in 1755. 

This painting was submitted to the Annual Juried Exhibition held at the Moncton Gallery. The show runs from September 9 until the end of October.

Moncton Gallery is located at City Hall, 655 Main St., Moncton, NB
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

During the jury process, the City of Moncton decided to acquire the painting for their permanent art collection. For this, I am forever grateful to live in such a vibrant and inclusive city.

-Collection - City of Moncton