Yvonne’s Long Cold Hunt for Culture

After four weeks on a movie set in Northern Ontario, I got a serious craving for a hit of culture last week. So I decided to visit to the Algoma Art Gallery, which is just down the street from my hotel, here in Sault Ste. Marie. The gallery’s website showed some intriguing images, giving me hope that it would turn out to be a local gem.

Pulling on my boots and parka, I braved a swirling blizzard to reach the gallery, where I crammed six bucks into the donation box near the front door. Heading into the main gallery, I found exactly none of the paintings posted on the site. Instead, there were three very small collections of works. One was interesting, the second mediocre and the last… Well, let’s just say I wished I’d spent my six bucks on a latte and muffin at the local café. Ever optimistic, I checked out the gallery’s gift shop hoping to buy gifts for my camera crew companions. I came up empty, as no one would thank me for Christmas leftovers, semi-precious stones, or moose-themed table accessories.

Fifteen minutes after I’d arrived, I was back out in the snow.

With a population of over 70,000, there must be some talented people in this city, so it’s disappointing that the local gallery isn’t making more effort to promote them. I caught a glimpse of what could be in their most clever installment—a totem pole made of car parts.

It was hidden in the back of the gallery, among the garbage bins.

Pushing Gallery Letdown aside, I trudged over to the museum and slapped down another Latte & Muffin fee to view the museum galleries, which, while interesting, failed to deliver much in the way of education. Although there was information about how people lived in the area through the years, and a good display on the Edmund Fitzgerald, I left feeling that I’d didn’t know much more about the city than when I arrived. In fact, I found the most interesting tidbit on a plaque outside of the museum, which described how thousands of Ukrainians and other Europeans were rounded up as “enemy aliens” in World War I and interned at the Sault Ste. Marie armory.

Later that day, I received an e-mail from the charming couple that owns one of the best cafés in the Soo, along with a happening night club. And guess what? Culture does come to town after all, in the form of some really great music!

From jazz to indie to folk, here are some of the diverse artists featured bringing their talent to the Great White North:

http://www.myspace.com/markberubemusic

http://www.myspace.com/elizabethshepherd


http://www.myspace.com/goodlovelies

http://www.myspace.com/laurenmannmusic

http://brownman.com/electryctrio/

If music isn’t enough, I suppose I could grab a hockey stick, curling broom, or ice fishing rod, and succumb to the local passion for winter sports.

But you’re more likely to find me in my hotel room with the heat cranked up and a cup of tea, soaking up popular culture on my wide screen TV!