By Pamela Minns
The Niagara Heritage Alliance was formed several years ago and is an alliance of volunteers, individuals and organizations from communities across the 12 municipalities of the Region of Niagara. NHA is committed to heritage preservation and enhancement – speaking with a unified voice on heritage matters.
The renown RiverBrink Art Museum in the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario village of Queenston.
On January 21st, 2012 NHA became a branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. ACO was formed in 1933 and this year they are celebrating their 80th anniversary. Since the 1930’s the ACO has helped save hundreds of buildings across Ontario and raised awareness of the importance of preserving our heritage.
Niagara Heritage Alliance is holding another one of their General Meetings at the picturesque RiverBrink Art Museum, 116 Queenston Street, in the Niagara-on-the-Lake Village of Queenston, Ontario – Saturday, April 27th, 2013, beginning with coffee at 8:30 a.m. and continuing the program until 12 noon. Everyone is welcome.
The program includes Mr. Jim Riddell, Director of Planning & Development Services for the City of St.Catharines, Ontario. He will be speaking about “How heritage groups work with municipal planners to preserve the history and heritage of Niagara’s cities and towns”. Jim is new to St.Catharines – he replaces Paul Chapman who has retired, and comes to our area from Guelph. We are anxious to learn his approach to working with those involved in heritage preservation.
Next, Brian Romagnoli who is a well-known local artist and muralist with vast experience and education, and post-graduate studies in Florence, Italy; his career highlights are truly amazing as well as his constant volunteer work in the Region of Niagara ! He will show some of his work and talk about heritage murals and public art. Brian recently completed the mural on the south side of the gorgeous Quebec Bank building in the Thorold business area. He was responsible for the restoration design of this important building which won a facade award in 2012 through Regional Niagara.
The 3rd speaker is Ruth Abernethy – Canadian Sculptor, who was born in Lindsay and now lives in Wellesley. Her professional activities and teaching credits, as well as her exhibitions and her many collections and awards are outstanding. Her work has been shown in juried exhibitions in Ireland and the U.S.A. – she has worked in Australia. She has also worked with most of Canada’s regional theatres, the Louisville and National Ballet, as well as international designers. She received Canada Council support for pursuing the arts in Japan and Europe – in a word, she has an amazing background. A St. Davids heritage group is considering having a statue made of Laura Secord, and have consulted with Ruth about taking on this project. She will share some of her beautiful work with us and will speak about “Making history come alive with sculpture”.
NHA regularly receives reports from some of its member groups, and April 27th this includes the Friends of Beaverdams Church (Thorold) whose aim it is to have this very historic church restored. This meetinghouse style church is a landmark in the City of Thorold; it dates to 1832, it has an Ontario Heritage Foundation recognition and the building and adjacent graveyard were designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in 1994.
Any heritage group is invited to provide an update at our General Meetings on heritage matters within their communities.
Everyone is welcome to attend this meeting at the beautiful RiverBrink location in Queenston. Please join us for an enjoyable morning of education, information, as well as the chance to mingle and share with others from our Region of Niagara.
RiverBrink Art Museum is located on the scenic Niagara Parkway, halfway between Niagara Falls and the “Old Town” Historic Niagara on the Lake. See their web site at www.riverbrink.org
Learn more about Niagara Heritage Alliance and its work to promote and preserve heritage across Niagara by clicking on www.niagaraheritagealliance.org .
Pamela Minns is a Niagara, Ontario resident, an active member of Heritage Thorold and long-time advocate for protecting and preserving heritage sites in the greater Niagara region.
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