March 31, 2020

Catherine McDonald

Neighbourhood means many things to me but none more so than a small country town that espouses the values of working together for the good of their town. In my piece I have tried to show the open countryside all around the town.

Coming from New Zealand I was amazed at the lack of fences and how paddocks just ran into each other. However I was mostly amazed at the resilience of this small town to host a major exhibition from a different country each year for the last 9 years. The team knew what they were about, had locally engineered quilt frames that went up each year, had pre-planned the display and promoted the exhibition to everyone locally and further afield in Canada.

People came from everywhere, ex pat Kiwis, those who had visited New Zealand or it was on their bucket list. These people (approx 3000) were fed each day and hosted by Ailsa Craig in such a friendly manner. It was indeed a privilege to be part of this!

At the farewell brunch the day after the exhibition ended, the treasurer talked about how the funds raised were spent: money to the local butcher for the meat, the local grocery store for the gorceries, the bottle store for the alcohol for the opening function and the local hardware store for various items. I’m sure the list goes further but it would be fair to say practically all the funds raised went back in to the local neighbourhood.

Its very sad that due to COVID-19 they have had to cancel Spain for this year but I sincerely hope they are able to host them again next year.

Thank you to Shelagh and her wonderful team for looking after us so well – life long friends!

I have also added some closeups of the photos I have used.

Dimensions 40 inches high by 28 1/2 inches