Circle Arts

Description

The Circle Arts story began in 1969 when Gale Jensen - a professor of Social Sciences at the University of Michigan - persuaded six students of the Ontario College of Art (OCA) to build an art gallery and studio on land he owned in Tobermory, Ontario. The group stayed in the small town on the picturesque Bruce Peninsula for the summer, producing oil paintings, watercolours, wood block prints, sculptures, silk screens, textiles, jewelry and pottery. They returned to Toronto to finish their studies at the end of the summer, then moved to Tobermory permanently the following spring. Over the years, the number of artists working out of Circle Arts changed and eventually, Allen and Sue Smutylo (two members of the founding group) became owners of the gallery. In 1983, the Smutylos sold Circle Arts to Ben Goedhart, who directed its operations until his retirement January 2006. The Circle Arts story encompasses elements of its times and locales. It is the story of youthful enthusiasm and artistic maturity, local involvement and global markets, sound business sense and high creativity. More than anything else, it is the story of a commitment to Canadian art, and to those who produce and support it.

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