Donald Teuma-Castelletti
GRAND CALUMET ISLAND Dec. 2, 2018
Residents of Grand Calumet Island had the opportunity to learn about one of the unique residents of their home on Saturday, when the daughter of a local artist spoke of her father’s work at a free event.
Nearly 30 guests attended the talk at the island’s recreation association, as Denise Trottier spoke of her father’s works in an ongoing series of lectures organized by a municipal councillor.

Trottier spoke to the work of her father, Gerald Trottier, an artist born in Ottawa who eventually fell in love and moved to the island later in his career. Gerald’s work encompasses a wide variety of mediums, and has been seen across the world, with much residing within Canada.
While painting the landscape of the island in the early 70s, Gerald wouldn’t call it home until 1980, living on a farm there until 2002. In 2004, he passed away, but his works can be found in the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and many more prominent buildings nationwide.
Guests to the talk learned from Denise all about her father, said Grand Calumet Island councillor James Azola, before enjoying a homemade meal. The talk was taped with Azola planning to turn this, and previous guest speakers’ lectures, into a documentary on Grand Calumet Island.
This documentary will feature people, life, history and the culture of the island, as Azola plans to dive further into individual stories of his home. In 2019, he plans to visit elders around the island to record their stories for the documentary, as he said it is more comfortable for some to speak from the comfort of their own home.
Donations collected at this and previous talks help with purchasing food for the meal, while leftover donations will benefit the recreation association and elder-focused activities on the Island, said Azola.
More talks and meals are planned for the new year, with the invitation to join the group open to anyone interested.