Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Oct. 7, 2017
An art project supporting the protection status of the Dumoine River went on display at a café in Shawville over the weekend, highlighting the natural beauty of the region through the eyes of 15 different artists.
Organized by the Ottawa Valley Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS-OV) with the intention of supporting the organization’s wilderness conservation initiatives, the free art exhibit opened Saturday afternoon at the Art Brûlant and Impressions Café, and will be on display there until Oct. 21, 2017.
“Dumoine River is the last undammed river anywhere in Southern Quebec,” said John McDonnell, executive director of CPAWS. “A lot of people don’t know about it.”

CPAWS-OV organized a camping trip in early August, allowing the artists to explore the park and capture moments through a variety of mediums and styles. Since their return from the trip, they’ve had the opportunity to develop and finetune their pieces until Saturday’s exhibit.
Filling the café were renderings of wild rivers, untouched forest and the natural scenes, recreated on paper, in photos, carvings and many more styles.
“I’d never been, but heard about it in glowing terms,” said Scott Haig, a photographer who participated in the project. “I had put the location on my bucket list.”
Haig chose his one photograph after hours and hours of editing. He had narrowed the option down to two photos, but after spending over 30 hours editing the unused photo, he was still unsatisfied. Having spent roughly 10 hours editing the chosen shot, Haig was happy, and the final work depicts a rushing river coming towards the camera, as it stands on a boulder protruding from the water. In the background, two edges to the forest nearly meet, but are separated by the flowing waters.
It was an image he had never seen before, the area bathed in light as the sun set that day. Haig admitted that he was very excited for the moment he captured, because he had only ever seen that part captured in greying skies in his research.
“I was just sitting down to dinner when I noticed, holy cow, that’s a blue sky,” said Haig. “I was able to get out onto the boulder and precariously get this shot.”
Blending a number of compositional elements, he came out very proud of his photo.
“I visited the location two or three times before, but never had the light,” said Haig. “You have to pounce when you get the light you want.”
McDonnell said they chose to highlight this area in their current projects because it will be important for the wildlife going forward.
“With climate change, we need to prepare for animal migration,” said McDonnell.
He also said that due to the close proximity to Algonquin Park, they could expect such migration to come from that area. Though, he’s also hoping to encourage further tourism to the Dumoine River.
“It’s just as nice, if not nicer, than Algonquin Park,” said McDonnell.
CPAWS-OV is expecting to establish a protected status for the area in 2018, after over ten years of working towards it. McDonnell admitted it is a long process, but can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“We needed a lot of consultation between Aboriginal leaders, the MRC, etc.,” he said. “It takes time to coordinate it all.”
Encouraged by the success of this year’s art camp, McDonnell said that CPAWS-OV plans to host it again next year, but hope to include more Pontiac artists. This year’s artists were chosen once an open call was put out, and it was no easy task to narrow the applicants down to just 15, but they did so based on the mediums submitted.
“We’d like to encourage people to come out,” said McDonnell. “It’s in their backyard.”