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Aurora Historical Society announces artists for Art at the Manor – an art exhibition in honour of the 150^th anniversary of Hillary House National Historic Site.

(Aurora, Ontario) In honour of Hillary House’s 150^th anniversary, the Aurora Historical Society (AHS) is seeking new ways of defining, interpreting and exploring Aurora’s only national historic site. As part of this initiative, Catherine Richards, Curator/Manager of AHS, has planned a juried group art exhibition to take place at Hillary House (also known as ‘The Manor’) entitled Art at the Manor. For the first time, artists were invited to submit proposals that challenge the site by capturing the emotion, historical fact/fiction or realistic representation embodied in its grounds and collections. Richards was joined by Samantha Rodin (Visual Artist and Arts Administrator & Social Media Lead, York Region Arts Council) and Stephanie Nicolò (Program and Event Assistant, Aurora Cultural Centre) to make up the jury.

In January 2012, the AHS released a call for submissions to Art at the Manor and received a great response to the project. After going through the applications submitted to the Aurora Historical Society, the Jurors for Art at the Manor are pleased to announce their selection of the following six artists to participate in this inaugural exhibition: Katie Argyle, Laura Bydlowska, Lisa Cristinzo, Catherine Fairs, Karin Foulds, and Kristie MacDonald.

The artists will be working in a variety of mediums including woodblock, oil paint, mixed media and drawing, which should make for an interesting show of diverse interpretation. “Each of the selected artists brings a very unique approach to their work,” remarks Richards. “I’m really excited and looking forward to seeing how they will represent Hillary House through their eyes.” The artists will have access to Hillary House and the grounds as well as its displayed and stored artefacts and archives as a source of inspiration while creating their pieces.

Art at the Manor will be on display in the ballroom at Hillary House for the 2012 open season, which kicks off on May 12, 2012 with the 150^th Anniversary Launch Event. Hillary House National Historic Site, located on Yonge Street in Aurora, will be open daily between 10am and 4 pm from May 12, 2012 to September 3, 2012.