Doors Open 2011 - Arts and Letters Club

For the past few years, I've been meaning to go visit the Arts and Letters Club for Doors Open but kept running out of time.  This year I only had time to visit one location and made it my destination of choice.

Formed in 1908 as a club for gentlemen with passion for the arts, be it Literature, Architecture, Music, Painting or Stage (aka LAMPS), the Arts and Letters Club allowed them to come together to share their ideas and synergize with each other.

It included such distinguished members as the Group of Seven, Fredrick Banting, Vincent Massey, and Ed Mirvish.  Women were not allowed to join the club until 1985, much to the outrage of Anne Mirvish who picketed the club in 1975 when she was not allowed in to hear her husband give a speech.  She is now considered a valued Charter member of the club, and the current president is a woman, so times have definitely changed.

The first thing you encounter when you wander into the beautiful heritage building called St. Georges Hall is the collection of sketches of past presidents of the club, done by other club members.   While some are serious portrait sketches, others are playful and affectionate caricatures.

The lounge and bar area displays the set of annual lists of club executives, dating back to the club's inception in 1908.  Each one is a work of art created by a member of the club.  Comparing the designs of the list through the years provides an interesting retrospective of changing styles.  The earliest lists featured calligraphy while later lists reflected various art phases including Art Deco.  A few of the lists are actually small sculptures while the more recent lists are reflective of modern technology in terms of fonts and images.

The LAMPS room contains artifacts from each of the disciplines supported by the club.  My favourite painting was a portrait of past club president Napier Moore (editor of Macleans magazine), painted by J.E.Sampson.  In the background was a reproduction of Vincent Van Gogh's famous sunflowers.  The painting was signed "Van Sampson Gogh".

The Grand Hall is an expansive room with cathedral-like ceiling and windows, displaying what looks like large coats of arms.  They were created by Group of Seven member J.E.H.Macdonald in mock tribute to his colleagues.  On closer inspection, the crests included drawings of a rodent, a button, a hand doing the boy scout salute .. not your typical coat of arms symbols.  Rotating artwork from current members are displayed on the walls, judged by a jury and available for sale.  At the back of the hall is a stage where plays are frequently presented with the audience being served dinner and dessert prior to the show.

On the second floor, the library contained books, plaques and prints by and about members of the club.  Up on the mantle was a wooden propeller given by some airmen around WWI as payment for club hospitality when they didn't have any money.  A large narwhal tooth sits in the corner, a donation from Fredrick Banting's widow soon after his death. 

Fredrick Banting was a fledgling painter that mentored under the Group of Seven.  One of his paintings of Yellowknife River, NWT is displayed in the Boardroom, along with the rest of the Arts and Letter Club's permanent collection.  Only knowing him as the doctor who invented insulin, I was really impressed by how good his painting was.  It was clear that he was influenced by the Group of Seven.

Up on the third floor, the Studio holds regular sessions where a live model poses while members paint, sketch or sculpt her image.  I saw a photo that my friend took the previous year for Doors Open, and it was the same model!  She must have a permanent lock on this gig.

In the basement is a display case of stamps depicting art by or of members of the Arts and Letters Club from 1949 to 1994.  Some of the images are quite iconic including the Canada Goose in flight, a Fred Varley self portrait that I've seen in the McMichael gallery, and the Vimy Ridge scuplture that I saw a model of at the War Museum in Ottawa.

Even the restrooms show the artistic whimsy that is evident throughout the building.  The signs depicting men vs women's washrooms (of which I have a large collection of photos from locations around the world) are cartoon sketches by one of the members. 

Inside the men's room, there is a huge replica painting of the Mona Lisa overlooking the urinals, along with a poem teasingly describing the pressures of having to pee under Mona's "gauging glance".

Members gather at the Arts and Letters Club for theatre and music events, seminars and workshops on painting, photography, writing and more. It was so inspiring being in midst of all that creative talent that I seriously wished I could belong and be a part of it .. until I saw the steep membership commitment which was around $1000 per year plus $1000 initiation fee.

Instead I found a way to feel part of the club for one evening.   While visiting for Doors Open, I learned that some of the theatre events are open to the public.  I secured tickets to their next show, Edward Albee's absurdist play "The American Dream", which came with an option for a full dinner, or dessert and coffee.  So there I was sitting in the Grand Hall where so many artistic greats sat before.  The fact that I had no clue what the play was about brought me back down to earth a bit.. maybe I'm not ready to hobnob with this group just yet ...