Endings, January 2026

We all have endings and beginnings throughout our lives.  Early childhood ends, adolescence begins, and suddenly we are striving for independence and autonomy, even though our immature brains are not really ready for the new responsibilities.  High school ends, and post-secondary pursuits begin.  University, college, apprenticeship or the job market all present vast changes in our lives.  No matter which direction we choose to follow, we are assured that we suddenly have to grow up and become responsible.  No one is standing beside us, holding our hand and guiding us to learn the things we need to learn and do the things we need to do to be successful.  This has to be the most maturing change of all.  Young people who have never lived away from home are suddenly faced with a world of responsibility far beyond what they imagined. 

Eventually, we are in the world of work.  Some of us, myself included, go back to school many times over the years to learn and grow, and reach career goals we set for ourselves.  There can be many endings and many new beginnings in our work lives.  If you are lucky to live long enough, you get to retirement.  Yet another ending and a new beginning.  My retirement from the world of education allowed me to go back to my first love, which is art.  After moving to Simcoe, I was introduced to a local art gallery called the Capitol Arts Market that was started by ten local businesspeople.  Their corporation was called the Capitol Performance Group.  Their hope was to build a performance space in downtown Simcoe.  For a variety of reasons, the performance space never really took off, but the art gallery, which was to be a small part of the facility, did develop. 

In 2018, the gallery was supposed to close in December of that year.  With some tweaks to the contract and the cooperation of the CPG Board members, the art gallery was turned over to the artists and an artist’s co-op was born in January 2019.  Artists came and went for a variety of reasons, but a core of dedicated people stood behind the concept.  People volunteered their time to make the gallery a better place.  Walls were built, paint was applied, new lighting was ordered, and new signs were installed.  Art classes were conducted in our new classroom, and special exhibits were presented in our small gallery.  A website was developed, and we became a presence on social media.  We have had our struggles and our triumphs, but this December, we finally had to close our doors, mainly due to financial struggles. 

This is an ending for me personally, as I have been the President of the Board and Coordinator of the gallery since 2019.  With every ending comes a new beginning and opportunities to do things I have not had time to do up until now.  My art project list is long.  There will also be more writing in my future.  For this blog, I have included a photo of my last art display at the Capitol Arts Market.  Great memories, great people and many new friends have come my way because of my volunteer work at CAM.  Without all these amazing people who volunteered their ideas, time and labour, CAM would have closed many years ago.