This will test the knowledge of those not from Canada. :-)
Fredericton is the Capital of New Brunswick, one of Canada's smaller provinces on the East coast. With a population of just under 70,000 (and that is with amalgamating many nearby communities into the municipal area), many would see this as a bit of a backwater. I am here for the National General Secretaries meeting - every year the GSs and Deputy GSs from all of Canada's teacher unions gather to talk about the issues facing their members and staff.
Never having been to New Brunswick I decided to come down a day early so I had some time to wander.
As you might anticipate, the flight options from Toronto were not great. In fact, there are two direct flights a day - one is very early and the other very late. I took the early flight and arrived before noon. The airport is tiny so getting luggage, picking up the rental car, and heading out was quick!
Fredericton is situated on the St. John river and there are trails all along the river. I stopped a few times to take pics. The flooding on the river was extreme this year and the water is still quite high (if one can tell by the trees that still have their trunks submerged). On the way into the downtown area there were piles of furniture and boxes in front of houses where the basements must have flooded.
I parked the car downtown near the Beaverbrook gallery. You'd not expect to find a major art gallery in a small urban centre in new Brunswick but there it is thanks to the generous donations of Lord Beaverbrook which funded the building and provided more than 300 original pieces of art from his permanent collection.
When I arrived I was advised that it was Lord Beaverbrook Day so my entrance was free.
Happy Jerry.
The gallery has an extensive collection of paintings by Cornelius Krieghoff, and expatriate Canadian post-Impressionist James Wilson Morrice. New Brunswick landscape paintings and works on paper by artists such as Anthony Flower, George T. Taylor, and George Neilson Smith are also an important part of the gallery's holdings of 19th century Canadian art.
Other Canadian artists represented in the collection include members of the Group of Seven, Emily Carr and David Milne, as well as other 20th-century Canadian artists such as Paul-Emile Borduas, Jean Paul Riopelle, Jack Bush, Harold Feist, Harold Klunder and John Boyle.
The gallery is internationally known for its outstanding collection of British paintings from the Elizabethan era to the modern period, including paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Joshua Reynolds, J.M. Turner and John Constable. Modern British art is represented by the work of Augustus John, Sir Stanley Spencer, Walter Richard Sickert and Graham Sutherland, including Sutherland's preparatory sketches for his famous portrait of Winston Churchill.
Outside there was an interesting sculpture garden along the river.
I was pretty hungry by now so when I smelled the smells of good food wafting from a nearby building I headed in. It turns out that I had discovered Issac's Way - one of the restaurants I had hoped to visit while I was in town. Set in a heritage building (an 1840's era courthouse and jail complex), the restaurant also had an interesting collection of art on the walls.
Many of the menu items were farm to table which was a plus for me!
I had a local craft beer, scallop fritters, and a beet salad.
Next it was off to the hotel to check in.
My room overlooks the river which meant there were some impressive shots of sunset later in the day from my window.
Comments