For Immediate Release
Minden, Ontario
Monday, July 7, 2025
10:00 AM
Release # 25-74

Subject: Of Light and Life – A Solo Exhibition by Michael Dumas 

Join us for Of Light and Life, a new exhibit by world renowned artist Michael Dumas.  The exhibit will be on display July 17 to September 13, 2025 in the Agnes Jamieson Gallery. The opening reception takes place on Saturday, July 19 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. 

“While the natural world has exerted its influence on my artwork since childhood the essential foundation for my work is direct observation of the world around me. It is born of a need to connect, to understand; and drawing and painting are the vehicles for this. There are innumerable things one can choose to paint, that is, the objects themselves; but the underlying purpose of creating has to do with conveying something about why those objects inspire attention in the first place. Inspiration often comes unbidden and unexpected, a moment of heightened awareness that demands more than a fleeting glance. Sketchbooks fill, studies accumulate, and when the impulse is strong enough finished works are the result.

My exhibit, featuring several new pieces, provides a glimpse into the processes involved, from observational sketches and comprehensive preliminary drawings that may or may not lead anywhere beyond the motivating interest that inspired them. Overlaying this procedure is the matter of materials, the choice of medium, the support it will be applied to, and a sense of just what combinations are most sympathetic to the envisioned image. So goes an endless thread running through the work, joining observation, subject matter, emotional response, and the physicality of mediums.” M.D.

The Artist:

Michael Dumas was born and raised in the small town of Whitney, Ontario, near Algonquin Park. Exposure and familiarity with the wilderness and its creatures are reflected in his art.  Michael worked for a time as a ranger in Algonquin and has continued his connection to the Park by accompanying research teams on projects such as the winter bear den census. Michael’s subject matter also includes rural themes and people; the common denominator within all his art being an intimate connection based on personal experience.

Michael’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. His art has been featured on Canadian postage stamps and commemorative coins produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. The Artists for Conservation selected Michael as the 2023 recipient of the Simon Combes Conservation Award. In 2024 Michael was also awarded the AFC Seerey-Lester Award of Excellence for his painting ‘After the Storm’, depicting a Canada Lynx in an environment affected by climate change. 

The Agnes Jamieson Gallery is a public gallery with year-round visual exhibitions of local and regional art. Our Gallery is part of the Minden Hills Cultural Centre which also includes the Heritage Village & Nature Place Interpretive Centre. The Gallery is fully accessible. The Minden Hills Cultural Centre is located at 176 Bobcaygeon Road, Minden, Ontario and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission by donation.

For questions regarding this exhibit, please call the Community Services Department at 705-286-1260 x 542. For more information, visit the Township of Minden Hills website at www.mindenhills.ca.

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