2000 WILLIAM MORRIS EVENTS IN CANADA Compiled by the William Morris Society of Canada NOTE: The William Morris Society of Canada now maintains its own web site. Saturday, 15 January 2000, 6.30pm The Decorative Arts: An evening of ceramic painting Sponsored by the William Morris Society of Canada. At the Clay Room, 279 Danforth Avenue, Toronto (A five-minute walk east from Broadview station on the south side of Danforth) Evening of ceramic painting. This event is for members of the society to get together and have the opportunity to meet or revisit with each other. The painting itself is not complicated. You do not have to possess any artistic ability to create a unique piece you can be proud of You may want to copy a William de Morgan tile (patterns provided) or create something entirely original Cost: $15 payable at the door PLUS the cost of the piece you select to paint. This ranges from $3 to $36, depending on the size. When you have finished your piece and glazed it, It will be left to be glazed for a second time and to be fired in one of the kilns. About a week later you will be able to collect your piece(s). Perhaps later we shall have a private exhibition of members' works! The event is limited to 39 participants. If we get a really big response, maybe we'll do it again sometime. Please call Gianna Wichelow at 465-0696 to register, or for further information. Saturday and Sunday 12-13 February Weekend Trip to Ottawa: Winterlude and a play about Rossetti and Morris Leave Toronto early Saturday, arriving in Ottawa in the afternoon. You will have an opportunity to visit "Winterlude/Bal de neige," the snow and ice extravaganza. Centered around the frozen Rideau Canal, it includes ice sculptures at Confederation Park - renamed the Crystal Garden for the duration - and snow sculptures around Dows Lake. Our hotel overlooks these delights. Other events include speed-skating, and dog-sled races. On Saturday evening our bus will take us to Carleton University Alumni Theatre where Sock 'n' Buskin Theatre will be producing Canadian playwright Kim Morrissey's critically acclaimed black comedy "Clever, as Paint: the Rossettis in Love". A comic reappraisal of the painting circle of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, his wife Lizzie Siddal and protege William Morris, it examines the boundaries between inspiration and despair, art and craft. On Sunday morning you have an opportunity again to visit Winterlude - or make a local visit with members of VVMSC in Ottawa, to be arranged. Cost $125 per person, based on double occupancy. Includes return bus trip, one night's hotel accommodation and theatre ticket. (Single supplement: $58). Please indicate if you are travelling alone and would like to be matched up with another for double occupancy. Meals not included. Numbers are limited to 40. Registrations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. Deadline of 29 December 1999. Send checks payable to The William Morris Society of Canada and mail to: 52 Berkeley Court, Unionville, ON L3R 6L9. For further information, call John Wichelow at (416) 465-0696. Sunday, 26 March 2000, 2.00pm William Morris and the Rediscovery of Early Music The Grange Spring Lecture by Professor Hans de Groot, in the Music Room of the Grange, Art Gallery of Ontario. Refreshments will be served, (including Birthday Cake) and a toast will be given in honour of William Morris, whose birthday falls on 24th March. 7 April to 22 September 2000 A Dream of the Past: Pre-Raphaelite and Aethetic Movement Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings Exhibition at University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto. More than 150 works from the Lonigan collection, the National Gallery of Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum, the ArtGallery of Ontario, and private collections. Includes Morris, Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Watts, Alma-Tadema. 26 May 2000, 7.30pm An Introduction to William Morris Lectures at Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto, 140 St George Street (Room 205). This event, organised by the William Morris Society of Canada, is aimed at anyone who wishes to gain a broad overview of Morris's life and work. A panel of speakers will give short presentations illustrated with slides and this will be followed by an open discussion. Refreshments will be served. Admission is free. For further information, Tel. 416 - 465 0696. 22 to 25 June 2000 Morris Millennium Conference Following the centenary conference at Oxford in 1996, the William Morris Society of Canada is now organizing the Morris Millennium Conference as the second international conference to bring together scholars and students of Morris as an artist, writer, socialist, and early ecologist. The conference will be held at the University of Toronto and will include lectures on all aspects of Morris's work, exhibitions of Pre-Raphaelite art, tours of Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts architecture. Accommodation will be available on the university campus. A call for papers has been issued. Tuesday, 12 September 2000, 4.30pm "William Morris: Was He a True Pre-Raphaelite?" lecture by Richard Landon, Director, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Presented in conjunction with the University of Toronto Art Centre's Dream of the Past exhibition featuring works from the Lanigan collection. Room 140 University College, University of Toronto, Entrance on north side of King's College Circle. Contact: Tel. (416) 978-1838 or (416) 978-6107 for more details. Friday, 15 September 2000, 7.30pm Annual General Meeting and Lecture William Morris Society of Canada annual meeting, to be followed at 8:00pm by a lecture "In Good Hands: The Women of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild" by Ellen McLeod. 140 St. George Street,Toronto, Ontario. The building faces St George Street just north of the main Robarts Library - half a minute walk south of Sussex Avenue. Walk up the steps to the revolving doors which lead into a lobby and the main floor lecture auditorium. Underground parking is available across the road. Nearest subway is St George (west exit). Refreshments will be served. Admission is free. Friday, 13 October 2000, 7.30pm Introduction to the Icelandic Sagas Lecture by Dr. Ian McDougall. Details to follow. Saturday, 18 November 2000, 7.00pm for 7.30pm "The Tables Turned, or Nupkins Awakened" This two act play by William Morris will be presented as a staged reading in the Great Hall, Hart House by the Graduate Committee and Drama Club. In the fall of 1887 William Morris wrote his one and only foray into the realm of theatre. It saw three productions in as many years, the first in October 1887. The Pall Mall Gazette observed that Morris, "not content with writing the songs of socialism, aspires to write its plays." Then it sank into obscurity. This was the story of "The Tables Turned, or Nupkins Awakened", a courtroom farce with political allusions, a propagandist piece written for the political education of the working classes to help them see the wisdom of the socialist agenda of Karl Marx. Through his Toronto admirers such as professor James Mavor and painter J.E.H. MacDonald, Morris' ideas on the arts and fellowship inspired the principles behind Hart House. As the play reveals, although he was also a revolutionary he envisioned the revolution as bloodless, as an acceptance by all of the rightness of socialism. A revival of "The Tables Turned" was staged in Ottawa two years ago. This may well be its Toronto premiere. A cash bar will be open before Act One and coffee and light refreshments served after Act Two. Tickets $15; Hart House members $10 Information on 2001 William Morris events in Canada. If you know of any other events relating to William Morris that should be included on this list please send full details and a contact address to: Mark Samuels Lasner, Biblio@aol.com. HOME · NEW · EVENTS · NEWSLETTER · SITE ARCHIVE · ABOUT THE SOCIETY MORRIS' LIFE AND WORKS · PRODUCTS · LINKS · SITE MAP · CONTACT US LAST UPDATE 4 JAN 2001 · PLEASE REPORT BROKEN LINKS TO WEBMASTER@MORRISSOCIETY.ORG