Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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Y.- .. .6 p a ge i' 2 . T- l NE of the functions of a school is CD QD to provide an environment of such a sort that the. aptitudes andcapacities of every pupil in the group will have an opportunity for stimulus and growth. This sentence appears in an article elsewhere in this magazineg it is in itself sufficient reason for the establishment of the Depart- ment of Creative Arts in September of last year. Over and above this, however, is the desire that Pickering College in all its activity shall reflect, in at least a small measure, the cultural growth that is evident in so many ways in Canadian life. The foundation of the department grew out of a series of discussions between the Headmaster and a group of Toronto ar- tists, namely Mr. ,Lawren Harris, Mr. Arthur Lismer, Mr. A. Y. Jackson, Mr. Peter Haworth and Miss Frances Loring. This group has acted as an advisory committee during the course of the year and the success of the experiment in its first year is in no small measure due to their expert advice and constant willing co-opera- tion. It was decided to appoint as Fellows in the Department, four young artists of ability and promise,-Gordon Webber, Mur- . , S . f X , C 'fix 'T U -K , l E ' A I l 1 fri . B- 2 I l N 5 H ' li l li G A X E l l T rt l S I X -.XX 'gli' E -4: Y ' 1 Ailii 'iliillli U .2 MQIIIIIIIII 5 llllj-'Ill i 'I 5 lllllllll-llll I 'niizzl iiil s g ...sqgligenli T N k ll xii' G

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. -1 ' --: .. J should keep who can. Theoretically, we recognize the truth that the world is a unit but our thinking on national questions has completely failed to progress in conformity with the course of our economic development. Man's genius has provided means of production more efficient, more skilful than could have possibly been dreamed of even by Aladdin when the genii of the lamp was in one of his best moods. We have at our command machinery capable of removing all drudgery from labour. It has been said that with the present means of production that enough goods could be produced on the basis of a four hour working day for all the workers of the world. We have, however, become enslaved to our machinery and stand helpless under the overpowering result of our own cleverness. The best we can do is to employ sufficient men to operate the necessary machinery While those displaced walk our streets in tatters and go hungry to bed. Rather than planning our industrial life so that repetitive work will be eliminated the best use that we can make of our machines is to add to them a certain number of our fellow creatures working eight and ten hours a day tightening up bolts 35 and 36 on the automobile chassis, becoming merely other cogs, enslaved to a machine which should have set them free. Out of this chaos can come a happier life but our emphasis on individual success must be changed so that we consider the welfare of the Whole group as the matter of basic importance in all our human relationships. Production must be planned to pro- vide for the needs of all peoples and individuals. Personal profit as the sole motivating influence of our economic life must give way to a recognition of the group welfare. Our tribal political outlook must be supplanted by a vision of a world society in which all nations large and small will have a place and to the culture of which, each will make its specialized and particular contribution. The weakness of the League of Nations, at the present time, in moments of internation complication shows just how deep-seated our narrow nationalisms are. In our industrial activity we must utilize our inventive genius to free man from slavery. This will result in an increase of leisure and it is the duty of society to provide facilities for its wholesome use. Except in the days of the individual craftsman, art has tended to be remote and de- tached from the life of the average man and has become the prerogative of a leisure class. In the new world society there must be a suflicient emphasis on the quality of life and the rich ex- periences that are possible to all members of the human family. Art in all its forms shall no longer be the prized possession of a favoured few but its enrichment of life shall be the heritage of all. It is evident from these considerations and from others that will occur naturally to any reader that the keynote of a new and ff'UllfllIllf'll un page HU l

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- ,AZA i 1 - ray Thompson, Alvin Hilts and Rowland Trevor. These, the first members of our Latin Quarter or Bohemian group, took up resi- dence in the attic rooms of Firth House, the second storey of the Craft Shop was transformed into a studio where they could carry on their work,-wood carving, clay-modelling. stone-carving and painting. Artists have been noted from time immemorial for their strangely individualistic tendencies, to say therefore that our little band has not added variety Cand a measure of variety U to our life would be a denial of all experience and a neglect of the evidence that We have had during the past eight months. These particular artists have, however, found their place in our community life and have contributed to a fine enrichment of our whole programme of activity and our outlook. Our darkhaired dreamer has indeed betaken himself on occa- sions to the swamps and to the desert for artistic stimulation but does he not enjoy a good game of baseball? Our twentieth century Leonardo soothes his harassed soul with soft melody at weird and uncanny hours but did you hear him discuss the history of architecture at the club meeting? And our local boy Whose design won the competition for the Newmarket War Memorial is equally at home under one of the ubiquitous Fordsg while Gordie, having frozen three fingers trying to reproduce the silvery sheen of the new tower on a cold January day graciously acts as host at tea in his Moderne apartment. Yes, they have become a part of our life at Pickering and the place would be lonelier, less inter- esting and less stimulating without them. The work of the department will be carried on during the coming year. lt is hoped that it may expand as additional facili- ties can be provided. For assistance this year we are indebted to Messrs. Samuel Rogers, G. R. Larkin and R. A. Laidlaw. Perhaps we will yet have here, on the top of the hill, a National Institute of Fine Arts. Who knows? Thor is angry, Thor the War god, Thor the thunderer hurls his bolts, Raging rips the harmless sod, Rends the mighty oak in twain. Terror puts he in all mortals, Even Othin quakes to hear him Fling the lightning from his portals, Smite the tortured mountain pine. Thor is angry, Thor the war god, Thor the thunderer rules the world. 29