On Saturday May 19th, my husband and I had the pleasure of attending the grand opening of the new Discovery Centre at Fort Wellington. About a year ago I worked on illustrations of Johnny and Sue,
conservators that help tell the story to visitors of
the history of the gunboat and how they have found evidence that this
gunboat dates back to 1800s. These two characters are aimed towards children who come to the Centre and are supposed to be fun/friendly and help children be interactive with the display. It was a great freelance job and often when I work for
Parks Canada the locations are far from home so I never see the final product. So this was a real treat! The illustrations were done in watercolors and merged with photography and text in photoshop by a Parks Canada designer. She was very clear as to want was needed, roughs were done first, then revised (if needed) then done in color. The whole job took a couple of weeks on my part. What was really wonderful was seeing the whole job come together, many different artist, were used to create this new Discovery Centre, all with different skills. And I'm happy to say that I was part of this project.
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| Entrance to gunboat display Johnny and Sue, conservators |
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| Clue Panel |
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| Clue Panel |
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| Clue Panel |
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| Poster outside exhibit, children can take their photo in uniforms |
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| Ice Cream for sale |
Prescott, Ontario, is home to Fort Wellington, built during the War of
1812 to defend the St. Lawrence River shipping route between Montreal
and Kingston from possible attack by the United States. It also is the home for a new themed
exhibit that will feature a
preserved British gunboat hull. Preserved wreckage of an early 1800s British gunboat hull was
discovered in the waters of Brown’s Bay, near Mallorytown Landing, in
the 1960s. At just over 50 ft long, the remains of this gunboat are an
important artefact from the War of 1812 period. The relocation of this gunboat provides a unique opportunity to
engage visitors and help tell the story of the role that the British
military played in the defence of Canada along the strategic St.
Lawrence River during the early 1800s.
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| Gunboat |
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| Gunboat |
