Libraries are such hidden gems in a city. Entrance is free, and there is always a complex variety of options on the shelves, not just books but magazines, computers, movies, music, and activities and events. Oshawa has four branches throughout the city, the main one being the McLaughlin, located at 65 Debwewin Miikan downtown.
On Tuesday, February 4, novelist Gwen Tuinman will be on site to speak and read from her most recent novel, Unrest, which has been getting rave reviews. Tuinman is descended from Irish tenant farmers and English Quakers. Her book, set in Ottawa around those communities, tells the story of a young woman’s struggles with the era's norms. The National Post says, “Unrest is an edgy adventure yarn about women’s freedom. It’s a thoroughly Canadian novel, yet it also has the flavour of the Wild West.”
Tuinman was also featured in the first edition of Oshawa’s arts magazine Wunderlit, published almost four years ago.
On Tuesday, February 18, the Oshawa Libraries will partner with the Oshawa Museum to present their Speaker Series, which takes place in the McLaughlin Library Auditorium. Jill Passmore, Visitor Experience Coordinator for the Oshawa Museum, is the featured speaker, and her topic is Windfields Farm, the vast holdings of entrepreneur EP Taylor in the city’s north end, which now belongs in part to Ontario Tech University.
On Saturday, February 8, in the afternoon, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is bringing in Pickering-based artist Christina Leslie to speak about her exhibition Likkle Acts, which runs until April 13. Leslie will be in conversation with exhibition curator Hannah Keating. The artist's talk will begin at 2 p.m.
Leslie’s exhibit features three projects inspired by her relationship with Jamaica. They are designed to represent Jamaica and its history through the people, places, and experiences that are personally significant to her and her family.
Leslie received her BFA from OCADU and MFA at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, USA, in 2022. Her photographs have been exhibited in Canada and internationally. She is a member of the Silver Water Collective, an all-female photography collective. This event is free and open to everyone.
The Gallery’s community connector event, The Neighbours Art Hive, continues on Fridays until February 14. Volunteers from The LivingRoom Community Art Studio will be on-site to aid your creative endeavours and explore how art-making fuels community-making. The Gallery’s Teen Art Zone project continues with a session on Thursday, February 27.
The Library and Art Gallery downtown are located next to the City Hall, so take the time to visit the Art and Culture Exhibition inside the City Hall Itself on the way to Chambers. Local artists Shay Conroy, Tracy Davidson, Parul Kanda, and Marissa Sweet are featured in an exhibit celebrating the City of Oshawa’s 100th anniversary in 2024.
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