Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

What Makes Charles Pachter Tick In A Trumpian World? By Stephen Weir. April 5, Huffington Post Too bad Winston Churchill never met Canadian artist Charlie Pachter. The British WW2 Saviour of the Nation might not have given up on aging liberals so quickly when he reportedly opined that "any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains". If you work in the Canadian Art milieu you have will have met Charlie Pachter and seen his work. His huge  Canadian Flag Paintings , The Queen on a Moose, the Pope nose-to-nose with a Moose, the Canadian Moose on a Hudson Bay bag, Hockey Legends. And, of course, Trudeau - younger and elder please. Charlie Pachter with his Canadian flagpaintings He is one of the most recognized contemporary artists and best selling authors, in part because of his passion to use Canadian icons, symbols and faces in the creation of his quirky masterpieces. He is 74-years

Jon Butler opens his exhibition of photographs, on display in the RBC Tower on Bay Street. Part of Contact Festival. Jon Butler uses his camera to have a Group of Seven moment in God's Country La Cloche Spirit: The Equivalent Light, opens in Toronto. Part of Contact Festival   Jon Butler at one time was an integral part of the Thomson News Corporation. Publisher. Newspaper Executive.  Nowadays, he lets others write the news, while he pursues beauty with his camera in Northern Ontario.  On Monday evening Butler opened an exhibition of photographs he took in the La Cloche region of Georgian Bay.  The show launch was held in the lobby of the  Royal Bank's Bay Street Tower as part of the month long Contact Photography Festival.  Three Ontario and Federal cabinet ministers, a over 50-art lovers attended the opening sponsored by Vale's Base Metals, a Toronto based mining company. The La Cloche area, known for the beauty of its quartzite mountains, crystal clear lakes

The McMichael unveiled its plans to enhance the gallery grounds and build an outdoor Sculpture Garden featuring works by a well known Canadian artist Ivan Eyres at a media event early in September. Two of the large nine pieces that Ayres is donating have been cast and will soon be installed in Kleinburg. The remaining pieces will be cast over the next 18-months. The McMichael previously received confirmation on March 12, 2010 that the Federal and Provincial governments will contribute $4.2 million through the Infrastructure Stimulus Funding program to complete this major project. This money will be used to enhance the grounds of the public gallery. A fund raising project has been launched to cover the costs of installing Mr. Ayres work. CUTLINE: Upkar Arora, chair of the McMichael board of trustees, with from left, Michael Johnston, chair of the McMichael Foundation, Tom Smart, outgoing gallery executive director and board member David Loch. Three of nine maquettes created by Winnip

. Photography Festival has the Message and the Medium but at the grand opening, where is the Media? Friday photography show opening draws crowds but not the cameras Hot show and very hot festival uses McLuren as inspiration but private launch runs cold with the media. What is the message here? In 1974 I took a number of pictures of Marshall McLuhen as he addressed the media covering the annual Juno Awards. My close friend, Dave Tollington was working for RPM Magazine - the creators of the music award - and got me in the side door and let me take a half a roll of black and white film before shushing me away from the cooler filled with O'Keefe lager beer. My notes from that session are long gone. I don't remember anything he did say. I do know from my student newspaper tear sheet, that he did talk about popular culture to the people who promoted such big stars (back then) as Terry Jacks, Anne Murray, Stompin' Tom Connors, Murray McLaughlin and or course Valdy. McLuhen spok