Chatham-Kent’s cultural history is once again in the spotlight with the addition of 12 more names to the community’s Arts and Culture Wall of Fame.
An induction ceremony was held at the Chatham Armouries Wednesday evening, featuring inductees in categories including visual arts, performing arts, music, dance, literary arts, and cultural builders.
The Delaware First Nation Pow Wow was honoured in the dance category, the first Indigenous addition to the Wall of Fame.
Chief Justin Logan says it’s a true community effort.
“It’s exciting because our whole community works together to put it on,” Logan says. “It is important to keep those traditions alive and ensure the next generation picks up on it, to hear the drum and the singing, it’s really culturally important to us and it has major significance for us, for our culture.”
Julie Collins, co-chair of the Kiwanis Music Festival, says the honour recognizes everyone who has volunteered their time, effort, and resources over the past 77 years.
“You’re getting a little mini master class each and every time, and often music is a very solitary thing, but this is an opportunity to see what other musicians in the community are doing,” Collins explains. “I was in the festival when I was a kid, my kids were in the festival, and I just thought it was such a positive experience for everybody.”
The Arts and Culture Wall of Fame can be found inside the Chatham Cultural Centre on William Street in Chatham.
“The Wall honours those individuals or groups, present and past, who have distinguished themselves in their chosen field or artistic practice both within and beyond Chatham-Kent,” said CKACN Chair Dan White. “These inductees deserve our recognition for the passion they’ve shown, the attention they’ve received, and the pride of community they’ve fostered in all of us.”
Full list of 2023 Arts and Culture Heroes:
VISUAL ARTS
Alexander M. Fleming 1875-1929
Born in the former Township of Raleigh, in 1894 Alexander M. Fleming studied art in Philadelphia and later England before returning home to establish a studio in Chatham. Here he influenced many local artists, working in the mediums of oil and watercolour. Fleming’s paintings focused on rural landscapes, seascapes, and specific industries such as farming and fishing. He was influenced in his early career by the romantic realism art style, and later the techniques of the great French impressionists. He came to admire the work of the Group of Seven who emerged years after he was established. An elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists, he had paintings accepted for exhibition with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1904-1918), and with the Art Association of Montreal (1909). Fleming moved to Belfountain, near Orangeville, in 1923, and died in 1929. His works are in several permanent collections, with the Thames Art Gallery holding more than 70.
Larry Towell b.1953
Raised in the Wallaceburg area, Larry Towell studied visual arts at York University where he acquired a love for black-and-white photography. While volunteering in 1976 in the Calcutta ghettos, he developed a commitment to social justice and human rights issues, and in the 1980s documented the Nicaraguan Contra war and the relatives of the disappeared in Guatemala. He joined the renowned Magnum Photos Agency in 1988 and remains its only Canadian member. Although known for images of political conflict from Central America, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Palestine and the Standing Rock protest in North Dakota, he also documented his own rural family in Ontario and, for ten years, the plight of Mennonite migrant workers in Mexico. In 1994 he won the World Press Photo of the Year, a coveted award in photojournalism. His work has appeared in leading publications that include Life Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Geo, Stern, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, and has resulted in 16 books plus several music projects and films. In 2020, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow.
PERFORMING ARTS
David Farquhar b.1954
Born in London and raised in Wallaceburg, David Farquhar attended local schools before enrolling at Western University. He is founder and president of Chathambased Design Sound Productions Inc. (est.2014), an audio production and publishing company with a global reach. The company produces full cast dramatizations and audiobooks under the audio imprint Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre. Working with voice actors, writers and directors from Canada, the US and Europe, the focus is on entertaining stories that immerse the listener in an environment of sound and imagination. Titles are available on major online retail sites and libraries throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The shows have been broadcast on public and commercial radio stations, and several of the children’s stories have won awards. Farquhar also created Moonlight Audio Theatre (est.2012) and, in 2022, signed a licensing agreement with Digital Theatre Systems, a Silicon Valley tech company using recorded dramatic speech to develop next generation AI voice recognition software for TiVo.
Ron Pardo b.1958
Born in Chatham and raised in Pardoville, a hamlet near Blenheim that bears his family’s name, Ron Pardo realized at an early age that he had a talent for mimicry – impersonating celebrities and cartoon characters. After graduating with a degree in radio and television arts from Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), he worked at Chatham’s CFCO Radio before obtaining an education degree at Western University and teaching for 12 years. In 1993, he started performing stand-up comedy and within a year won Yuk Yuk’s Search for Canada’s Funniest New Comic Award. He co-starred in Rick Green’s History Bites television series (1998-2005) using his impressions to portray multiple historic figures. Since 1995, Pardo has done voiceover work for more than 95 animated series airing in Canada, the US and beyond, most notably the characters of Mayor Humdinger, Cap’n Turbot and Farmer Al on the highly successful PAW Patrol.
MUSIC
Chatham Concert Band est.1927
Annually since 1927, the Chatham Concert Band has entertained residents across Chatham-Kent and beyond. Consisting entirely of volunteer musicians from the local community and across all age groups, from pre-teen to 80 plus in both youth and adult ensembles, the Chatham Concert Band performs free weekly public concerts at Tecumseh Park. They also appear regularly at events such as the Buxton Homecoming Parade, church services, Christmas shows and seniors’ homes. They have performed for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, numerous prime ministers and premiers, the RCMP Musical Ride, and the 1991 induction of Ferguson Jenkins into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Several smaller sub-groups including the Dixie Cats (Dixieland music), Hungry Five Polka Band, Jingle Bells Rovers Christmas Band, and the Primitive Roots Jazz Band perform at events as requested and able. For decades, the Chatham Concert Band has provided a source of lifelong musical education and practice to many.
Michelle Wright b.1961
Born into a musical family and raised in Merlin, singer-songwriter Michelle Wright is one of the most successful female country music artists in Canadian history. With 12 albums, starting with 1988’s Do Right By Me to 2022’s Milestone, Wright has had dozens of singles climb both country and adult contemporary charts in Canada, the US and Europe, including Now and Then, released on Arista/Nashville, which yielded the massive hit song Take It Like A Man. A five-time Canadian Country Music Association’s Female Artist of the Year, she has received more than 40 major awards and, in 2011, was inducted into its Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Her humanitarian work with Special Olympics, World Vision, and other charities has been recognized as well. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband Marco.
DANCE
Eelünaapéewi Lahkéewiit Pow-Wow est.1972
Forced to leave their original territory on the Atlantic coast, the Delaware Nation on the Thames was established at Moraviantown in 1792. For more than 50 years, this community has dedicated itself to hosting an annual pow-wow, showcasing the rich, vast and powerful heritage and culture of the Lenape people. The drumming, singing, crafts and foods shared are in recognition to the First Nation’s resilience and strength. The ceremonial dancing, intricate regalia and beadwork, and wide array of vibrant colours and their meaning, celebrates the life and spirit that continues in Eelünaapéewi Lahkéewiit. Various types of dance, including traditional, fancy, round and competitive, are featured. Over the years, thousands of visitors have been attracted to this event to share in this unique experience with the local Indigenous people of this territory.
Lisa Lester b.1974
Born in Sarnia, Lisa Lester moved to Chatham at 18. Dancing since age nine, she taught dance herself while earning two degrees at the University of Windsor (B.HK, B.Ed), first from rented space in Pain Court before establishing All That Jazz Dance Co. in Chatham in 2003. For the next 17 years, she offered instruction to more than 7,000 students of all ages, across a variety of styles, including jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, acro, contemporary and tap, and went on to earn certificates from the British Association of Teachers of Dancing and the Cecchetti Council of America. Attending US-based workshops, Lester was inspired to bring competitive dance to Chatham-Kent, being the first studio locally to offer it, leading to rapid growth of dance studios in the area. She created new opportunities for local dancers by bringing in US choreographers and instructors. Selling the studio at the onset of the pandemic, Lester continued To Suit Your Fancy, her family’s special event decor business, and launched Four Diamond Events in 2019 within the historic Chatham Armoury on the edge of Tecumseh Park. With a special focus on community and charity events, Lester has become a major contributor to creating a cultural precinct in downtown Chatham, and was named Corporate Citizen of the Year by the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce in 2022.
LITERARY ARTS
Archibald Lampman 1861-1899
Born in Morpeth, Archibald Lampman, descendant of United Empire Loyalists and son of an Anglican rector, established during his brief lifetime a reputation as one of Canada’s finest poets. Along with other contemporary writers, collectively known as the “Confederation Poets,” Lampman’s work reflected the rural simplicity and natural environs of his youth and later travels. Although a sickly child who suffered rheumatic fever, Lampman graduated from Toronto’s Trinity College, taught briefly and then joined Ottawa’s Postal Department in 1883. In all he penned more than 300 poems, published several volumes including his first, Lyrics of Earth, and had his work showcased in Canadian periodicals and prestigious American magazines. He married in 1887, had a family of three and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1895. He died in 1899 in Ottawa at age 37. Canada Post issued a stamp in his honour in 1989 and each year an award is presented in his name by Arc, Canada’s Poetry Magazine.
Lori Lansens b.1962
Born in 1962 and raised in Chatham, novelist and screenwriter Lori Lansens has found inspiration for her stories in the Ontario of her youth. After reaching some success as a screenwriter, she burst onto the literary scene in 2002 with her first novel Rush Home Road, set in a small fictional town in southwestern Ontario, and published to rave reviews around the world. Her next novels, The Girls in 2005 and The Wife’s Tale in 2009, had similar settings and sold worldwide, earning glowing reviews and award nominations. The two books that followed, The Mountain Story in 2015 and This Little Light in 2019, were similarly well received, sold internationally and optioned for film. The author lives with her husband and children in Los Angeles and continues to write.
CULTURAL BUILDERS
John “Jack” Beardall 1896-1969
Jack Beardall dropped out of the Canada Business College to join the war effort, enlisting with the Royal Flying Corps in Toronto. There he was introduced to the RFC’s secret weapon: wireless voice communication. Realizing radio was the wave of the future, he returned to Chatham after the war aiming to become one of the first Canadians to build a privately owned station. With an experimental license, he began broadcasting from the basement of his home in 1921 and received a commercial licence in 1928 under the call letters CFCO (Coming From Chatham Ontario). During the 1930s, CFCO emerged as an innovation leader. It was the first station to convert AC current directly to DC to improve signal modulation; the first to reduce signal variance to 0 kilocycles; the first to have a government approved weather station; the first to produce a program for rural and farm listeners; and one of the first to produce a program specifically for women, Mainly for Women, hosted by Jack’s wife, Ruby Ann. Now owned by Blackburn Media, CFCO is still broadcasting on AM and FM frequencies.
Kiwanis Music Festival (Kiwanis Club of Chatham-Kent) est.1945
For 77 years, the Kiwanis Club of Chatham-Kent has hosted its signature event, the annual Chatham Kiwanis Music Festival. The Festival has brought together thousands of youth from across Chatham-Kent and surrounding areas to showcase musical talent in a broad range of categories, including piano, classical voice, musical theatre, strings and other instrumentals, church and community choirs, school choirs and orchestras, and choral speaking. From its humble beginnings in 1945 as a one-day event called Music in the Park at Tecumseh Park’s bandshell, it has become a multi-day, multi-location competition culminating with a Grand Concert at the Chatham Cultural Centre’s Kiwanis Theatre. This local event involves dozens of volunteers in organizational, adjudication and other roles. Many young participants have gone on to establish careers in music, such as Dr. Benjamin Smith, concert pianist and educator; Dr. Jamie Hillman, conductor and educator; and Rachel Schwartz, music teacher and owner of Brio Academy.