ZIMART
Special Article
It was a beautiful cool fall day when I and my family drove north of GTA for about an hour or so to get to this unique place called Zim Art. Initially, I have been looking for an attraction to visit that is not too far from our home and found this particular place with a very high rating awarded by other visitors.
Located south of Peterborough and near Rice Lake, Bailieboro is a beautiful rural community. ZimArt, as its name suggest, is a display of sculptures from Zimbabwe. A little history of the place from the website that they maintain:
Fran Fearnley
Fran Fearnley is the owner of ZimArt and the Rice Lake Gallery, which first opened in 2000. An avid art collector and former journalist, Fran spent two years volunteering in South Africa and was first introduced to Shona sculpture in 1998 when representing the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in Harare.
Following her return from South Africa, Fran founded ZimArt and opened the Rice Lake Gallery on her five-acre property overlooking Rice Lake. The Gallery was originally only open for the annual Rice Lake exhibition. Over the years it has evolved into a seasonal art destination that has attracted thousands of visitors from far and near.
Fran travels to Zimbabwe to buy the work directly from the artists. She promotes the artists ZimArt represents, sells their work, and curates exhibitions of Zimbabwean stone sculptures in public and private spaces.
The location of the display from behind the house.
All the sculptures are for sale and the price tags are attached to them. They are not cheap, understandably. Some of them are priced at several thousand dollars. There is no visitors fee and the sculptures are placed all around the property. The walk around the place enjoying the beautiful and interesting sculptures was quite relaxing and provided a unique experience.
On our way out I stopped at the tent to speak to the owner Fran, who is a very friendly lady and was happy to satisfy my curiosity about her project. She had some smaller $20 sculptures that were available to be purchased as souvenirs. We bought a couple of these nicely crafted animal sculptures before driving back.
It was a very enjoyable and exotic experience. I’d definitely recommend it to any family who wants to get out of the crowd of GTA and spend some time in the tranquility of a village-like environment among artistic creations created by very talented artists from far away Zimbabwe.
Visitor’s info:
(From ZimArt’s website)
The address for ZimArt’s Rice Lake Gallery is 855 Second Line Rd., Bailieboro, Ontario K0L 1B0. You can find us on Google Maps and Apple Maps.
ZimArt’s Rice Lake Gallery is open from June 1 through Canadian Thanksgiving, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. All other times by appointment.
If you are travelling on Highway 28 watch for the blue and white Ontario directional signs for the gallery, located both north and south of Second Line Rd., exactly half way between the villages of Bailieboro and South Monaghan.