Friendship Treaty on Canvas
“This is the finest friendship treaty between Acadians and First Nations peoples we have ever negotiated,” said Hugh Akagi, chief of the Passamaquoddy First Nation, during the launch of Cercle de chefs (Circle of Chiefs), a collection produced by artist Donald McGraw.
The seventh collection by the painter presents 12 chiefs of native communities and “is a tool for rapprochement and reconciliation between peoples.” The collection, acquired by an Acadian who remains anonymous, is on exhibit at the Galerie d’Art D. McGraw, in Pokemouche. It will then be given to a New Brunswick municipality, which will provide the collection “a place of respect and recognition.”
Out of this collection springs the book The Great Spirit: A Circle of Life (Le Grand Esprit, Un cercle de vie), created by artist and writer, Armand Roy, and published by Faye Editions (Éditions de la Francophonie). “On behalf of all my people, today and in the future, I offer these paintings to my First Nations brothers and sisters. I hope that they become a symbol of respect and friendship, for us and between us,” Donald McGraw said.
Because of the windows it opens on the arts in New Brunswick, Acadian heritage and native history, The Great Spirit: A Circle of Life has been recommended to the province’s teachers for the Grade 10 curriculum, in September 2007.
“It’s the largest collection of my career. The fact that a publisher decided to make a book of it is all the support I needed,” stated the artist. Above all, McGraw is happy to have managed to make a living from his art in New Brunswick, in his rural community. “It’s my greatest accomplishment", he said.
For over 25 years, Donald McGraw has been telling history through his art, and over the last 18 years, he has welcomed thousands of visitors to his gallery. As he will tell you, “my gallery doesn’t focus on sales, but rather on presenting history through its collections. Our visitors are not just clients, they're friends.”
His gallery’s guest book shows many testimonials like this: “Your works touch me deeply. I can feel the spirit of each person, and for this, I thank you. As a Métis woman, I am truly proud that you have captured our people’s honour.” (July 10, 2006)
His first collection, D’un clocher à l’autre (From steeple to steeple), presented more than 50 of the Bathurst diocese’s main churches; about 30 of these canvases can be admired at the Popes’ Museum in Grande-Anse. The collection of 11 paintings entitled Un instant… une vie (A moment… a life), which pays homage to men and women who worked in oft-forgotten trades and professions, is on permanent exhibit at the Pavillon Irène-Léger of the Université de Moncton’s Shippagan campus.
His respect for nature led him to paint the collection Au nom de la nature (On behalf of nature), comprising more than 200 canvases sold across Europe and America.
Several of his collections are found in institutions and businesses, such as the 15 marine and wildlife paintings acquired by the regional health authority, or Acadie vivante (Living Acadia), portraits of prominent Acadians, now at Assumption Life.
Before starting on his Cercle de chefs, Donald McGraw also produced 25 small portraits of people of the Acadian Peninsula, from woodcutters to musicians, midwives to teachers, fishermen to farmers.
For his next project, McGraw is about to start work on a new collection that will be shown during the 2009 Acadian World Congress. It will look to the past but will focus on the future.
DONALD McGRAW
Artist/Painter
GALERIE D’ART D. McGRAW
75 Route 113
Pokemouche
506-336-8208
E-mail: imeldamcgraw@yahoo.ca