The Bytown Museum reopened this summer, after being closed for more than two years because of the pandemic. The museum, which was founded more than a hundred years ago, is dedicated to exploring Ottawa’s history. It is housed in Ottawa’s oldest stone structure.
The museum is located on the west side of the Rideau Canal locks, between Parliament Hill and the Chateau Laurier. It is accessed by stairs from the Hill, from the multi-use path behind Parliament Hill, or via the path along the canal from the National Arts Centre.
When the museum closed, it had just opened a new special exhibit, A Local Canvas, of rarely-seen art from its archives that staff had rediscovered as part of digitizing the museum collection. BUZZ editor Alayne McGregor got a quick tour of that exhibit, which reopened July 31 and continues until April, 2023. We show some photos here from that and other museum exhibits.
In 1900, a chimney fire in Hull spread to timber mills and lumber piles and burned down 15 percent of the homes in LeBreton Flats and two-thirds of Hull. The exhibit includes two paintings created by visiting Scottish artist Patti Jack, painted immediately after the blaze.
