The Muse comprises The Lake of the Woods Museum and The Douglas Family Art Centre in Kenora, Ontario

The Douglas Family Art Centre opened to the public in December of 2019 as the community’s first public art gallery. The collection is centred around a generous gift of 67 Lake of the Woods themed colour woodcut prints, watercolours, and engravings of Canadian artist Walter J. Phillips from Nicki and Bryce Douglas.  

Their gift presented a wonderful opportunity and initiated a process of establishing an Art Centre in Kenora, the community’s first public art gallery. Bryce Douglas put words to their vision for the Art Centre: “We would like to see a vibrant art centre that would present opportunities for students of all ages to learn about art and for the arts community to share ideas and develop their talents. As well, it would be a place to display not only the Walter J. Phillips collection but the work of local artists, Indigenous artists and aspiring artists.”

The Lake of the Woods Museum is “one of the coolest little museums in Canada” according to a national magazine, and it has a long and effective history in the city of Kenora. Since its establishment, the multi-award winning Museum has been one of the central pillars of culture in Kenora.

The Museum is a dynamic cultural asset in the City of Kenora. The collection numbers in excess of 25,000 articles and photographs. Many displays are changed annually and feature Indigenous and pioneer artifacts, natural history, minerals, pictorial and archival material, all illustrating the human history of Lake of the Woods and the surrounding area. In addition, the temporary exhibit area is changed five to seven times a year and features travelling, in-house and community exhibits.

Together the Lake of the Woods Museum and the Douglas Family Art Centre are well positioned to move into the future, offering inspired exhibits and exhibitions, quality programming, and enriching experiences that make the most of the significant synergies that exist between them.