From South Carolina to Timmins, Ont.: How a search for her grandfather's art crossed national borders
CBC
While searching for her grandfather's art, Ingrid Clark ended up travelling to Timmins, Ont., from her home in South Carolina.
Fritz Winkler was a German artist who emigrated to Canada in the 1930s and made important contributions to the country's cultural identity.
The Royal Canadian Mint commissioned him to create the plates that led to the caribou on the quarter, the beaver on the nickel and the image of the Bluenose schooner on the dime.
But it was a series of panels he designed for Toronto's Globe and Mail building that brought Clark to Northern College in Timmins.
"I'd only seen them on a drawing of the Globe and Mail building," Clark said.
Through some sleuthing, she discovered Northern College had two of the panels.
One was of a lumberjack.
"He's holding an axe, his hair is just perfect — a muscular man just holding an axe," she said.
The other was a fisherman.
"He has a raincoat on and he has a rain cap on that is low in the back so the water won't go into your collar, and he's holding a fishing net," Clark said.
"He looks very stern. He's not smiling in this one."
Before coming to Timmins, Clark connected with Susan Hunter, Northern College's chief cultural officer.
Hunter had just been looking to curate some art located on the campus, including Winkler's panels, when she received a call from South Carolina.
"I understood she was looking for her grandfather's art," Hunter said. "And that's where our story began."