Reflections: The Life and Work of J.W. (Jack) McLaren

Huron County has long been home to a creative class, some born-and-bred and others who have been inspired to call the area home. 

 

Jack McLaren was a talented illustrator, caricaturist, performer and painter. During World War I he was a member of the Dumbbells comedy troupe that continued touring after the war as a leading Canadian vaudeville act. He was also a member of the Toronto Arts and Letters Club where he was an acquaintance of the Group of Seven.

 

Jack and his wife moved to the Benmiller area in the 1960s and he became entrenched in Huron County until the end of his life. McLaren’s long and eclectic career has been admired by denizens of the county and beyond, including a play at the Blyth Festival in 1980 called The Life That Jack Built by a collective led by David Fox and Janet Amos.

 

The Huron County Historical Society had initially considered featuring Mr. McLaren as a subject of a general meeting in 2020, but directors Mary Gregg and Susan Glousher took the idea and ran with it, ultimately winding up a partnership with the Huron County Museum to present a full exhibit of works on loan from members of the community and the McLaren family.

 

The exhibit will feature over 100 of McLaren’s iconic paintings and illustrations along with personal artifacts and will open on Oct. 8 and run until April 30, 2021 at the Huron County Museum, 110 North St. Goderich.www.huroncountymuseum.ca/reflections/