Landen, John J.
Artist, - Sportsman, Curator ~ 1910-1996
This author/artist, who wrote a few articles for the “Trilogy” newspaper, was a true sportsman, born in Mattawa in 1910; he was of Native and Scottish ancestry. His Algonquin and Iroquois grandparents imparted to him a great deal of First Nation cultural knowledge and skills, which he later developed and interpreted through his crafts. In the north on trap lines in the deep woods and driving logs on raging rivers, he gained sensitivity to the ways of the wilderness and how to survive in it. His wildlife carvings, paintings and drawings offer insight to his instincts and firsthand experience. John was educated in the separate school system. He gained general technical proficiency. Later, he travelled to Hamilton to work, and because of his natural perfectionist’s standard, he was invited to apprentice as a tool and die maker at the William Kennedy & Sons plant in Owen Sound and started working during before the Second World War. He continued his wildlife carvings, and also became a master of the bow and arrow. He became President of the Bluewater Bowmen, as well as being a member of the Hunter and Field Archery Association of Canada. He also constructed birch bark canoes from a technique taught to him by Andrew Gigonse, his Algonquin Indian grandfather. In 1966, as part of the federal government’s Centennial program, to promote regional culture in Canada, Landen was invited to be involved in planning the new Grey County Museum. He resigned from William Kennedy & Sons after twenty-five years of service and assumed his new role as Curator of the Grey County Museum when it opened in 1967. Landen also made the Grey County Warden’s Chain of Office. A collection of his wood-carving went to West Germany as part of an exhibition of cultural arts sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Trade and Tourism. He travelled to Italy to the Bari International Trade Fair in 1974 to demonstrate birch bark canoe building. The canoe he built there is now in the collection of a nautical museum. He wrote a book titled The Building of a Birch Bark Canoe and a 26-foot long example of this craftsman’s art is preserved at the Grey Roots Museum & Archives. John Landen died in Owen Sound at age 86.
Additional information: From Quill to Ballpoint, RBW Graphics, Owen Sound, 1988.
Additional Source: Wayne Landen, former Director of the County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum.
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