The Grove Theatre Silent Auction
"215+ Children Taken" by Sandy McMullen will be available via silent auction in support of The Grove Theatre Story Pole Fund. The painting will be on display on Thursday July 27 and Friday July 28 - the opening nights of our 2 mainstage shows, Million Dollar Quartet and The Comedy of Errors. You do not have to attend opening night to bid, however - instructions on how to bid are below.
How to Enter
Artwork on display on Thursday and Friday at The Grove amphitheatre for opening night. Available at the box office at 2 Water Street on Saturday and Sunday from 12-5pm.
Enter your name, contact info and bid amount in person, then place your bid in an envelope in the designated box.
Alternatively, email or call the box office with your bid, 705-887-7938 or boxoffice@grovetheatre.ca
The person with the highest bid will be contracted following our opening weekend
About the Piece
In Fenelon Falls, the passage under the bridge is used by locals and visitors alike - to get across the busy thoroughfare from the upper locks to the lower lock area and the falls. People like to leave their mark on the walls of this passageway to show that they’ve been there. We all have an innate desire to be seen.
Since 2021, when 215 bodies were discovered in a mass grave on the grounds of a former Indian Residential School, some young activists in our community memorialized the 215 children by making 215 marks – one for each child taken – in this same spot under the bridge.
The painting 215+ Children Taken is another attempt to create a visual reminder of Canada’s colonial decisions to obliterate the culture, history and language of the First Peoples, specifically through the removal of children from their families. Remembering the truth of what happened is one of the ways we engage in the truth and reconciliation process.
Together with the Story Poles now located at the Grove Theatre, which acknowledge the presence and creativity of the Anishnaabe people, this painting aims to generate conversation about how to decolonize our mindsets and move forward in a good way.
215+ Children Taken by Fenelon Falls Artist Sandy McMullen | 30 X 40” | Acrylic and collage elements from a 2008 museum exhibit “We Were Taught Differently: The Indian Residential School Experience” .
