22 October 2008, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB
John HAMMOND (1843-1939), Three figures at Boat House, oil on board. 17.2 x 28.1 cm. Owens Art Gallery Collection, Sackville. Accession no. 2003.20 (Reproduced from reference material provided by J. Tisdale, 20 October 2008)
I painted up at the University today in the central courtyard. Met a few students and some faculty. A lot of the students were from small towns or remote areas across the country who had spent some time in the larger cities but then chose to come to Mount Allison because they felt Sackville was a more livable environment. There was a different feeling up here than in the centre of town. I became more aware of the difference between the University community and the people who live in Sackville. What someone called the town-gown paradox.
Apparently around 12 years ago the town council decided to change the nature of the economic base of the town, to move it away from the manufacturing that was a large part of the economy and put more emphasis on cultural activities and tourism. It seems that this shift to a bedroom community caused the main street to die as people did all their shopping in other towns or in Moncton. Recently there has been some attempts to reverse this and bring businesses back to Sackville but apparently the University community and the townspeople don’t always agree on how to do this.
