August 27, 2004 Exhibition celebrates life of Tom "T.C" Cummings

The late well known North Bay educator and artist Tom Cummings was born a hundred years ago this year.  His life and painting will be celebrated in an exhibition beginning tomorrow in both galleries in the W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery in the Capitol Centre on Main Street, North Bay. It will feature a range of his paintings, notebooks, sketchbooks and studio items.  The event is presented jointly by the Kennedy Gallery, Nipissing University and the Cummings family.  The exhibition is called “A Wanderer’s Gaze! The Impact of Place on the Paintings, Drawings & Notebooks of T.C. Cummings” and will run until September 25^th.  A reception and Centenary Celebration at the Gallery will commemorate his life on September 17, 7-10pm. 

Tom Cummings painting at Duschesany Falls in October 1970.  R. Harris photo.

Tom’s family has given a gift of Tom’s sketchbooks, sculpture, and other valuable archival material to the archives at Nipissing University, some of which will be in the exhibition.  Tom died in 1996 at the age of 92.  His brother and close friend Austen died this summer.  Tom’s work graces many homes and institutions in the North Bay area and elsewhere. 

Thomas Clarence Cummings known as “T.C.” was born in Manitoba in 1904 while his parents were there briefly helping his father’s brothers run a large farming operation.  Tom’s family returned home to Pittsburgh Township near Kingston where Tom grew up, went to school and learned to love painting and literature. Most of this exhibition will travel to Kingston where many are waiting with anticipation to see his work. Tom’s cousin Helen Acton, a nurse in Kingston, cared for Tom and his brother Austin and has coordinated the gift to Nipissing University and has been involved in the development of the exhibition in both locations working closely with Nipissing University and Jean Allen the Guest Curator of the exhibition in North Bay, and people in Kingston. 

Tom’s connection with North Bay began in the early 1920’s when he attended the North Bay Normal School and began to teach 30 miles east of North Bay in Eau Claire in Calvin Township.  He then moved to North Bay and soon became a school principal in increasingly larger schools for the rest of his career.  Beside his teaching career he was active in a variety of sports, especially skiing which he taught in his spare time.  He spent four years in the Air Force during the war.  Space does not allow for details of these activities but they impacted on hundreds who remember him with fondness today. 

Tom began to draw and paint at an early age encouraged by his rural school teacher and parents.  While teaching in Eau Claire he began to paint the area regularly.  He often took the train to Mattawa to paint with and learn from the renowned Mattawa painter Gordon Dufoe.  Gordon Dufoe’s cherished gift at a Town of Mattawa celebration of Gordon’s life in 1975 was a Tom Cummings painting presented by Tom. 

Late in their lives both Gordon and Tom donated many paintings of the Mattawa area to the Mattawa Museum where they reside next to each other.  They have recently been reframed and are a highlight of the museum.  While at the 20^th anniversary of the Museum in July I noticed MPP Monique Smith looking at the paintings intently and learned that her mother is the proud owner of some of Tom’s work. 

When I was curator of the Mattawa & Area Museum in the late 1980’s I helped form a Calvin Township Historical Society as a part of an effort to turn an old church into a museum.  I contacted Tom on the suggestion of some Calvin residents to see if he might make a donation of some paintings for the museum.  I spent a fascinating afternoon with him at his home on the Lake on Premier Road in North Bay.  He provided several paintings by writing a note on the back pending the opening of the museum.  For various reasons the museum did not materialize and the church was torn down and replaced by the Maxwell Pottery. 

As a single person and a teacher with time off in the summer Tom began to travel extensively painting and taking courses.  These trips and his love of people and new places are reflected in his work.  His work evolved and matured as he took courses, visited galleries and got to know the people.  His beautiful rich and colourful northern landscapes evolved into powerful portraits of individuals and groups of indigenous people he saw in the Caribbean, South America and Labrador.  The importance of place in his work is reflected in the title of the exhibition.  He travelled to the Banff School of Fine Arts regularly and met some of Canada’s finest painters, A.Y. Jackson, A.J. Casson and Anne Savage, who became friends.  He eventually began to teach there on occasion. 

Another stage in Tom’s work, beside his work in sculpture and mosaics, was his large allegorical paintings that told a story.  One called “Humanities” owned by Nipissing University is in the exhibition.  One of my favorites hangs behind the checkout desk at the North Bay Public Library and there is one in the reference section.  He did a large mosaic commission in the airport for the Canadian Centennial in 1967.  Tom’s painting has all of the qualities of great art and his paintings are cherished (and valuable) treasures that we will get another chance to see.  There was a major exhibition of his work in the same Gallery in 1990 and Tom was awarded an honorary Doctorate by Nipissing University the same year for his “artistic and humanitarian contribution.” 

It should be noted that Tom’s creativity was not limited to his art. He was a fine writer as his 1983 book Gopher Hills shows.  It includes several excellent drawings by Tom.  I used one of his stories on wolves in a column here in the spring.  The book is being reprinted and will be available during the exhibition.  Tom was also a poet and there are plans for the publication of some of his work. 

One of Dr. Cummings poems Homage to an Old Painter captures the earthy essence of the painter (A.Y. Jackson) working hard in the bush to produce a painting much like the photo of Tom shown here. 

His jacket warm, a little wet,

Stung by leafy mould and sweat

Particles of gummy pine,

Linseed oil and turpentine,

Bacon fat and cedar wood,

Smelled as any painter should.