A reception was held May 16 at the Mountain View Museum and Archives for an exhibition of paintings and artifacts on display there from Dr. Dick Wray.
The exhibition of about 20 paintings and some tools of his trade began April 2 and ends May 31. It's just a small sliver of the more than 140 paintings Dr. Wray has done since he first moved to Olds in 1956. His hometown was Turner Valley.
Dr. Wray, 89, retired nine years ago.
"It's part of our way to promote the arts and culture of Olds. Plus with Dr. Wray, it's historic. We're seeing the paintings of the history of Olds," said Chantal Marchildon, the program director of the Mountain View Museum and Archives. "We also did an oral history with him and it's amazing."
Marchildon said the plan is for that oral history and others to be made available to the public.
"What we're doing right now is we're putting them on CDs so that they'll be in our new reference library and people can come in and listen to the oral histories," she said.
Dr. Wray has been an enthusiastic member of the Olds Art Club, almost ever since he moved to town. The club brings in lots of instructors to give club members tips.
"They all tease me at the class that I paint fast. And I guess I do," Dr. Wray said, as he stood in front of one of his paintings on display. "That hospital picture took me about three hours, four hours. Once you have it in your mind what you want, put the paint on."
There are several paintings on display that Dr. Wray loves. The one he loves the most is one of several he painted when the great historic fire of Nov. 1, 1978 destroyed downtown grain elevators, the arena and the original Cow Palace.
"The fire is over and the fireman is standing there looking dejected," he said.
Dr. Wray also likes a painting featuring a couple of babies, one from a rich family and one from a poor family.
He pointed out details of that painting to some of the people on hand for the reception.
"They both had their babies the same age," he said. "The babies are born equal. But obviously they're not going to be equal as they grow older. This one comes from the big white house and this one comes from the shack. It's sad, but unfortunately it's true."
Dr. Wray said he never had any formal training in art. He joined the art club at the invitation of a fellow artist, a friend of his wife's.
He prefers to do landscapes — including scenes of Olds and area. But the exhibition also includes one portrait of his dad, Percy.
"That's the only portrait I've ever painted," Wray said.
He prefers working in acrylics, rather than oils or watercolours, for the very reason many artists don't like them — because they dry fast.
"With oil, if you go to class and do your painting, you have to carry it home separate from all your other stuff, or it would smear, because it takes several days to dry. But acrylic, in 20 minutes it's dry, you can pick it up," he said.
After the Dr. Wray exhibition comes down, the museum will be displaying photos by members of the Image Seekers Photography Club. That exhibition, called Dusk To Dawn, runs from June 3 to July 31. The reception for that show will be held on June 19.
At the same time, an Aboriginal display will be set up in the museum. It will run from June until Canada Day.
