December, 2020

December 2nd, 2020

Cyprienne visits the canal!

Have you met Cyprienne the Mouse? She’s the cultural ambassador of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional Museum, the mini leader of education services for the museum’s school programs. This busy mouse is also part of shop local campaigns all over the region of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. Hero of 11 youth literature albums, Cyprienne stars in yet another adventure, launched just in time for the holidays. Guess where this latest adventure takes place? The old power dam in Les Cèdres! We thought this was a great time to introduce you to Cyprienne and the artists behind this charming project.

A Tiny History of Cyprienne the Mouse

The first volume of Cyprienne’s tales, Les aventures de Cyprienne, was released in 2010. Since her first adventure, Cyprienne has had a very special power: she can travel through time just by touching objects in the museum’s collection. The possibilities are endless! Cyprienne is on a mission to use her time traveling abilities to uncover the past, taking her young readers on imaginative and educational journeys through history.

Chantal Séguin, author

Visual arts curator and director of education services for the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional Museum, Chantal Séguin has played a vital role in the region’s cultural landscape for the past 20 years. While she has a particular affection for our beautiful region and its history, Chantal also loves the French language and its rich vocabulary, using its intricacies to share her passions through writing.

Johanne Mitchell, illustrator

A talented designer, Johanne Mitchell develops a variety of promotional materials for the museum. From early on, she was fascinated by illustrations for children, leading her to study children’s literature. After dabbling in watercolors, Johanne returned to the media of her youth, crayons.

You can find Cyprienne stories at Éditions Vaudreuil in Vaudreuil-Dorion, at hairsalon Myrage in Rigaud, at the Marché écolocal (Les Coteaux) or on their website ecolocal.csur.ca… or directly at the museum!

Source : Marianne Sigouin-Lebel, chef de projet Canal de Soulanges

mslebel@developpementvs.com | 450 424-2262, poste 3231

November 17th, 2020

The Pointe-des-Cascades Lighthouse looks good as new

If you visited St. Pierre Park in the heart of Pointe-des-Cascades at the beginning of November, did you notice a major landmark was missing? The village’s famous lighthouse went in for a few weeks of rest and restoration to return it to its former glory! The 50-foot structure, built in 1904 and moved to St. Pierre Park, was unassembled, moved and restored before returning home on November 12. The restoration project was the work of Entreprises LD Raby inc. in Saint-Polycarpe. According to the company, the biggest challenges during this project were the transportation of the lighthouse as well as the work required on site. The lighthouse is back and better than ever; all the rust holes were repaired, its stairs were reinforced and it was repainted according to Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) guidelines.

You can immediately see that the restoration did a lot of good for the century-old lighthouse. Thanks to the municipality for leading the initiative and to all those who collaborated to make this project a success. Thanks to the municipality for leading the initiative and to all those who collaborated to make this project a success.

To learn more about the history and use of lighthouses along the canal, visit our Heritage page.

Photo credit: Piero Ravatti

Source : Marianne Sigouin-Lebel, chef de projet canal de Soulanges

mslebel@developpementvs.com | 450 424-2262, poste 3231

November 10th, 2020

The museum rewards projects linked to the Soulanges Canal!

On October 21, the Musée régional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges and the Conseil des arts et de la culture de Vaudreuil-Soulanges announced the winners of the 2020 prix du Mérite patrimonial during the museum’s virtual annual general assembly. Since 1997, the prix du Mérite patrimonial has recognized the efforts of individuals and organizations working to elevate the importance of heritage.

2020 was a special year for the awards: the two prizes were given to projects that have ties to the Soulanges Canal. We would like to congratulate and highlight the extraordinary work of the winners. If you missed the news and would like more details , here are the projects honoured this year.

The Pointe-des-Cascades Historical Research Society and the Parc des ancres

The Pointe-des-Cascades Historical Research Society was rewarded for their enormous efforts on the new phase of the town’s Parc des ancres. The park pays homage to the maritime history of the region, and recently underwent an incredible transformation during a long-term project that concluded this year. Included in the work was the renewal of the main plaza and the installation of around 50 interpretive panels. Bravo to the whole team for this amazing project.

You can find a complete description of the Parc des ancres on our Heritage page.

Sébastien Borduas merges visual art and heritage

The second 2020 Prize was given to visual artist Sébastien Borduas for Passage, a work of art unveiled this fall at the Les Cèdres municipal dock. The work, made possible with financing from the Fonds d’appui au rayonnement régional (FARR) offered by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, promotes the Les Cèdres identity as well as the town’s history. Making this work of art truly special is how it was conceived with the environment in mind, so that it is perfectly integrated into the landscape- it is almost as if it has always been there! The project was also recognized by the judges as an important contribution to the enrichment of Les Cèdres’ local cultural scene. Congratulations to Sébastien Borduas for this magnificent piece of art!

You can see a complete description of the project on our site’s Public Art section.

Photo credit: Christian Gonzalez (representation of Passage, by Sebastien Borduas)

Source : Marianne Sigouin-Lebel, chef de projet Canal de Soulanges

mslebel@developpementvs.com | 450 424-2262, poste 3231