Carleton County Gaol

More from within Death Row in the old Carleton County Gaol today. A visit here is a sobering experience.

As noted yesterday, there were only three official executions held here.

This cell, with a ball and chain, is particularly evocative.

These are photographs of a documentary done several years ago in the old gaol.

This window, past the cells, looks out to the next building over, the former courthouse, which has a tunnel connection to this one. Now that courthouse is home to Arts Court, a home for multiple artistic groups.

Criminal justice changes. When Ontario was still Upper Canada, much of the legal system was based on the "bloody code" of Britain's legal system, where many crimes could be capital crimes. 

Windows in Death Row were like this- wooden slats in an upward position to minimize views outside.

A look back down the stairs.

And a final view from the street, with ivy draped over the wall.

Dead Man Walking

My next Doors Open destination was the Carleton County Gaol, in the downtown core. It shares the property with a former courthouse, a hotel, and the Ottawa Art Gallery, seen at upper right. This building dates to 1862, serving as a prison for 110 years until its closure. It then became a hostel, which it remains to this day.

It is imposing from the outside, and the parking lot I was standing in must have been the yard for the prison back in the day.

A door was open at the back.

Beyond, a courtyard. The tour begins at that entrance.

Looking up, that black square recessed above is the gallows.

Here we have it from inside. The floor would open up, and the condemned would fall to their death. A noose has been placed here.

There were only three hangings (officially) in the old gaol, but the inhumane conditions of the prison are well known, and the place feels oppressive, as though you are being watched. Not surprisingly, there are plenty of ghost stories associated with the building.

Death row is on the top floor, with four cells. A series of historical display panels are found here, going into specific details about the gaol, criminal justice, and the death penalty, which was ultimately abolished in Canada.

The cells can be entered.

Freedom Of Expression

 Untitled is this abstract painting by Leon Bellefleur.

Incandescence is the title of this 1968 abstract by Rita Letendre.

More abstracts can be seen here.

Red Pair is by Don Jarvis.

Paraskeva Clark, a Russian immigre to Canada, painted Homage To A Soviet Film, Baltic Deputy in 1968.

Out I went, taking a shot of the Firestone staircase from this floor.

I took a photograph of where I had come in- with a cafe down below as well.

The OAG has art for sale. These two paintings caught my attention.

One last shot, with the OAG in the background from this side, one big white cube. In the foreground, the old Carleton County Gaol, now a youth hostel. And the former courthouse that is now home to Arts Court is at left.

Gallery

With summer upon us it was time to switch out my header. The new one was taken last summer at Richmond Landing on the Ottawa River, upstream from Parliament Hill. 

The Ottawa Art Gallery lies at the edge of Sandy Hill. This city gallery hosts a rotating series of exhibits. Several years ago a new home for the place was built. It was moved out of its quarters within Arts Court- to which it is still connected- and into a new building as part of an expansion partnership that also saw the building of a hotel and University of Ottawa space for their theatre program. Approaching from the west, I took these shots. The two 19th century buildings are a former courthouse and a former jail. Today the courthouse is home to Arts Court, a multi-organization artistic centre, and the former jail, the Carleton County Gaol, is a hostel. Beyond, the white cube structure is the Ottawa Art Gallery. I came for a visit a few days ago.

Approaching one of the main entrances gives us this view.

Inside, an oversized version of Algoma Landscape by Franz Johnston of the Group of Seven. The city has a good collection of the Group's work.

Across from it, a work in progress, with the soft hum of a machine in motion drawing the ear. The Life Of A Building is a work by Greta Grip and Lee Jones, a knitting machine that is steadfastly creating a textile fabric over the course of the year, based on the presence and interaction of visitors.

Upstairs I went to one of the gallery spaces. Here was an unusual work, a commentary in three dimensions by Yinka Shonibare. Mr. And Mrs. Andrews Without Their Heads is a 1998 work that reinterprets a painting by Thomas Gainsbourough that resides in the National Gallery in London.

Here's the original.

And here's the reinterpretation, done in full size- just without the heads. Odd, but it works.