Whose Maud? Exhibited June 12th - July 28th, 2018
There were many social, physical, and emotional factors that influenced and shaped Maud’s life; an often-unknown fact about Maud was her relation to the Marshalltown Poor Farm, or Alms House. Set back from the highway from Maud’s own home in Marshalltown sat the imposing Alms house. Kenney and Rhude believe that before we can truly comprehend the work of Maud Lewis, we must first understand the relationship between both her life and the space in which she lived and found inspiration, and its influence on rural Nova Scotia's marginalization and socialization of the poor.
There were many social, physical, and emotional factors that influenced and shaped Maud’s life; an often-unknown fact about Maud was her relation to the Marshalltown Poor Farm, or Alms House. Set back from the highway from Maud’s own home in Marshalltown sat the imposing Alms house. Kenney and Rhude believe that before we can truly comprehend the work of Maud Lewis, we must first understand the relationship between both her life and the space in which she lived and found inspiration, and its influence on rural Nova Scotia's marginalization and socialization of the poor.
“To think that this chapter is merely a footnote in Nova Scotia’s
history is to overlook the contemporary social issues ranging from the
modern welfare state, to that of captivity, in all its various social
guises. The Poor Farm is a modern tale whereby our collective concerns
about being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space, have
been housed, but not necessarily cared for or nurtured. It is a
metaphysical prison that haunts us today.” – Laura Kenney and Steven
Rhude
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