WEYBURN – Arts curator and instructor Regan Lanning received an early Christmas present from an old friend that she hadn’t expected, and the gift brought tears to her eyes.
The family of the late Carol Reeve left several bags and boxes of art supplies, and said she would’ve wanted these to go to the art programs and the Weyburn Arts Council for their use.
Holding up a handful of wooden models of human figures, she said these were used by Carol when she taught classes in drawing, and smiled to see a tiny knitted sweater put on one of the models.
The supplies are worth hundreds of dollars, said Lanning, noting she will need to go through all of the supplies to see what was brought. She was also told there would be more coming.
One box held several unused canvases of various sizes for painting, and others held paints, crayons and drawing pencils, plus all sorts of other art supplies.
Lanning said these will be sorted and stored, and will help reduce prices for future art programs as the prices are often set to help offset the cost of supplies for the students.
“Just when I thought I was done crying over Carol, she does this, always thinking about us,” said Lanning as she looked through the boxes.
She added that Carol had specified that gifts should be made to the Weyburn Arts Council in lieu of flowers, and the Arts Council has received donations of around $1,000 so far.
Carol was a longtime member of the Weyburn Arts Council, taught many classes in drawing and painting, and she entered pieces in the James Weir People’s Choice exhibition.
She was also involved with Crocus 80, acting in various productions over the years, and when TheatreFest was hosted in Weyburn, she helped the youth theatre group put on their drama. She was also involved in the Variations choir, the Catholic Women’s League and the Catholic church choir.
Carol passed away on April 7 at the age of 76 years.
