THOUGHT AND CULTURE
SPRING-II 2026
ART HISTORY - THE MAGNIFICENT BAROQUE Instructor: Lilian Elvir
We arrive at the lush, exuberant and magnificent Baroque. Time for drama, ornate and emotionally intense artistic expression. Named after a kind of irregular pearl, the Baroque gives us some of the best art. Think of the Renaissance as a round, perfect pearl and the Baroque as irregular, dramatic and magnificent, a Baroque pearl.
Weeks 1-2: Introduction to the Baroque: Drama, Light and the Counter-Reformation (Catholic Church response to Protestantism) with Caravaggio, Anibale Carracci, Artemisia Gentileschi, Lavinia Fontana.
Weeks 3-4: Rebuilding Rome with Theatricality in Stone: Exploring how sculpture and architecture merged with painting and music to create immersive theatrical spaces. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Francesco Borromini, Johan Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi.
Week 5: Flemish Baroque—Rubens, Diplomacy, and Sensory Abundance. Catholicism under Spanish rule in the Southern Netherlands. Rich colour, dynamic movement and “Rubenesque” figures. Anthony Van Dyke.
Week 6: Visit to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts - it has an extensive Baroque Collection (at least 2 floors)
ATWATER LIBRARY OFFERINGS
ENCORE and ATWATER LIBRARY are delighted to have reached an agreement that will suit both our schedules and our respective commitments.
The 2026 Atwater Library project is described as follows: This project aims to improve the overall quality of life for older adults on the island of Montréal, promoting access to health services, reducing isolation and loneliness, and advancing education through the deployment of the Atwater Library and Computer Centre’s Digital Literacy Programming at resource access points for seniors across Montréal.
The Atwater Library is developing courses to address these specific goals and are offering each organization such as ENCORE one course per month. The 2 courses being offered for Spring Session I are the following:
INTRODUCTION TO CYBERSECURITY – THURSDAY – MARCH 26 th , 2026 – the first hour is informative while the second hour is devoted to answering questions. It is recommended that you bring your own devices but we will havesome tablets available for your use.
$15.00
CLIQ SANTE – WEDNESDAY – APRIL 15 TH , 2026 – the first hour is to show the participant all that Cliq Sante website has to offer; the second hour is to help the user navigate the website. It is recommended that you bring your own devices but we will have some tablets available for your use.
$15.00
MONTREAL WALKING TOURS Organizers: Colette Zirpdji and Elida Lopez
We will have a waiting list, after 22 people with the exception of Le Chateau Ramezay where the maximum allowed is 15 people.
The first 15 people registered will attend while the remaining others will receive a credit for that walk. Apologies to everyone but this is imposed on ENCORE.
We are pleased to offer another captivating series of six walking tours, for our Spring session.
Please note that except for the tours that do not have a definite date, the others are as scheduled below.
You will receive an email, a few days before each tour, showing the time and place of meeting. We will also ask you to confirm your presence or absence, in order to offer your place to the people on the waiting list. We hope for good weather, particularly for the outside tours of which there are four.
The other two will be indoors. As we did during the Fall tours, we will more than likely share a cup of coffee close to the site we are visiting.
1) Visit of the ATWATER Library : with Lynn Verge THURSDAY, May 14th – 1 :30 to 3 :30 pm
Atwater Library’s Adair Auditorium (accessible by elevator) THURSDAY, May 14th – 12:30 to 1:30 pm
Prior to the guided tour
STORIES OF QUEBEC ANGLOS
IN PERSON and BY ZOOM (Hybrid): For the Atwater Library Lunchtime Series, filmmaker and author Guy Rex Rodgers gives a presentation on his new book What We Choose To Forget.
The book explores stories of English-speaking Quebecers across the province and challenges familiar narratives.
For in-person attendance there’s no registration requirement. It’s first come, first seated.
To REGISTER and get the Zoom link, click HERE, fill out and submit the form.
Free admission. Everyone welcome."
I encourage members of your group to attend our Lunchtime Series event at 12:30 (details below) before starting the tour at 1:30.
After Guy Rodgers’ talk, we’ll meet at the front of the Adair Auditorium on the top floor of our building (Floor 1 by elevator). I’ll welcome everyone and give a brief outline of our organization’s history, mission and current programs. Then we’ll have a look at all three floors ending at the Bookshop on the bottom floor.
2) A Tour of Christian Churches in Downtown Montreal : with Diane Gagné Thursday May 21st, 1 :30-3 :30 Meeting Place : TBD
Diane Gagné is offering a tour she has never given for Encore. Here, in her own words:
La route de la chrétienté au Centre-ville.
Il s'agit d'un pèlerinage architectural et historiquedes églises, basiliques et cathédrales se trouvant au centre-ville de Montréal. Un parcours qui nous permettra de découvrir une dizaine d'églises chrétiennes, parfois catholique, anglicane, méthodiste ou évangéliste, qui se mêlent à la vibrante vie urbaine, culturelle et sociale des Montréalais. Le parcours n'incluerait pas la visite de l'intérieur des lieux de cultes, par manque de temps, mais à chaque église, nous ferions un arrêt pour en admirer l'architecture et en découvrir l'histoire. Toutes les églises se trouvent au centre-ville, à l'intérieur d'un trajet d'environ 4 kilomètres, ce qui est tout à fait réalisable en deux heures. Les églises aperçues seraient :
Church of St.John the Evangelist,
L'Église du Gésu
La Basilique Saint Patrick
St. James United Church
Christ Church Cathedral
La Basilique-cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde
St. George's Anglican Church
Saint James the Apostle Church
Erskine and American United Church
Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul
An architectural and historical pilgrimage of churches, basilicas and cathedrals situated in downtown Montreal. A route which will allow us to discover 10 Christian churches, some Catholic, others Anglican, Methodist or Evangelical, mixed in the vibrant urban cultural and social life of Montrealers. For lack of time, we will not be going inside the churches, but we will stop at each one, to admire its architecture and discover its history. The entire circuit is approximately four kilometers, which is very achievable in two-hours. The list of the churches is mentioned above :
3) Mount Royal Cemetery : with Miriam Cloutier (Tentative. To be confirmed) Thursday, May 28th, 1:30 - 3:30. Meeting Place : Main Gates 1297 Forest Road, Outremont. Parking Available.
"Founded in 1852, The Mount-Royal Cemetery is one of the oldest rural cemeteries in North America. Visitors can observe some 145 species of birds and century-old trees along trails or amid gardens and terraces.".... This is a ..." sprawling hilltop cemetery with ornate monuments, statues and tombstones in leafy surrounds."
Miriam will be offering our group a tour of the well-known Montreal artists, poets, writers, and musicians buried in the cemetery. She will also cover some of its history, and speak about its beautiful nature, which should be on full display. A good deal of walking is involved, but we can shorten the visit to 1 1/2 hour.
4) Twilight Sculpture Garden : with or without a guide (Tentative to be confirmed) Thursday, June 4th, 2026 1:30-3:30. Meeting Place : TBD
Glen LeMesurier is a Montreal sculptor who has adorned the city with more than 200 outdoor sculptures.
"Repurposed parts, such as wheels and propellers, are shaped into new forms by LeMesurier to create the dozens of sculptures that populate the Mile End and other Montreal neighbourhood. Beyond his 80 sculptures in the Jardin du Crépuscule, LeMesurier also built and maintains dozens more in a trail that runs parallel to the CN Rail tracks behind his shop. He maintains both spaces, taking care to regularly clear weeds and prune trees around his art to ensure that it remains visible."
Quoted from a CBC article by Aloysius Wong
5) LE CHÂTEAU RAMEZAY with Bruno-Paul Stenson. : Thursday June 11th. Meeting place : Chateau Ramesay, address below.
"The Château Ramezay in Old Montréal is the belly button of Canadian history. On this tour we will visit its architecture, its permanent exhibition on the history of Montréal (and, by extension, the history of Québec, Canada and even bits of the history of the United States), its temporary exhibition on the 7 months that Montréal was an American city at the start of the American Revolution, and end our tour in its French-style garden. The tour includes exclusive, behind the scenes bits that “regular” visitors don’t get to see."
Part of an email from the museum : "Bruno m’a parlé de votre groupe. Nous sommes heureux à l’idée de vous accueillir au Musée! Étant donné qu’il s’agit d’une visite spéciale avec un seul guide, nous ne pourrons pas accueillir plus de 15 personnes."
Marie Alfaro-Garnier
Coordonnatrice en chef –
Services aux publics et programmation culturelle
Château Ramezay – Musée et site historique de Montréal
280, rue Notre-Dame Est
Vieux-Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1C5
T : 514 861-3708 poste 227 | Téléc. : 514 861-8317
Un des 1001 sites historiques qu’il faut avoir vus dans sa vie!*
*Sélectionné par une équipe d’experts, en collaboration avec l’UNESCO.
6) Montreal Street Art : a selection of murals and street art in St-Henri, Shaughnessy Village and Ville Marie with Gwen Baddeley June 18th, 2026. Meeting place TBC (likely Atwater or Lionel-Groulx metro station)
Gwen Baddeley has taught art history at Dawson College since 2013, and has ten years of museum education experience at the MMFA.
This walk will focus on commissioned murals made in the past three to four years. The guided tour will feature several murals, by different artists and collectives, ranging in style and technique. The general context and history of street art and mural collectives in Mtl will be provided, as well as information about each artist and mural.
P.s. My approach is one based on first looking, discussing, and analyzing + learning some facts 😊
*art historical links *visual analysis * fun
MOVIE MATINEE
It’s really fun to watch movies together! It’s certainly more fun than watching them alone at home and while we don’t have luxurious cushiony chairs like they do in the theatres, you are not sitting with strangers. Come enjoy our movie selection and bring a friend or make a new one!!
1. Meet the Fockers – 2004 – comedy / drama – 1h50m
2. The Conversation – 1974 – suspense / drama – 1h53m
3. A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood – 2019 – drama – 1h48m
4. Emma – 1997 – drama / comedy – 1h46m
5. What’s Love Got to Do with It – 1993 – drama – 1h58m
6. Finding Neverland – 2004 – family / drama – 1h36m
THE SHIFTING WORLD ORDER AND THE ROLE OF LATIN AMERICA PART III. Instructor: F.X. Charet
This series will examine Latin America and its role in the emerging new world order through the prism of Greg Grandin’s, America, América: A New History of the New World (2025) a major reconfiguration of the intertwined history of North, Central and South America by a Yale historian that is garnering significant attention offering insights into how previous history has impacted the development of these regions.
SOCIAL HISTORY PART III - Instructor: Bruno Paul Stenson
Course outline
WARNING: BAD LANGUAGE SHALL BE SPOKEN AND SHOWN ONSCREEN THROUGHOUT THE LAST LECTURE OF THIS COURSE.
Still more history of common folk and their daily lives. This time we cover time, the death of a Beatle, bad language, and other elements of daily life.
1) Time
What is time and how have we measured it? Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Doctor Who prove not to be very helpful in finding out.
2) Great Gardens of the World
The difference between a pleasure garden and a botanical garden, with spectacular examples from around the world.
3) Québec
A simple history of that complicated place we call home: the Province of Québec, from colonial times to today.
4) Subliminal Advertising and the Death of Paul McCartney
The unconscious mind, conspiracy theories, and the lunatic notion that Paul McCartney died in 1966.
5) Early cars
Why did Henry Ford insist that all of his cars be black? How were early cars tested? How fast was ''speeding''?
6) Swearing
Bad language has existed since antiquity. In this lecture we look at the history and use of swearwords right up to those used in English and in French in Québec today.
WARNING: BAD LANGUAGE SHALL BE SPOKEN AND SHOWN ONSCREEN THROUGHOUT THIS LECTURE
STORIES IN STONE. Instructor: Ingrid Birker
Since Ingrid has been offering these walks for a few years already, and a lot of our members have seen some but not all, we are offering you the opportunity to pick and choose the walk(s) you want. You can also register for the whole series.
Monday, May 11 – Stones and stories from the Osler Rare books Library, the Hosmer House, and the Davis House. We will begin with a guided tour of the rare volumes of medical works at the Osler Library with Director Mary Yearl. Meet at the McIntyre Medical Sciences building. The address is 3655 Promenade William Osler.
Monday May 25 – Stones and melons of old NDG. Meet at chalet in the center of the Parc Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, located at 3500 Avenue Girouard. We will stroll through the heart of the rural village founded by francophone farmers such as the Decaries and Benny’s who specialized in creating a valuable Montreal fruit.
Monday June 1 - Fossils, whales and cows at McGill’s downtown campus. We will start at the geological rock garden beside the Redpath Museum and continue our exploration of the indoor and outdoor fossils near here. Meet at front door entrance of Redpath Museum, 859 Sherbrooke St. West, H3A 0C4.
Monday June 15 - Bones and stones in Place du Canada. We will examine the stones and monuments in Place du Canada which include the granites and marbles inside the Sunlife building, the place markers from Montreal’s first cemetery that are embedded into the new walkways and the interior of the finishings of the 1878 Windsor Hotel..
Monday June 22 - Notman House and Jardin pour tous urban gardens. Meet at Maison Notman, 51 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec H2X 1X2.
Monday June 29 – Ghosts of Griffintown. Meet at outdoor park located at the corner of avenue Wellington and rue de la Montagne. This park features the ruins of the Ste. Ann’s Catholic church, the heart of the Irish community which opened in 1854 and was demolished in 1972 to make way for the Bonaventure expressway. This final Stories in stone might end at the Horse palace café if it is open.