$100,000 to $499,999

Thor Hansen – An outstanding figure in Canadian design.

Thor Hansen was an accomplished artist, with a special interest in line and colour.   He found the Canadian environment an exciting source of ideas for design, and tried to show Canadian craftsmen how to develop designs to illustrate Canada’s  plants and animals, history, lakes and rivers, mountains and plains.  

In May 1948, Mr. Hansen spoke to the newly-formed Simcoe County Arts and Crafts Association (SCACA) on “Canada in Design”. In an attempt to keep heritage crafts alive, the idea of holding a quilt, rug and craft fair in the County was introduced.  Mr. Hansen offered to draw patterns for quilts and rugs for SCACA to show members how to create original Canadian designs.

These designs and patterns lend themselves perfectly to being manipulated into a variety of mediums. It seemed fitting to create the Simcoe County Museum's donor wall by adapting a design created by Thor Hansen.  Using Canada Geese in Flight as the primary pattern, only a few alterations were made to create the design for the donor wall.

The donor wall is proudly displayed in the Museum's main entrance, and honours the contributors to the 2006 Museum Expansion Initiative.