Riverview Community Centre searches for decades-old artwork

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This article was published 04/03/2022 (1673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Riverview Community Centre is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing decades-old painting.

After the Game, by Winnipeg-based artist Bill Mason, was taken from the walls of the community centre in the early 2000s, according to staff members now on the lookout for the artwork.

“We have no clue where it could have gone, but we’re hoping it might still be in Riverview somewhere,” said Riverview Community Centre general manager Andrew Ward.

The painting, which memorializes the Riverview Community Centre decades ago, was painted by Mason when he was in his early 20s. The Riverview native spent his childhood skating and playing hockey at the centre before going on to become a famous Canadian naturalist, author, artist and filmmaker. He made 18 films with the National Film Board, was nominated for two Academy Awards, wrote two books and had a Government of Canada stamp issued in his honour.

Ward and other Riverview Community Centre staff members combed through the building to look for the painting, but their search came up empty, aside from a collection of prints made on Nov. 29, 2000.

Ward believes that was the last time anyone saw the original painting.

“There’s usually a high turnover of board members at community centres, and things get lost or forgotten over the years,” Ward said. 

“There’s probably board minutes kicking around somewhere that would say who got the prints made, but community centres aren’t known for being on top of their files.”

Riverview, a relatively small community close to Fort Rouge and East Fort Garry, has a “dedicated and passionate group of residents,” Ward says.

“The painting has a lot of sentimental value for the centre, but considering Bill Mason’s history and his accomplishments, I would guess it’s probably worth a few thousand dollars,” he added. “However, the real value is in the nostalgia.”

Don Munro is one of the dedicated residents Ward is referring to. The lifelong Riverview resident is passionate about locating the missing painting and returning it to the community centre.

Munro frequented the Riverview Community Centre often as a child, even playing hockey with Mason, who lived a street over for him and his family, when the two were young.

“The last time I went to the centre the painting wasn’t there,” said Munro, who is now in his 80s. “It was about pride in the community, and it was something that was there from the beginning.”

While Munro wishes the community centre did more to keep the painting safe, he just wants the artwork to be returned.

“I just thought, ‘How could they not have taken care of this?’” Munro said. “That painting was valuable mentally, and I presume financially.”

If you have the missing painting or know of its whereabouts, contact the Riverview Community Centre by calling 204-452-9944 or emailing gm@riverviewcc.ca