by Edith Cody-Rice
Don’t let your daughter go to art school: she’ll never get a job!!
Such was the advice of the principal of Glebe Collegiate to Noreen Young’s mother. If she listened, she fortunately ignored the advice and allowed Noreen to follow her passion to the Ontario College of Art at the age of nineteen in 1958.
Almonte’s beloved Noreen died suddenly on April 18, 2025 after an illustrious career as artist, television personality (Under the Umbrella Tree), mentor, teacher and inspiration for and founder and artistic director of the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival which brought yearly crowds to Almonte from 2005 to 2016. The festival was revived in 2022, and now runs every two years. This year it takes place on August 8-9. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 1995 for having “effectively used puppetry to educate children on such crucial issues as safety, nutrition, environmental awareness and addictions”.
Noreen was a prolific artist, not only in puppetry but in drawing, starting at an early age. After her death, her brother Stephen Brathwaite found a portfolio of her early work. The portfolio contained about 150 drawings from high school, through art school and beyond. Stephen said that some drawings are cartoonish and playful, showing the talent that Noreen later transferred to puppetry. Others are from art school including drawings from visits to the National Ballet School and other places such as the Royal Winter Fair.
With the permission of Noreen’s estate, Stephen took the portfolio to Sanjeev Sivarulrasa, director of the eponymous Sivarulrasa Gallery on Mill Street in Almonte.
Sanjeev selected 38 drawings from high school to art school for display and sale. The lens he applied to the selection was identifying drawings which were
- Fit for sale
- Could be authenticated
- Were relevant to Noreen’s early imagination and explorations.
Sanjeev pointed out the seriousness of Noreen’s intent as an artist illustrated by her signing of a drawing which she made in Grade 9, likely at the age of 14. The drawings he chose signal the trajectory of Noreen’s artistic explorations over the years leading to her interest in costumes, puppets and presenting shows.
All proceeds of the sale of this art will go to support the Noreen Young Award for the Arts. This $1,000 award supports a Mississippi Mills student pursuing post-secondary education in the arts (puppetry, visual, media, performing, or related fields). It is awarded yearly.
The award is supported by a fund held by the Community Foundation of Ottawa and administered by the Mississippi Mills Community Fund. The goal of the fund is to reach an endowment of $50,000 to ensure Noreen’s legacy by securing the award for years to come.
Bruce Kingsley, Noreen’s husband and executor of her estate, commented that he is delighted to see the community carrying Noreen’s legacy into the future.
The drawings are currently on display at the Sivarulrasa Gallery and a touching vernissage was held last Sunday, August 2.
In his comments, Sanjeev noted that artists and their work are economic drivers: “The perseverance of the artist is a gift to the rest of us”, he noted. “Through their work, year after year, decade after decade, the artist creates ripple effects due to their perseverance – many people, including their community, benefit from these ripples, which, if nurtured, can grow into waves.”
Jeff Semple, an Almonte native and currently a senior international correspondent for Global National News, sent in a letter for the event. He has reported from more than 40 countries but, as he stated, 25 years ago, he was first learning how to perform under pressure from Noreen Young’s puppet shows at the International Plowing Match. He recalls that
although Almonte was a wonderful tight-night community, like a lot of small towns, there wasn’t a lot for teenagers and older kids to do. There were youth sports teams, of course — the football team was a big deal — but for young people interested in pursuing the arts, there would have been few options available, if not for Noreen. He wrote
Noreen’s presence in Almonte was a game changer. She was an inspiration and a leader in our small but thriving arts community. I grew up with puppet-making workshops and taking part in travelling puppet shows, along with our community theatre. These experiences taught me numerous life skills, including public speaking. But perhaps most importantly, they instilled self-confidence and a love for the arts. Not only did Noreen create these opportunities, she did it with a gentle kindness and compassion that made everyone feel welcome and comfortable. As I approached my final year of high school, I hoped to combine my passions for current events with my love of theatre and the performing arts, by pursuing a career in news broadcasting. I applied and was accepted in Ryerson University’s competitive Journalism program in Toronto. Tuition was expensive, but again Noreen provided a lifeline. I was honoured to receive a Noreen Young Bursary to help me pursue my post secondary education. And of course, I’m not alone. Noreen and her small but mighty team of event organisers enabled countless young people to pursue careers in the arts and the media. She also helped us to believe these careers were possible, despite the naysayers who encouraged us to pursue more lucrative and reliable (“realistic”) career paths. I feel very lucky that I genuinely love what I do, and Noreen helped to make that possible. I am eternally gratefully. She is very missed.
