03/17/2026
The Gilbert Painter fonds at the Trent Valley Archives is a special one. Instead of sitting inside boxes, like most of our archival holdings, the material in this fonds hangs on the walls inside TVA. A collection of dozens of colourful portraits, they quietly look down on everyone who passes by on their way to retrieve a box from our main storage area. The portraits have captivated all who have seen them, including filmmaker Nick Van der Graaf, who was inspired to make them the subject of his next documentary film.
Entitled Painter's Portraits, this short film shines a spotlight on these portraits, which were all the work of one artist: Gilbert Painter. In the filmmaker's words: "Painter's Portraits," is a documentary short about the Trent Valley Archives collection of paintings by Peterborough artist Gilbert Painter. Painter, hailed in his youth as an artistic prodigy, became an engineer and after WWII worked at GE in Peterborough. Post-retirement he devoted himself to painting hundreds of portraits of local people from across the region. The breadth of the collection, and its relationship to the community, are explored in this 15-minute film."
To celebrate the completion of the film and its thoughtful portrayal of one of our more unique archival fonds, we're hosting a premiere at Bagnani Hall on the afternoon of Saturday, March 28 at 2pm. The screening of the film will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker and others who made contributions to the film, who will speak about both the filmmaking process and the collection of portraits itself. Light refreshments will be provided.
Tickets to the screening cost $10 each and can be purchased in advance on Eventbrite, here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/painters-portraits-film-premiere-tickets-1985405905509?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true or at the door.
