Upstairs at Wah Lee’s @ Touchstones Nelson
By Nelson Daily Editor
Upstairs at Wah Lee’s
@ Touchstones Nelson, Gallery B, June 4 to Aug. 21
- Opening reception: Friday, June 17, 7-9 pm
A new exhibit at Touchstones Nelson, Upstairs at Wah Lee’s, creates a remarkable and intimate portrait of life in the small frontier town of Quesnel.
Chow Shong (C.S.) Wing was born in Quesnel and became a partner in the family store, the Wah Lee Company.
As a young man in the early 1900’s, he established a studio above the store, becoming the first professional photographer in Quesnel. In addition to views of sternwheelers and freight wagons, he also took portraits of local residents for post cards.
He drew sitters from the First Nations, Chinese and “White” communities, perhaps because of his own minority status, or because they were people he knew in his role as a local shopkeeper.
A traveling exhibit on loan from the Quesnel and District Museum and Archives, the photos are unique in representing the mixing of cultures in a small frontier town.
The exhibition will run from June 4 to Aug. 21, with an opening reception scheduled for Friday, June 17, 7-9pm.
Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History is located at 502 Vernon Street. For information call 352-9813.
