SAULT STE. MARIE -- The Sault Ste. Marie Museum's latest exhibit will feature a largely forgotten part of the city's Francophone history, thanks to the help of its inaugural residency artist.
When Isabelle Michaud got the call she'd be the first to be featured in the program, she decided upon exploring her French Canadian roots.
The Quebec City native sought out to find more on a part of the Sault she had heard of before, but could find little information on it -- the city's "French Town."
"I decided to go walk around the neighbourhood, take photos and then make paintings based on these images," Michaud said.
"I was able to locate where it was with the help of a lot of connections and researching."
"French Town" once sat adjacent to the Jamestown part of the city, formerly known as "Little Italy," she said.
Michaud said it arose with the prospect of an increased demand in workforce, with the opening of Algoma Steel in 1902.
"So it was only maybe a period of forty years," she said.
"From 1900 to 1940, 1950, only people then would've known about French Town."
That short window has also made it difficult to dig up information on it, she said, but her journey has been rewarding.
In fact, the museum's curator said he never expected her to find as much information as she did.
"The research and stuff that she's dug up on the history of the francophone community is something that is needed," said WIlliam Hollingshead.
"But also something that we're looking to represent much more of our community."
Hollingshead said the museum wants to increase its residency artist programming in the near future, especially to fill in the gaps of other historical time periods missing from the museum.
"Especially areas like Francophone, Indigenous, Ukrainian, things like that."
The exhibit will also feature a digital component, due to the pandemic.
It runs from March 25 to May 30.
