With just about all activities curtailed by COVID-19, there is one thing people can still do outside while practicing social distancing – and that’s the Lapine Lap in Minden.
“The Lapine Lap is a scavenger hunt for murals that are scattered around Minden featuring paintings by Andre Lapine,” said Emily Stonehouse, economic development, marketing and destination officer and supervisor of the Minden Hills Cultural Centre.
Stonehouse said Lapine took the art world by storm in the early 1900s with his lifelike depictions of animals and landscapes. He is internationally-renowned for his use of vivid colour, plein air style, and layers of depth to each composition, she added. Stonehouse said the stories and details of Lapine’s life can be heard and read if you download the PocketSights App to your phone: pocketsights.com/tours/tour/MindenThe-Lapine-Lap-3319. She said that all you have to do is download the app, follow the map, and you can explore all six murals, which will eventually lead you towards the Cultural Centre.
The only downside of this, she said, is that normally you could go into the Cultural Centre to visit the real Lapine paintings, but the cultural centre is closed right now. For future reference, she said the Cultural Centre houses more than 100 of Lapine’s works. Many paintings are depictions of Minden, and there are some familiar sights of the community seen through the eyes of an artist in the early 1900s. “The app also gives you a pretty cool opportunity to type in anywhere else in the world, and do a virtual tour from the comfort of your home,” she said. “It’s a good little adventure to get people outside on a gloomy day.”
