Alton Mill Dam

April 27 to Autumn 2026

Alton Mill Dam (2025) is a large-scale outdoor installation of a direct-positive pinhole photograph by artist Risa Horowitz. Made with a handmade camera at Alton Mill Arts Centre, the image centres on the concrete dam where Shaw’s Creek was engineered to drive what became the longest-running water-powered mill on the Upper Credit River system. The work prompts reflection on how industry, settlement, and river ecology intersect within Ontario’s Greenbelt.

In partnership with CONTACT Photography and Alton Mill, this exhibition will be presented on PAMA’s outdoor banners.

Curated by Michelle Gewurtz

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Risa Horowitz’s work often engages durational practices tied to time and its representation, and addresses the constructed landscape, spanning a range of media and modes, including writing. Horowitz has exhibited widely in Canada and internationally, and her works are held in numerous public and private collections. Her paintings and photographs are on permanent display at Canadian embassies around the world. In 2020, Horowitz represented Canadian women artists in the exhibition A New Light, at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., which included paintings from her series Trees of Canada.

Michelle Gewurtz is the Supervisor of Arts & Culture and lead curator at Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA). An accomplished curator, she has organized numerous contemporary art exhibitions across Canada and internationally. She was Senior Curator at the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) from 2015 to 2020. She holds a Ph.D. in the History of Art from the University of Leeds. Her curatorial projects explore the convergence of gender politics and creative identity. In 2025, she curated the first solo exhibition of the works of Debbie Ebanks, titled the stories we share are the light we carry.

In partnership with

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