Community pays tribute to Cory Trépanier at Home and Lifestyle Show

By Zachary Roman

Beloved Caledon artist Cory Trépanier was celebrated last weekend.

On April 28, the opening night of the 2023 Home and Lifestyle Show at the Albion Bolton Community Centre, the late Trépanier was honoured with a special event. 

The event was a fundraiser for Caledon Meals on Wheels, and all proceeds from ticket sales went there.

Guests enjoyed local craft beers, hard ciders and wines, as well as an assortment of delicious food.

This was all the while memories of Trépanier were shared and his art celebrated on the stage at the Home and Lifestyle Show.

Trépanier was a graduate of Humberview Secondary School in Bolton and had a very successful career in the arts and documentary filmmaking. He's best known for his detailed oil paintings of Canada's wilderness, and he was an avid Arctic explorer.

Trépanier died of cancer in 2021.

The Bill Parnaby Team sponsored the event, as Bill Parnaby himself grew up with Trépanier and went to Humberview, too. They were friends in high school and remained supporters of each other throughout their lives.

“I watched Cory from afar over the course of high school, developing his talent, which was amazing even then,” said Parnaby. 

They crossed paths again later in life, and Trépanier shared some of his ideas for art and film with Parnaby.

Through partnership and sponsorship, Parnaby was able to help Trépanier as he was gaining more and more exposure and success.

“From that point on, we had this interwoven relationship… we both love Caledon and love the arts,” said Parnaby. “It was a natural blend, it was really cool.”

Parnaby said it was amazing to see Trépanier's films take off and see him receive awards and tour the world showcasing his art. No matter where life took them, Parnaby said he and Trépanier always shared a deep attachment to the Caledon community and local charities.

Parnaby said Caledon Meals on Wheels is a great charity and it was a pleasure to support it through the event.

“I really miss having Cory around. The fact he'll never paint again, it's the end of an era,” said Parnaby. “It's hard to think about, but the nice thing is his legacy through his art and family — and what his daughter is doing — it continues even though he's not here.”

Trépanier's daughter, Andie, is a visual artist, musician, and tattoo artist, among many other creative endeavours. They were at the show to showcase their art, as well as speak about their father. 

Andie said losing someone is always hard, and they were nervous to speak about their father's memory as it's only been two years since he passed away. 

“What always brings me out of the woodwork, and makes me absolutely compelled to do any speaking in the memory of my dad, is that the community here loves him as much as he loved them,” said Andie. “It's so apparent, you can feel it around the room… it's a beautiful thing.”

Andie said hearing people share memories of their dad was the best part of being at the Home and Lifestyle Show.

Andie had a variety of large acrylic on canvas paintings for sale at the Show, as well as sketches and mixed media illustrations. They explained between 2020 and 2022, they would fill up sketchbook after sketchbook, almost daily, full of art.

“By the time that I got to the end of COVID I realized I was drowning in art — and it was definitely the way that I got through it,” said Andie. “But it also really reignited my passion for tattoo in a way I never could have expected because my drawing skills improved after two years of very hard work.”

Andie said they always try to keep connected to the spirit of art by making work that feels good and is important to them.

A wide variety of local businesses and community groups had booths set up at the Home and Lifestyle Show last weekend. One of these groups was the Rotary Club of Bolton, which helped run the event.

Since many of Bolton Rotary's members have their smart serves, they were able to handle serving all the alcohol for the event. As well, the Alpha Dogs robotics team that Bolton Rotary sponsors was able to help set up and take down the Show.

Bolton Rotary also sold baked goods, coffee, and tea at their booth in support of local Girl Guides.

The Bolton Italian Cultural Centre was promoting their upcoming event at its booth.

Famous Italian musician Pupo is coming to Caledon on June 3 for Caledon Italian Heritage Day. Local singer Roberta Battaglia is also set to perform.

Anna Meo, president of the  non-profit community organization that's goal is to share Italian culture and traditions across Caledon, said having Pupo play in Bolton will put it on the map as it's included in Pupo's latest tour list of places he is performing.