Former Roseland Theatre holds contest to honour Viola Desmond

Contest honours Viola Desmond Civil rights pioneer – Viola Desmond – is the inspiration behind a contest that will transform the New Glasgow theatre.

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. -- The Roseland Theatre, where Viola Desmond was arrested for sitting in the whites only section in 1946, will become home to a restaurant in just a few months, but the owner has found a unique way to honour her legacy.

Jamie MacGillivray, of MacGillvray Law, purchased the building two years ago to keep it from being torn down, and he has come up with a creative plan insure the human rights activist, who fought against racial injustice in Nova Scotia, isn’t forgotten.

“When the neighbouring building beside the Roseland Theatre was town down, it exposed this big brick wall and he just decided to decorate the wall,” said Alexis MacDonald, marketing manager for MacGillvray Law.

The law firm invited people of all ages to submit art work that could eventually end up on the wall, and they say they’ve received an impressive amount of submissions from people across Atlantic Canada.

“We were not sure how much artwork we would receive when we opened the contest, and we have received about 500 pieces from all across Atlantic Canada, so that was really incredible for us,”  MacDonald said.

Visitors can go online to see all of the submissions and vote for their favorite. The work is divided into age categories, and range from fine art, to abstract, and even some from elementary schools.

“And that was just incredible, to think that the whole school, all the teachers and all the children were sharing the story and talking about it,” said MacDonald.

The town of New Glasgow’s Mayor, Nancy Dicks says it’s a wonderful way to recognize Desmond.

“It’s a destination for people, Viola Desmond of course, is well known across Canada, and I think people want to see where the even happened and this is a great opportunity,” said Dicks.

Voting will continue into January of next year, it is expected the restaurant will open in the spring and after that, the chosen art work will be hung sometime next summer.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh