February 7 , 2007 - Media Release

Foundation’s first chair honored The Cumberland Health Care Foundation honored its first chair today by the co-presentation of a portrait to former Nova Scotia premier, Roger Bacon. It was commissioned by the Canadian Portrait Academy and created by local artist Christian Cardell Corbet.

Phyllis Cameron, chair of the Cumberland Health Care Foundation remarked in helping to unveil the portrait, “On behalf of the many patients you have helped by your commitment first to the Highland View Regional Hospital Foundation which later became the Cumberland Health Care Foundation - we can never say thanks enough”. The portrait will later be displayed on the first level of the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre for the public to view.

The photo to the left is of the artist, Christian Cardell Corbet, chair of the Foundation Phyllis Cameron, Clara wife of Roger Bacon and Roger Bacon.

On painting the portrait of Roger Bacon, local artist Christian Corbet said, “Of all the portraits I have done, this painting of Roger is one of my favourites.” He added, “Roger’s personality is infectious and we connected immediately. It is at those times that a subject and artist become one in order to make a work of art come alive.” Capturing a prominent individual is not an easy thing as Corbet knows all too well. He realizes that many of his subjects are important, in that they have contributed to society at a level that exceeds most people – and there is a challenge in that. “Roger’s career is exciting, from his roots as a farmer, to his political work, to his work with the hospital foundation as it’s first Chairperson. I had to embody all his achievements in one single moment… that moment was exciting. Gone is the formal shirt and tie, and before you lies the true Roger Bacon, a man of the earth.”

“Roger’s continued drive, energy, and consideration in helping to improve health services and facilities for residents of Cumberland County has been an inspiration for many people involved with the Foundation,” continued Cameron, “and we are pleased to have his portrait presented to us and to be displayed at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre.”

Collected in over 50 important museums, art galleries and corporate collections the world over, Christian Cardell Corbet is known for portraying his subjects with a sense of reality – but in his own unique style, displaying the sitter’s emotions and spirit often with a sense of pensiveness. With confident brushstrokes, flowing soft colours and sinuous lines, Corbet’s works are not meant to be photographic representations like so many portraits created today – but true artistic interpretations of people captured through the artist’s eyes.

Christian Cardell Corbet was born and raised at picturesque Pickering Beach, Ontario. He is regarded as one of Canada’s most notable portrait painters and sculptors working today. With a roster of subjects that reads like a “Who’s Who” of the world, Corbet has painted and sculpted some of the most influential people in his day: The Late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Anthropologist Dame Jane Goodall, Designer of the Canadian Flag Col. George Stanley, and Corbet’s recent subject former Nova Scotia Premier, Hon. Roger Bacon. In his creations, Corbet has captured people who have made a significant impact on our culture and history.

Set for a busy 2007, Corbet is scheduled for three exhibitions to include a solo show in exotic Guernsey Channel Island where impressionist painter Renoir and author Victor Hugo once worked, a fitting place for the artist to be invited to show his captivating works. Additional information on the artist is available at his website www.christiancorbet.com.

The Cumberland Health Care Foundation is a registered Canadian not-for-profit charity dedicated to enhancing the provision of a high standard of health care within Cumberland County by raising funds and supporting new and improved services, programs, equipment and facilities. Its “Growing Care” campaign, which is currently underway, seeks to raise $1.6 million for a fully equipped third operating room and upgrading diagnostic equipment at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre. For additional information, please visit our website at www.chcfoundation.com.