Put Your Hands to Work – The Handicrafts Guild in Metis

Metis was where the Canadian Handicrafts Guild opened its first shop in 1907. Why Metis?

The Guild was founded by Metis summer resident Mary Alice Peck along with a group of Montreal’s leading citizens. It was an offshoot of the Women’s Art Association of Canada and one designed to help women in small communities earn a living by making and selling their handicrafts.

Arts and crafts became popular in turn of the century Canada. Canadians rediscovered the value and beauty of hand-made goods just as industrial production took hold and synthetic materials began to replace natural ones. Arts and Crafts homes needed handmade objects to fit into their design and correspond with their philosophy.

The Guild’s shop in Metis sold handicrafts to summer residents and tourists. It also provided locals with a market for their goods. The leaflet that accompanied the Guild’s 1907 exhibitions also highlighted its social mission. It described its support of a “special protégé”, Michel Massie:

The lad is a native of Little Metis, and was the victim, five years ago, of a railroad accident, which left him a helpless cripple. Dreading life-long inactivity and the burdening his family with his support, he gladly took up the work of basket-making, which he was taught by a member of this Guild. He is a skillful and intelligent craftsman, happy in his work and he is now self-supporting.

The Canadian Handicrafts Guild expanded its operations across the country, organizing exhibitions in art galleries and trade halls. For decades it promoted the work of artisans and their talents and took their work into the homes of the wealthy and the well-meaning.