DATE FOUNDED:
1999

MISSION:
Uplands, sponsored in large part by the Town of Lennoxville, is a meeting and networking centre for organizations and individuals intent on sharing the rich and diverse heritage of Lennoxville and the surrounding area. Through art exhibitions, craft shows, educational projects, lectures, and workshops, its priorities are to support expressions of culture that are pluralistic, inter-generational, and multi-cultural in nature, and that reflect the diversity of artistic approaches and craft traditions in the community.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
a) Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre. This imposing neo-Georgian edifice (1862) was originally the home of the Paddons, a prominent Lennoxville family. The ground floor is home to an Art Gallery, featuring exhibitions of Eastern Townships arts and crafts. It also contains a Victorian library and dining room, furnished in period artifacts from the collection of the Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society (L.A.H.M.S.). The Centre's offices are also on this floor, as is the Tea Room (tea being served on the verandah during the summer). The second floor is devoted entirely to the L.A.H.M.S., and features a Victorian-style parlour (on permanent display), as well as temporary thematic exhibitions, office space, and the historical society's Archives.

b) Uplands Red Barn. The last remaining original outbuilding on the property, the Barn workshop houses the Historical Society's tool collection and other artifacts. A number of special activities are put on here, including a children's theatre programme.

c) Four acres of grounds include landscaped gardens, woodlands, and places to sit.

COLLECTIONS:
N/A.

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES:
Uplands fills a variety of needs related to arts, culture, and heritage. It serves as a gathering place for artists, historians, genealogists, writers, storytellers, gardeners, and other groups. Special activities include: guided tours of the facilities (year round); seasonal, bilingual workshops on local heritage and traditional arts and crafts (daytime, evenings, and week-ends); and art exhibitions (about eight per year, mostly local professional artists). The Uplands Music Society holds seasonal concerts featuring period music. The Tea Room is open afternoons during summer and by reservation at other times of year. A children's theatre programme, sponsored by the Town of Lennoxville, is organized each summer in the Red Barn. The Centre is currently preparing an inventory of Eastern Townships resource persons, to be made available to cultural centres, schools, and galleries to help promote the traditional arts of the region. Uplands is part of the Traces et Souvenances tour of Sherbrooke and Lennoxville.

PUBLICATIONS:
Trois Maisons historiques / Three Historical Houses (2000): Free.

BUSINESS HOURS:
June 24-Labour Day: Tuesday to Sunday, 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Rest of the year: Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Summer Tea Room: Wednesday to Sunday, 2 to 4 p.m. (other times of year for groups, by reservation only)
Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society Archives: by appointment only.

ENTRY FEES / MEMBERSHIP:
Annual membership (Friends of Uplands): $10.00 (individual); $20.00 (family).
Entrance fees: Donations are accepted ($2.00 suggested).

LANGUAGE OF SERVICE:
English / French

HOW TO REACH US:
Address: 9 Speid, Lennoxville, QC, J1M 1R9.
Tel: (819) 564-0409
Fax: (819) 564-8951
Email: uplands@abacom.com

WEB SITE:
www.uplands.ca