Modern Mississauga and Heritage Mississauga have come together to present an ongoing series called “Way Back Wednesday.” We’ll share information about the history of Mississauga here and answer your questions.

Today’s topic is the history of Mississauga's Haines Artist Way.

In the Northwest area of our city, not far from the modern intersection of Mavis Road and Derry Road West, is a modern subdivision. The subdivision sits adjacent to Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District. Many of the streets within the modern subdivision take their naming inspirations from old Meadowvale Village, and some of the people who once lived there. One of those name associations can be found in the street name “Haines Artist Way”.

The name is in reference to Frederick Stanley Haines (1879-1960). Haines was born in Meaford, Grey County, Ontario, in 1879. He achieved national prominence for his pastoral scenes in oil. Haines first came to Meadowvale in 1896 with the ambition to be an artist and study in Toronto. He studied under Reid and Cruishank at the old Central Ontario School of Art, which later became the Ontario College of Art. In 1901 he began to display his work in the Ontario School of Art and became a member in 1906. During the summer of 1910, he painted a mural called “Indians on the Credit” in vivid, clear colours. It was painted on three roller blinds, 18 feet by 40 inches (5m by 100cm) and affixed to wall of the Meadowvale Public school where he was a school trustee. After achieving this artistic endeavour, he studied at the Belgium Academe Royale des Beaux Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, where he received a gold medal. He returned to Canada in 1914 and continued his etchings, many of which are hanging in art galleries both in Canada and internationally. After leaving the College of Art in 1951, he turned full time to his landscape painting, which was his first love. Fred Haines died on November 21, 1960.

Haines was an accomplished and versatile artist, well known for his watercolours, oil paintings, gouaches, engravings and prints. He was the president of the Ontario Society of Artists, a founding member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, a founding member of the Canadian Society of Etchers and Printers. He also was a colleague and friend of the Group of Seven. He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. The National Gallery of Canada has acquired several original Haines art works, as well as the Public Archives of Canada.

Fred Haines’ celebrated mural, “Indians on the Credit”, painted in 1910, has been restored and now hangs outside of Council Chambers on the second floor of the Mississauga Civic Centre.