Welcome to the Magic of Children! Town of Collingwood Councilor Kathy Jeffery participated in the official ribbon cutting ceremony to open the new downtown location of "The Magic Studio." The gallery space (situated above Saunder's Office Supplies) has been donated by the Saunders family, and work exhibited will focus on children and youth. Two youth group shows are already booked, indicating the demand for art space in Collingwood.

Magic of Children Gallery Director Marion Lewis is a veteran producer and director of arts spaces. Lewis is the founder of "A Space" in Toronto, considered to be the first artist-run gallery in Canada. In addition to working to expand the Magic of Children studio, Lewis is advising the Art Gallery of Ontario on an exhibition for the grand opening of the new galleries in September 2008.

The Magic of Children in the Arts has organized the children's art show and competition for the last 14 years at the Collingwood Public Library. The competition draws children from public and private schools in Wasaga Beach, Duntroon, Nottawa, Stayner and Collingwood.

After 12 years of taking a month off from her business to make the Magic of Children art show happen, Lory MacDonald wanted to move on to focus on her business. Sandra Saunders took charge of the event with assistance from Marion Lewis. Chari Lynn Reithmier and Katrina Tratrum and Erin McAndrew joined the group. A successful application was made to become a non-profit corporation. As her last gift to the group, Lory MacDonald created a manual on how to make a Magic of Children Art Show, thus saving the legacy of what she has built for future generations.

In 1953, local entrepreneur Jack Saunders opened Saunders Studio in this space as a commercial business. Mr. Saunders learned photography skills while in the navy, where he was a radio operator during World War Two. Years later, Mr. Saunders took thousands of photographs including local school pictures, shipyard launches, weddings, and community shots throughout Collingwood. Mr. Saunders was a Toronto Star freelance contributor and also loved to paint local landscapes. The Saunders family has donated this space in downtown Collingwood. "Jack would be happy to see the space used today for the advancement of children's creativity" said Joe Saunders, the grandson of the late Jack Saunders.

Marion Lewis would like to thank the late Sandra Stoutenburg for her gigantic faith in the programme. "Without Sandy, we would not have received the grant from the town" Lewis said.