Local art mixes with local history
The St. Andrews Heritage Centre is once again hosting its annual art show and this year there is a variety of local art in many different mediums for people visiting the museum to check out.
“The Community Art Show at the St Andrews Heritage Center is here to celebrate local talent, and bring a platform for local artists to come in and display their artwork,” said Community Art Show Curator Sarah LeBlanc.
She explained that the artists also have business cards beside their artwork so that if residents like their style and want to learn more or perhaps commission a piece of their own, they can contact them directly.
This show has work from 22 artists and there are 52 pieces of art in this show.
“There are a lot of sculptures compared to the previous years, which is really, really great. For example, Doug Gibbings, he has an artwork made out of wire and wood, so wood carvings. Then, of course, a lot of our artworks here are paintings with a mixture of acrylic paint and oil paint. We have watercolour artworks. We also have these sculptures over here, which are the Paverpol that’s the material that they’re using (to harden the fabric) and then crochet, which is also new, which is pretty good. We have pysanky jewelry. (The artist) actually does classes here at the St. Andrews Heritage Centre,” said LeBlanc.
She wants residents to know that the art isn’t just of the things that inspire the artists but there are many pieces that reflect the cultural backgrounds of the people in our area.
This art show is an amazing opportunity to see modern art hung alongside both the historical art at the museum but also artifacts that tell the stories of our area’s history.
“The St. Andrew’s Heritage Centre itself is a piece of artwork and history. When it was reconstructed in the 70s, to be more structurally sound for people to come in and see it as a museum, they decided to use the same techniques as the people did from the original building when it was created. And so, they took apart all the stones, they labelled them, and then used the historical tools,” explained LeBlanc.
This use of authentic tools and techniques is reflected in the artist’s work as they use their own techniques to create long lasting genuine local artwork.
The St. Andrews Heritage Centre is free to visit. Their opening hours are from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Community Art Show itself runs until Feb. 21 and is free to view. You can learn more about the many community programs that the St. Andrews Heritage Centre puts on online at www.standrewsrectory.ca.
LeBlanc encourages residents to check out the heritage centre and the art show.
“There’s a lot of wonderful and creative artists who, for some of them, this is their first time displaying their artwork. So I think it’d be really great to come in and check that out. And also it might inspire you in your own creative process,” she said.
