This November, there is a lot to see and do in Peterborough and the Kawarthas.
The Precarious Arts Festival is happening, a new art gallery and studio opens on Hunter Street, The Art School of Peterborough features Elizabeth Charchuk and launches their Square Art Show and Sale, Christensen Fine Art features Spencer J. Harrison, Evans Contemporary features Jude Griebel, Star X presents ‘Salon des Refusés’ in conjunction with the Precarious Festival, Coeur Nouveau features Mark Reutter, and the Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio hosts a family art show.
All this makes for a jam-packed First Friday Art Crawl on Friday, November 3rd, and more to see throughout the month. There is also the Made in Kawartha Lakes art show and sale happening at the Fenelon Falls Community Centre on November 18th, hooked wall sculptures by Sarah Gibeault on display at the Arts and Heritage Centre of Warkworth, and a new gallery space at The Mount in Peterborough featuring an exhibit by Anne Cavanagh and Ellen Cowie.
Evans Contemporary presents ‘Mess-Maker’ by Jude Griebel
In ‘Mess-Maker’, Jude Griebel creates grotesque and humourous sculptures, hybrid forms made up of garbage, waste, and instances of environmental degradation. In a play on the body and the environment, these dioramic pieces make us wonder about the state of the world, and how we relate to and contribute to this as individuals.
Both fun and interesting, these sculptures will be on display at Evans Contemporary for the month of November. The show opens on Friday, November 3rd and will continue until November 25th. Come out to the opening reception on the 3rd, happening from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m.
Evans Contemporary is located at #2 Banker’s Common in downtown Peterborough. For more information, visit www.evanscontemporary.com or contact Paolo Fortin at evanscontemporary@gmail.com.
Art School of Peterborough features Elizabeth Charchuk in the LAUNCH Gallery
Elizabeth (Lizz) Charchuk will be the featured artist this November at the Art School of Peterborough. Drop in and see her colourful canvasses and possibly meet her, as she is often there teaching classes.
Lizz is interested in representing chaos, death, and time in her work. Drop in during gallery hours to see the work for yourself from Wednesday, November 1st until November 30th.
Also coming up at the Art School is the Square Art Show and Sale, opening on Friday, November 3rd and continuing until December 23rd.
LAUNCH is located at the Art School of Peterborough (174A Charlotte Street, Peterborough). Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit artschoolptbo.org/launch/ or call 705-742-3221.
Star X presents ‘Salon des Refusés’ as part of the Precarious Festival
This group exhibition at Star X is part of the Precarious Festival and features seven local artists: Tara Azzopardi, Jeremy Bertrand, Lyall Brownlee, Daniel Crawford, Rose Katarina Fortin, Leigh Macdonald, and Hartley Stephenson.
This exhibition highlights the struggles faced by artists in society. Historically and still today, many artists do not make what you might call a good living selling their work, and face many challenges along the way.
This show, in conjunction with the Precarious Festival, is drawing attention to these issues by making a reference to the famous Salon des Refusés in Paris in 1863, where the impressionists were rejected by the Paris Salon. Many of these rejected impressionist painters are today considered masters, though they faced many challenges in 1863.
For a full schedule of events happening through the Precarious Festival, visit ttok.ca/precarious-festival/. This festival is already underway, and continues until December 2nd. There is a lot happening throughout November, so check out the extensive list of events, then get out there and see what you can!
Star X is located at 129-1/2 Hunter St. West, 3rd floor, in downtown Peterborough. Hours of operation are Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Coeur Nouveau Presents ‘Self Comes to Mind’ by Mark Reutter
The abstract paintings of Mark Reutter are rooted in philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness and identity.
Reutter questions the validity of self and personal identity as constructed, self-perpetuating beliefs, and focuses instead on the universality of experience and the mystery of consciousness. For instance, in deep meditative states the individual no longer identifies as an entity separate from the world, but as an awareness which is part of everything.
Reutter employs techniques in his paintings that parallel the creation and curation of personal identity, by removing parts of the surface and also by building up and obscuring other areas — in the same manner one might choose either consciously or unconsciously to remember certain things and gloss over others to maintain a consistent idea of who one is or wants to be.
Drop by and see these works for yourself at the opening reception, and perhaps speak to Mark about his process. The opening for the show will be held on Friday, November 3rd from 6 to 11 p.m.
Coeur Nouveau is located on the 2nd floor of the Commerce Building at 129-1/2 Hunter St. West in downtown Peterborough.
META4 Gallery opens its doors to the public
There is a new art gallery and studio opening in Peterborough. After extensive renovations, META4 Gallery will open its doors on Friday, November 3rd.
Owners and local artists Jennifer Hardie, Birgitta MacLeod, and Bonnie Thomson — who already run META4 Contemporary Craft Gallery in Port Perry — have created a new studio space and offer a unique selection of works by Ontario artists and artisans.
The new space will be very much like their current Port Perry location, with a gallery at the front and a studio in the back. It will have a ground-floor and fully accessible washroom and lots of natural light.
The opening celebration begins at 4:30 p.m. and continues until 11 p.m. Drop in and check out a selection of work by area artists and the new studio space.
META4 Gallery is located at 164 Hunter St. West in Peterborough. For more information, e-mail ptbo@meta4gallery.ca, call 705-874-9444, or visit www.meta4gallery.ca.
Fenelon Falls Community Centre hosts ‘Made in Kawartha Lakes’ art and craft show and sale
On Saturday, November 18th, artists and artisans from the Kawartha Lakes region will be participating in a show and sale at the Fenelon Falls Community Centre (27 Veterans Way, Fenelon Falls)
“Made in Kawartha Lakes” begins at 10 a.m and runs until 4 p.m. Admission is free.
The show and sale is being presented by the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council, an incorporated not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving the arts community in the Kawartha Lakes.
If you’re an artist or artisan and want to participate, the deadline to book a booth has been extended to Friday, November 3rd. For more information, please visit www.kawarthalakesarstcouncil.com or email kawarthalakesartscouncil@gmail.com.
‘Hunt, Hunt Again’ by Sarah Gibeault at Ah! Arts and Heritage Centre of Warkworth
In this series of hooked wall sculptures, artist Sarah Gibeault has used rug hooking to create densely packed pieces, rich with colour and texture. As the title ‘Hunt, Hunt Again’ tells us, the viewer is invited to closely examine and look through the patterns and textures in this new series of work.
Rug hooking is traditionally a craft, used to create floor coverings out of old clothes and bits of yarn, and is a way of reusing materials to create something new and useful. Sarah has used this same process to create these wall sculptures.
This show, curated by Caroline Langill, is filled with inspiring compositions of bright colours and textures and is a real treat to take in. The show is on now, and will be on display at the Arts and Heritage Centre until December 2nd.
Ah! Arts and Heritage Centre of Warkworth is located at 35 Church Street in downtown Warkworth. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For more information, please contact Rebecca Baptista, Arts Administrator, at info@ahcentre.ca or 705-925-4450.
Acme Art and Sailboat Company presents ‘This. And That.’ by Bill Batten and new work by Joe Stable
This month, Bill Batten’s ‘This. And That.’, a selection of colourful new work, will be featured in the main gallery at Acme Art and Sailboat Company.
Batten, a well-known former bartender at The Only Café, is a two-time cancer survivor who now makes his living as an artist. His work has been featured locally as well as in Toronto.
Some new pieces by Joe Stable will also be on display in the copper closet.
The show opens on the First Friday Art Crawl on November 3rd from 6 to 10 p.m.
Acme Art and Sailboat Company is located at 129-1/2 Hunter Street West, 3rd floor, in downtown Peterborough. Gallery hours are 12 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and by appointment. Email joe.stable@gmail.comfor more information.
Christensen Fine Art presents ‘Remembering, New Paintings about Memory and Romance’ by Spencer J. Harrison
Christensen Fine Art presents ‘Remembering: New Paintings about Memory and Romance’, a series of work by Spencer J. Harrison.
This show, a colourful meditation on various events in Spencer’s life, opens with a reception during the First Friday Art Crawl on November 3rd from 6 until 9 p.m. There will be light refreshments and the artist will be in attendance. The show will be on display until November 25th.
Christensen Fine Art is located at 432 George Street North in downtown Peterborough. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit www.christensenfineart.com.
Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio presents ‘Stretch Marks’ by Donna, Emma, and Dawn Bolam
‘Stretch Marks’ at Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio features work by three women from the Bolam family.
Artist Donna Bolam challenged her daughter-in-law Dawn and her 12-year-old granddaughter Emma to create artwork for this show. It sounds like fun, so get out and see what they have come up with.
The show will be on display from November 15th until November 26th, with the opening reception on Sunday, November 19th from 1 to 4 p.m.
Also happening at Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio until November 12th is “Rural Outlook”, a show and sale of landscape art and other works related to rural life.
Kawartha Artists’ Gallery and Studio is a not-for-profit artist’s co-operative, located at 420 O’Connell Road in Peterborough. Hours of operation are Wednesday to Sunday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.kawarthaartists.org.
‘Reverence for Life’ by Anne Cavanagh and Ellen Cowie at new gallery space at The Mount in Peterborough
There’s a brand new gallery space at The Mount Community Centre (1545 Monaghan Rd., Peterborough) and the first exhibit in the new space is showing works by Anne Cavanagh and Ellen Cowie.
“Reverence for Life” is on display now until January 14th in the Heritage Room, and features personal and intimate works of art by Ellen Cowie in oils and acrylics and Anne Cavanagh’s evocative breathtakingly beautiful images in charcoal and paint.
An opening reception where you can meet the artists takes place on Thursday, November 16th from 1 to 4 p.m. and again from 7 to 10 p.m.
The exhibit is curated by Cowie, who will also be organizing and curating future exhibits in the Heritage Room.
