Blyth Festival Art Gallery 2023 Season

 

Carl Stevenson, President of the Blyth Festival Art Gallery Committee, is busy preparing the first full lineup of professional art shows since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the organization to temporarily abandon traditional practices.

 

“Art belongs on walls,” says Stevenson, now serving in his fifth year as committee president, representing almost half a decade of volunteer service with the organization. “The lifting of pandemic restrictions has allowed artists to come out of hiding. We’ve made every effort to make people feel safe and comfortable in the space.”

 

The expected return to normalcy is welcomed by Stevenson and the slate of professional artists who have been forced to wait almost four years since originally being selected for the program in 2019. The 2020 edition was outright cancelled, followed by a lengthy social media artist showcase in 2021 through which the gallery connected artists with potential buyers. The success of last year’s summer-long Community Show was an encouraging step toward bringing visitors back into the Bainton Gallery space at Memorial Hall. An estimated 500 people passed through in 2022 despite a Festival season that saw no theatrical shows mounted inside the building.

 

This year’s season begins in April with the return of the Student Show, a personal favourite of Stevenson’s, and continues in May with a return to the traditional Community Show, an opportunity for local amateur artists to showcase their work in a public space.

 

Lucknow-based photographer Hannah Dickie will be the season’s first professional artist, and first in four years, to display work in the gallery beginning in the middle of June. Dickie’s photography focuses primarily on her rural upbringing and the connection she shares with her father, a hobby sheep farmer and maple syrup producer.

 

Next up in July, a collective of eight potters exploring the Japanese technique of Shino will take over the gallery space with their work. The pottery exhibition is being curated by Seaforth-area artist and former committee executive, Rob Tetu. Tetu stepped down as the gallery communications co-ordinator in December after serving 25 years as an executive on the committee.

 

The gallery series concludes in August with the return of work from Blyth-based artist Kelly Stevenson. Stevenson’s artwork was previously displayed during the 2014 edition of the Festival Art Gallery series. In fact, Kelly Stevenson’s involvement with the organization is what initially attracted her father, Carl, to join the committee.

2023 Festival Art Gallery Series Schedule
Student Show, Apr. 14 - May 5
Community Show, May 19 - Jun. 9
Hannah Dickie, Jun. 16 - Jul. 15
Rob Tetu et al., Jul. 21 - Aug. 12
Kelly Stevenson, Aug. 18 - Sept. 9