The walls are singing at Lynnwood Arts in Simcoe.
Each student was assigned a Canadian song and asked to interpret it through their artwork.
The paintings are labelled with QR codes that link it to the corresponding song on Spotify or another audio streaming provider. Viewers are encouraged to bring their headphones and devices to the gallery to take a look – and listen.
“On opening night, I saw people dancing and talking,” said Chris Rait, an arts consultant with the school board who curated the exhibit. “People didn’t want to leave.
“Songs bring back memories for people of so many things: their first dance, their first concert. It becomes a talking point. It creates this conversation in the gallery room I don’t think happens with other art shows.”
Among the genres he picked are old Maritime folk, pop, rock, heavy metal, kids’ music, even Christmas tunes.
Mike McDonald, director of education for the Catholic school board, who is known to be a musicophile, provided Rait with a long list of his personal selections.
“I wanted music from different eras and genres,” said Rait. “I asked my mom and dad for suggestions (one of their choices was Paul Anka’s 1960 hit Puppy Love). It became a thing in the staff room. Teachers would start shouting out songs.”
Rait assigned songs to three students known for their artistic abilities at each of the board’s schools and they were provided the same supplies: an acrylic paint set, a 10-by-10 canvas, and brushes.
“Every time I walk into the room, I see something new,” said Rait.
Rachel Guddemi, a Grade 12 student at St. John’s College, chose the song Always by Canadian R&B singer Daniel Caesar to inspire her painting.
“His song reminded me about loneliness, maybe breakups, someone rejected,” she said. “I painted a guy on a bench downtown. It’s raining and he’s all alone. It’s black and white, which makes everything more sad.”
Kayla Blackwell, a Grade 7 student at St. Gabriel’s Elementary in Brantford, got her paintbrush moving to Crabbuckit by the harmonious Canadian folk/country trio Good Lovelies.
Members of the Good Lovelies aren’t just subjects but among several Canadian singer/songwriters who also submitted their work to the exhibit. The others are Lawrence Gowan, who painted a footprint to accompany one of his best-known pop songs, 1985’s (You’re A) Strange Animal, when the singer was known by just his surname; children’s entertainer Fred Penner. whose painting accompanies the classic kids’ tune The Cat Came Back; and local folk musician and visual artist Ian Bell.
Some Catholic board staff also contributed, including Anne-Marie Duwyn-Zylstra, whose mournful portrait of a woman accompanies Burton Cummings’ These Eyes.
“I love how it incorporates Canadian musical talent with the students’ artistic talents,” said Duwyn-Zylstra said of the exhibit. “It’s a really cool concept – listening to a song as you see it.”
These Walls Can Sing will be on exhibit at Lynnwood Arts, 21 Lynnwood Ave. in Simcoe, throughout January. Then the paintings will be auctioned with proceeds going to the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul.
