Community Living North Bay is hosting an art exhibit at the Alex Dufresne Gallery, at 107 Lansdowne Street, Callander. Entitled “Adventures in Art,” the show presents works by 22 local artists which emphasize and celebrate inclusive art within the community.
The show launches this Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. with an opening reception. Opening remarks begin at 2:15, and there will be light refreshments served along with free admission to both the gallery and the museum.
The exhibit is a few years in the making. In 2015, Karen Sherry, Past Chairperson of L’Arche North Bay, approached Community Living North Bay Community Coordinator, Shannon Johnson, with the idea of partnering to create an art program for “people both with and without intellectual disabilities to come together and have shared creative experiences,” explained gallery curator, Natasha Wiatr, in a recent release.
The following year, a three-month trail run was offered at Community Living. Sherry was the first of many artists to teach the program’s participants, “helping to produce art for the enjoyment of doing art,” Wiatr added.
From the beginning, the program was a hit, with 35 people participating. Since then, many others enjoyed the program, and artist worked with a variety of mediums including watercolour, paper mache, photography, and ink, to name a few.
The show will remain on display until May 20, and the gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning in May.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
