The “Homecoming Queens” have arrived.
Opening night for the new exhibition at Cline House Gallery was being held in downtown Cornwall on Thursday, the special show featuring the artwork of three artists originally from the city – Gaetanne Lavoie, Stephanie Hill and Cori Marvin.
All three moved on from Cornwall, creating new art in different cities and locations, but they’re back, each of them for the first time featuring a full collection of work in their hometown.
“We’ve been following their careers for a while,” said Emily MacLeod, who owns and operates Cline House Gallery and OBO Studios along with Tracy-Lynn Chisholm, and where professional established and emerging Canadian artists are featured in a regular rotation of exhibits.
Chisholm and MacLeod were once classmates with Marvin at St. Lawrence Secondary School. In fact, all five were students at St. Lawrence, at various times, all five at one point taught by Rod Chan, a long-time and now retired art teacher, going back as far as to when the school was located at the current-day La Citadelle site.
Who was one of the visitors to Cline House Gallery for a special sneak peek on Thursday afternoon? Art teacher Chan.
That exhibit title, Homecoming Queens, seemed like a natural for the show, MacLeod said, adding “it’s a bit like a weird high school reunion.”
MacLeod and Chisholm began putting out feelers for this group exhibit last summer, contacting the artists individually. The stars eventually aligned, for an exhibition that runs to May 2.
For Hill, it’s been a long time in the making – the last time she exhibited in Cornwall was 27 years ago, in 1993, when she was on the Cornwall Regional Art Gallery board. Hill lives in Wakefield, Que., north of Ottawa, where she’s on the board of the Outaouais not-for-profit promoter of arts and culture Place des Artistes de Farrellton, the treasurer at the artist co-operative.
Marvin lives in Northumberland County, and she’s an award-winning full-time artist and illustrator.
Lavoie, who’s lived in San Francisco, New York, Kingston and Toronto, has a master of fine arts from both the New York Academy of Art and the San Francisco Academy of Art University. Lavoie has been back in Cornwall for a few months, and while here she’ll be doing studio workshops at the facility.
“We’ve got two booked so far, and if they go well we’ll book some more,” MacLeod said.
Last spring, international denim brand FDJ French Dressing Jeans had a fashion shoot at Cline House Gallery and OBO Studios for a global campaign, the event heightening the visibility of Cornwall’s art community. The shoot had world-renowned photographer Donat Boulerice capturing the essence of art while working with two New York City-based international fashion models.
The gallery, at 204 Second St. E., has original art in a variety of styles and subjects for collectors, with open hours Wednesday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
OBO stands for “our beautiful obsession,” the owners holding workshops in what they consider a creative sanctuary.
