Original art up for sale in new Bright's Grove gallery fundraiser

A new fundraiser opening Saturday will help art owners find homes for pieces they’re ready to let go of, while supporting Gallery in the Grove’s education programs.

Gallery in the Grove is located upstairs at the Bright’s Grove Library. Photo by File photo /The Observer

A new fundraiser opening Saturday will help art owners find homes for pieces they’re ready to let go of, while supporting Gallery in the Grove’s education programs.

The Off Your Wall Fundraiser: A Wall to Wall Affair, is a two-week sale at the art gallery at the Bright’s Grove Library of 95 pieces of original signed art and limited edition signed prints submitted by area collectors.

Prices range from $50 to $500, with the volunteer-run gallery receiving a 40-per-cent commission on sales and the rest going to the original owners.“It’s something we’ve been talking about since pre-COVID,” said Kirsty Kilner-Holmes, with Gallery in the Grove. “This idea has been percolating for years.”

She said the gallery has often been approached by art collectors looking for a new home for original art they own.

“We just thought, ‘let’s try it and see what happens,’” Kilner-Holmes said.

Collectors who may be downsizing, or have other reasons for wanting to pass along pieces, are able to sell them “and support the gallery at the same time,” she said.

“We had no idea what to expect, so we’re very pleased” with the number of pieces entered, Kilner-Holmes said.“There’s a wide variety,” she said. “There are some really neat vintage pieces and some fantastic frames.”

Buyers won’t have to wait until the end of the sale to take their purchases home.

“It’s cash and carry,” Kilner-Holmes said. “Walk out with your art.”

The sale begins Saturday and runs to July 29.

The gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The gallery that began in 1980 is operated by about 60 volunteers who stage exhibitions through the year, award scholarships to graduating high school art students going on to college and university and provide a free art program to area elementary schools.

Visiting Artists in Local Schools (VALS) sends three professional artists to Grade 6 classrooms for three hours of art instruction designed to meet requirements of the Ontario school curriculum.The gallery funds its programs through commissions on art sales and fundraising.

“The demand is just growing, especially out of COVID,” Kilner-Holmes said.

The program is delivered in 24 local schools.

“The VALS program is just so important,” Kilner-Holmes said. “The teachers just really appreciate that the kids are getting some really incredible professional art instruction.”

The gallery recently received a $2,000 grant from the Catherine Wilson Foundation to buy art supplies for the coming sessions, she said.

Also, the gallery will benefit from the Rotary Club of Bluewaterland’s Art in the Park sale Sept. 9, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in Mike Weir Park in Bright’s Grove.“They are huge supporters of Gallery in the Grove,” Kilner-Holmes said.

Gallery in the Grove, a volunteer-run art gallery in Bright’s Grove, launched Art in the Park four decades ago and built it into a popular fundraiser held in Wildwood Park. After volunteers decided they could no longer host the event, the Rotary Club took it on in 2010 and moved it to the nearby but larger Mike Weir Park.

Gallery volunteers provide children’s activities in a tent at the annual art show.

“They give us a lovely donation after Art in the Park,” Kilner-Holmes said. “It’s a great partnership. We’re thrilled to work with them.”