Blyth Festival Art Gallery opens Student Art Show, presents awards

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

The Blyth Festival Art Gallery’s 2024 season kicked off on Saturday with one of the village’s most electric and eclectic events - the opening night of the annual Student Art Show. 

 

Each year, students and their teachers from high schools in Wingham, Goderich, Clinton and beyond assemble the work of their respective school’s cream of the art crop and ferry it to Blyth’s Bainton Gallery.

 

This year’s acts of artistic expression are rendered in an impressive array of mediums: traditional paintings, scrappy collages, digital art, experimental sculptures and more are all on display at the gallery, each one contributing its own unique energy to the collective cacophony of creativity. 

 

Elly McRae of Goderich District Collegiate Institute (GDCI) offered up a real showstopper with her painting “Streetlight Reflections”, which depicts downtown Goderich on a rainy night. Jorja Kirkpatrick of Listowel District Secondary School (LDSS) struck some pop art notes with a whimsical foam sandwich sculpture entitled “Lunch at Sandy's Diner”. Abigale Thackeray, also of GDCI, displayed some real beadwork chops with “Belcher Siblings”. Amber Elizinga of Stratford District Secondary School (SDSS) transformed clay and acrylic paint into the impressively realistic “Blue-ring Octopus”. Every person in attendance seemed to be drawn towards a different piece.

 

President of the Gallery Committee Carl Stevenson shared his feelings about the importance of the show. “Once again, all you artists have done a fantastic job. I tell everyone that this is my favourite show of the year, and it always is - you guys just keep bringing it, every year. It seems like the art is getting stronger and stronger every year, and it’s just a thrill to be able to come in and work with it and hang it... fantastic job!”

 

When it comes to the individual physical spaces that come together to form the “Voltron” of rural creativity that is the Blyth Centre for the Arts, it can be easy to overlook the Bainton Gallery, which has housed a countless variety of visual art exhibitions for almost as many years as actors have been treading the Festival’s theatrical boards. It’s easy to understand why - when not in use, the nondescript white rectangle of a room, tucked in off to the side of the theatre, pales at first glance when compared to the lovingly restored and historically significant Memorial Hall or the marvelously modern construction of the Harvest Stage.
But the Bainton Gallery’s unassuming attitude is also its greatest strength. In the past few years, there has been some absolutely knock-out art amplified by the simple surprise that is the incongruous space of a gallery that is best experienced by happenstance. One week, the little gallery’s white walls and cool light brings out the sheen of comforting isolation of Edo-period Japan in Rob Tetu’s pottery, the next week, the same space infuses even more air and light into one of Hannah Dickie’s photos of an Amish barn.

 

The enduring power of the gallery is never more evident than during the Student Art Show. The depth and breadth of the unfettered talent on display never ceases to amaze family, friends and art aficionados alike. There is also an aura of great potential and newfound legitimacy swirling over the whole exhibition. Many of the young artists who contributed to the show are displaying their work publicly for the first time - an important step on the path of any artist. Having work hanging in a real gallery space can be the thrilling moment when an artist begins to really think of themselves as an artist for the first time.

 

While the main purpose of the show is just putting art out into the community, it is also a judged competition. This year, the prizes were provided by a new local sponsor and behemoth of the semolina flour industry - Howson and Howson, which is located just down the street from the gallery. Rick Howson attended the event to present winners with their well-deserved rewards.

 

Rachael King, the General Manager of the Blyth Centre for the Arts, addressed all the artists who contributed to the show before announcing the winners. “I have the grand pleasure of thanking all the artists who took the time and used their creativity and were brave and provided this fantastic art that is on the walls and breathing life into this place to start the Festival’s 50th anniversary. And thanks to the parents that have supported these folks - that’s not something small. We are so grateful that you have fostered the talent that we’re seeing. And, of course, the teachers who have brought it all together.”

 

While many of the students have chosen not to put their work up for sale this year, there are still a few pieces available for purchase for anybody looking to make a smart investment in the future of art.