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Canadian artists get to show their pride

Adam Colangelo’s geometric copper puzzles were captivating
Adam
Colangelo’s geometric
copper puzzles were captivating

Despite a summer filled with crazy weather, construction woes and a soap opera of a mayoral race, Toronto showed that it was home to some good stuff too. We were a variety of food, music, theatre and art festivals, representing many ethnic and cultural groups.

I was thrilled to be part of one of these events, an art show called “Pride in Canada”, which was part of the World Pride festival.

Local real estate agent Cheryl Bower curated Pride in Canada. She said she was inspired to curate a show of “exceptionally talented Canadian artists whose art represented diversity, love, pride and courage.”

The artists were chosen “simply because their art resonated with me and they represented a ‘Canadian’ feeling in their body of work”.

PROUD SHOWING: Above, a visitor to the Pride in Canada show examines a metal butterfly sculpture by Vancouver artist Sandra Bilawich.
PROUD SHOWING:
Above, a visitor to the
Pride in Canada show
examines a metal
butterfly sculpture by
Vancouver artist Sandra Bilawich.

She said the name of the event was chosen because, as a “proud Canadian” she felt she had found the best artists in Canada, and secondly because the event coincided with World Pride celebrations taking place in Toronto.

“We were proud to be a World Pride affiliate event and met many people from around the world at our venue,” she said.

This was Cheryl’s first art show. It was a winner!

Her focused work ethic, ability to raise funds and sincere passion for all visual art forms was the perfect combination. The guest book boasted people from all over the world and it gave local artists a chance to discuss our city with first-timers.

Every type of medium — from metal sculpture, watercolour, oil, acrylic, enamel, sculpture, photo-litho, wood and mixed media in stone, to mosaic and metal — was covered.

From Vancouver’s Sandra Bilawich’s metal butterfly sculpture, painted iridescent over black, to Angela Lynch’s large scale cowboy boot watercolour painting, the goal was met. It didn’t stop there. Olga Oreshyna’s wooden block panels with its curves, corners and rich tones, and Heather Vollans stone mixed mosaic works demanded attention as well.

When I saw Quebec’s Gabrielle Castonguay’s enamel work I thought she had removed a wall from a primitive cave. Jeremy Guy brought an elegance to the show with his streamlined sculptures, and I was happy to work in acrylic stripes expressing my love for the diverse cultures and genders which make up Toronto.

Natalie Jubb’s richly coloured mixed-media mosaics, Jessica Lin’s atmospheric photo litho, Cheryl Bower’s jewel mosaics and Adam Colangelo’s “geometric puzzles of copper” contributed brilliantly to the show. They can be seen at www.artprojectcanada.com.

Art defines our communities, cities and country. It opens up dialogue between strangers and allows the artist to express what is in our heart. The massive amount of talent in our city happily celebrates these differences.

From what we heard during World Pride, many cities and countries aren’t so lucky.

We are fortunate to have a Cheryl Bower who made this opportunity happen. I for one will be asking our mayoral candidates what their plan is for artists in this city, to make more opportunities for artists to happen.

2 thoughts on “Canadian artists get to show their pride

  • Great article! The show was such an amazing experience to be a part of, and you’ve really captured that feeling :) I couldn’t have been more impressed with how well Cheryl put it all together, and I really enjoyed meeting the other artists at the opening night Gala. We will hopefully see more events and exhibitions like this in the future!

  • Thanks Sheila! Absolutely beautifully expressed! It truly was a most wonderful celebration of diversity in the City! And huge thanks to Cheryl for bringing it all together so beautifully.!

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