The Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) is currently hosting their fourth Carleton Community Art Exhibition. The last time this event was hosted was in 2014.
This year’s exhibition was timed to kick off with the 75th anniversary celebrations at Carleton. Gallery director Sandra Dyck has said the reason the community art exhibition isn’t annual has nothing to do with funding, and more to do with the gallery’s exhibition schedule and the fact that they already have many exhibitions lined up for the future.
But Carleton students and their greater community do not necessarily have many chances to showcase their artwork. Carleton is not an art school, and unlike the University of Ottawa—which has more arts programs and thus more showcase opportunities— the chances to let a wider audience see student creations at Carleton are few and far between.
CUAG is our campus art gallery, and it should do more to make student art accessible. One easy way to do so would be to make the community art exhibition an annual event. This would be mutually beneficial—students would have their art showcased, and CUAG would likely see a spike in visitors as those students would tell their friends and family to come see the exhibition.
