For exhibition curator Danuta Sierhuis, the latest community art exhibition at the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) turned into a family affair.
Opened on Jan. 11, the exhibition features not only works curated by Sierhuis, but also art that she and her parents created.
The Sierhuis’ are just some of the roughly 150 artists being exhibited at the third Carleton Community Art Exhibition, which features some 250 pieces of art—everything from pencil drawings, to microscopic images of plant life, to one piece made out of melted candy.
“CUAG has had this tradition of doing a community show where we showcase works from current students, alumni, faculty, staff, and retirees,” CUAG education and outreach manager Fiona Wright said.
Wright said the gallery usually hosts contemporary professional artists, so the community exhibition is a great opportunity for amateurs to show their work in a gallery setting.
“It’s really exciting for us just to see everything, to see how creative the campus is,” she said.
According to Sierhuis, the last community art show was in 2010, when the exhibition was only made up of around 120 artworks. Since then, she said the exhibition has grown, allowing CUAG to showcase an even greater cross-section of the Carleton art community.
“It grew unexpectedly and also in the size of the artworks . . . people have gotten a little more adventurous,” Sierhuis said.
“There was a period in November when we only had a few [submitted works], but it’s just exploded over the past few months,” she said.
Artist Johnny El-Alam, a PhD student at Carleton’s Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture, has two exhibited works in the gallery, “The Arab Spring” and “Ephemeral Commemoration: Ghost Bikes.” El-Alam participated in the last community art exhibition hosted by CUAG, and said he “loved the experience.” He said this time around is no different.
“I was moved by the level of passion and creativity of the other contributing members of the community,” El-Alam said. “I hope people take the time to visit and interact with the exhibited works.”
Carleton president Roseann Runte was on hand to officially open the exhibition during a reception held at the gallery on Monday, Jan. 13.
“I am always impressed by the extraordinary talents of all members of the Carleton community,” Runte said. “Art gives expression to the ideas and passions of individuals . . . It is a privilege to understand and admire our colleagues’ talents, efforts and achievements.”
This year’s showcase also features a community performance night celebrating some of Carleton’s other artistic talents, including video installations and spoken word, to be held on Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.
The exhibition is free to the public and runs until Jan. 19.
