The Glebe Fine Arts Show, held Sept. 17 and 18 in the Glebe Community Centre, was bustling with a variety of people all weekend, but it was students who seemed to take the most advantage of the benefits provided by the yearly event.
The show has been running for 11 consecutive years, but the involvement of students only began seven or eight years ago, according to Linda Loder, the show co-ordinator. Loder said she originally reached out to Canterbury High School, which has specialized programs for art students, to help her recruit volunteers.
“We decided it would be nice to have art students involved . . . I contacted the art co-ordinator . . . and I got some names, and they were great,” Loder said.
For a few years after that, she said she had the same team of volunteers with her every year throughout their high school and university studies. The students helped promote the show in exchange for a chance to sell their art.
Loder said the students took turns going outside to hand out flyers on Bank Street, and manned their section of the event inside the community centre.
“It’s a win-win situation for them,” Loder said.
That group of students has since moved on, but Loder said she has continued to recruit other students to help out with the show. This year, there were three new student volunteers.
For some of the students, including 24-year-old Andie Clinton, who is currently studying at the Ottawa School of Art, this was their first time having their work on display in a selling environment.
“It’s good, but it’s really nerve-wracking to see people staring at [my work] . . . and talking to each other about it,” Clinton said.
The event featured the work of 30 local artists, all of whom had their own unique styles, themes, and colour schemes.
A lot of the artwork was inspired by people or places from around Ottawa. For example, Margaret Chwialkowska said fall scenery in and around Gatineau Park inspired many of her brightly-coloured landscape paintings.
Jacqueline Mudie, one of the volunteers, is a 20-year-old student who is also studying at the Ottawa School of Art. She had a collection of mixed media sculptures of angels on display, which she said she makes by combining a wide variety of materials, including a lamp, Sculpey clay, some pieces of fabric, and jewellery.
The more experienced artists’ work made an impression on some of the newer volunteers.
“I’ve got a long way to go, which isn’t a bad thing,” said Iain Burge, a grade 11 student at Glebe Collegiate Institute. “It’s nice to see that there’s still that much room for improvement.”
Some artists like Joanne Beaubien are regular participants in this show. She said she has been booking a space ever since it started, and added the community is what keeps her coming back.
“You’ve got layer on layer of community here. You’ve got the Glebe community that comes out en masse, you’ve got the artists who come together . . . all of whom reinforce a wonderful feeling,” Beaubien said.
The event has a contract with the Glebe Community Centre that allows them to have the same timeslot every year, according to Loder.
Loder added the planning for the 2017 show is already underway.
