The Ottawa School of Art (OSA) Orleans Campus is hosting a reception for their annual Instructors Exhibition on Aug. 28, featuring works from various instructors at the OSA’s Orleans gallery in the Shenkman Arts Centre.
According to a press release by the school, the reception is meant to offer an “an opportunity for students and community alike to see, the high caliber and wide variety of media, techniques and styles of art being taught at the school, as well as visit our studios and talk to staff and faculty.”
Nadine Argo, OSA Orleans gallery coordinator, said another one of the main purposes of the exhibition is to give potential students more information about the courses they run and show off the instructors’ abilities.
“It’s an annual show and we generally invite mostly our core instructors to show . . . they’re showing their style of work and we also have information on the instructors and the kinds of courses their teaching,” Argo said. “It’s a nice reception because if people are interested in taking and art class and want to meet some of the teachers and see what is a nice fit for them.”
One of the instructors in the exhibition is Aline Joanis, a multidiscipline artist from Ottawa who focusses mainly on abstract paintings and landscapes.
“I did a scene from New York and then from there I changed it and walked more on the abstract side with the colour to express my emotion on it,” Joanis said of her work shown at the exhibition. “There was a lot of colours and freedom or movement to build something more abstract.”
Some of the other artists showing at the exhibition include Andrea Mossop, Clare Brebner, David Kearn, Deidre Hierlihy, Gordon Webster, Janet Tulloch, Kerri Weller, Lindsay Watson, Patricia Savoie, Rosemary Berault-Landry, Susanne Valois, Vanessa Dewson, Veronica Keith and Argo herself.
“This exhibition has a lot of techniques and different styles. There are a lot of instructors there to show their own work and guide the people who want to know more, learn and make a career in it if they want, or just relax, stimulate their imagination and create something from it,” Joanis said.
According to Argo, the wide variety of art at the exhibition also reflects the range of skill levels that are welcomed in to the art school.
“The school runs a great variety of classes, a lot of very introductory classes for adults, as well as intermediate and advanced classes, so anybody who hasn’t picked up a pencil since their high school art class or people who have maybe taken several courses with us or artists who want to try a different medium,” Argo said.
“Everybody’s different, they all have a way of seeing life or painting or landscapes and they want to express themselves,” Joanis said of the variety of students the school houses. “It’s all about discovering the artist inside of themselves and from that to go along and help them achieve whatever they want. They have their own imaginations, and each one is different and can express themselves differently.”
