Showcasing students young to old is the order of the Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery show for the month of June.
Opening Friday, June 6, the gallery will be displaying a wide variety of student visual art work, from ceramic work to acrylic, carving and mixed media.
Students from all local sources are invited to bring in their art: elementary schools, high schools, the Ladysmith Resource Centre, Vancouver Island University (VIU), the Ladysmith Art Council art classes and S-hXiXnu-tun Lelum Primary School at Stz’uminus First Nation. Intake is Tuesday, June 3 and Wednesday, June 4 at the Waterfront Gallery.
An Opening Night Gala will be held Saturday, June 14 at 7 p.m. at the gallery. Written and spoken word artists and singers will be performing, offering an array of creative expression.
The guest speaker is Gregory Ball, an innovative professor of art and design at VIU. He teaches printmaking and drawing, and his artwork often includes social, political and environmental themes. He was the curator at the Nanaimo Art Gallery for four years from 2007 to 2011.
His talk will focus on what to expect if you pursue the life of an artist, his own successes and road bumps and surely will inspire all students to create a future in the arts.
Students from Josslyn Meyers’ art class at S-hXiXnu-tun Lelum Primary School have created a 26-foot acrylic on canvas floor cloth made to honour the new Stz’uminus First Nation Chief and nine Council members in 2014. The floor cloth depicts a war canoe, with 10 paddles to represent the Chief and each Council member.
The primary students will also exhibit cedar paddles that they made and painted. In addition, the students are contributing salmon paintings and an assortment of drawings, painting and pastels.
The Ladysmith Arts Council will exhibit entries from the ceramic, printmaking, and watercolour classes and from Gail Ralphs’ different ability students.
The show will highlight all student work in the community, from formal students to leisure students of all ages.
The breadth of the show is diverse and will highlight that visual art is alive and well in the community.
The show is expected to enrich all, both the creators and the viewers. Please come and join us throughout the month of June.