If you’re a local visual artist doing work in two dimensions, there’s still a chance for you to show sometime this year at one of the larger public exhibition spaces on the Sunshine Coast.
Gibsons Public Market, which exhibits up to a dozen works each from two artists for two months or more at a time, is calling for applications for its 2020 shows, with a submission deadline of Jan. 31.
“It’s open to all Coast artists,” said Nancy Zipursky in an interview. Zipursky, who has voluntarily overseen the market’s art displays since the program started more than two years ago, noted that there are few other criteria – other than quality of work – that the market’s three-person jury considers. “The jury has the right to make a decision about content in terms of [what’s appropriate for] market-goers and families,” Zipursky added. “Other than that, we’ve had all kinds of work, including fabric art and photography. It’s pretty much encouraging people who would like to show and haven’t had an opportunity to use our venue.”
Zipursky said, like the bigger galleries, there are also opportunities for artists to do a little more than just exhibit their work. “Most of them come and do a hands-on workshop while a show is hanging, so they also get to meet the community. It’s been very positive,” she said.
The market’s art jury has been headed since 2018 by painter Jan Poynter, who is now stepping back from the role, said Zipursky. Gibsons artist Coralie Swaney will chair the jury for the next two years.
Check www.gibsonspublicmarket.com/art-exhibit/ for submission and contact details.
Until the end of February, when new shows will commence, Gibsons Public Market is putting on a retrospective, exhibiting works by many of the artists who have been featured there since 2018. Included in the exhibit are pieces by Anna Green, Cate Baldwin, Charmaine Baytun, Bodhi Drope, Judy Scott-Wood, Karen Webb, Kevin McEvoy, Ines Tancre, Gail Hunt, Joan Baker, Julia Dodge, Andrea Pratt, Justin Zacharias, and Sandy Kay.
The Sunshine Coast’s two major venues, the Doris Crowston Gallery at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt and Gibsons Public Art Gallery, already have their 2020 programs set and are now seeking submission applications for their 2021 exhibits.
Among the smaller galleries that feature monthly or bi-monthly shows, The Kube in Upper Gibsons is willing to hear submission ideas, said co-owner and curator Jill Pilon. Although Pilon noted that she personally approaches most of the artists who show in the gallery’s small feature space, she’s still open to suggestions from creators both on- and off-Coast. “I’m seeing artists submitting whose work I’m really excited to show, so that is happening more,” Pilon said. Pilon can be contacted at info@thekube.ca
