Fall 2024 Exhibitions at Orillia Museum of Art & History

Julie Desmarais, Vieux Saule au Soleil Couchant (Lanaudiere, QC), 2024, oil on canvas, 46″ x 70″

2024 Tradition Transformed

October 26, 2024 – January 18, 2025
Reception: October 26, 2024 | 1 – 3 pm
Remarks and Prizes Awarded: October 26, 2024 | 1:30 pm
Mulcahy Family Gallery

Our vast and varied landscape is as unique and diverse as the Canadians who inhabit it. The beauty of our landscape can be a source of national pride, but our land is also going through many challenges such as climate change, land claims, and loss of natural habitats. Tradition Transformed asks the question, what does the Canadian landscape mean to you?

This annual juried exhibition was created in recognition of landscape artist and Group of Seven member, Franklin Carmichael, who was born in Orillia. Now in its 23rd year, this juried exhibition calls on artists from across the country to submit work that reimagines the Canadian landscape through the artist’s chosen medium, including but not limited to drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and media arts.

2024 Artists:
Murray Van Halem, Andrew Wang, Nancy Bennett, Steph Schofield, Jenny Iserman, Sarah Lawson, Kristina Flindall, Ted Karkut, Anita Granger, Svetlana Swinimer, Jennifer Raetsen, Joanne Lomas, Sean Rees, Gillian Lowry, Julie Desmarais, Lynden Cowan, E. Connie Munson, Gita Karklins, Erin Fyfe, Elaine Carr, Emily Pleasance, Tammy McClennan, Julia T. Eldridge, Sylvia Galbraith, Mark Janeck, Kathy Ebbinghaus Melanson, Ken Walton, L. E. Glazer, Nancy Hallas, Gayle Kells, Claudia Mandler McKnight, Mike Efford, Bret Culp, Deb Menken, Julie Cosgrove, Claire Domitric, Tania Love, Darlene Kulig, Anton Pickard, Kathleen Vaughan, Chris Nelson, Peter Adams, Jenn Lantz, Carol Deimling, Greg McCullough, Sabrina Leeder and Joanna Turlej.

Jurors:
Tony Bianco has been painting professionally for 40 years. His work has been featured on over 100 coins produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. He has created a series of over 150 paintings of our national parks, entitled “A Portrait of Canada” which has been shown in numerous museums and galleries across Canada.

Matt Coles is the Art Director at the Algonquin Art Centre in Algonquin Provincial Park, ON, the owner and Curator of Coles Art Market in Huntsville, ON, and a plein air artist.

Prizes:
Juror’s Prize – $1500
Kevin J. Batchelor Emerging Artist Award – $1000
New this year, The Norma Duggan Award – $250

José Salas, Untitled, 1985, ink and tempera on panel, 26″ x 20″

Teachers and Their Enduring Impact
The Legacy of José Salas

On until January 11, 2025
Upper Gallery

A great deal of us will have one or two noteworthy teachers who left lasting impressions and enduring impact on us. For the ten artists in this exhibition, one of those remarkable teachers was José Salas.

Born in 1928 in Sevilla, Spain, José M. Salas brought his medic certification obtained in Spain with the US Air Force to Canada, hoping to start a new life for his young family. Upon arriving in Canada, he was informed that he would need to recertify his medical credentials. Undeterred, he returned to University in Toronto to earn a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Fine Arts.

His infectious enthusiasm and love for teaching earned him a role as the head of Park Street Collegiate Institute’s Art Department in Orillia, Ontario from 1969-1994. Since graduating from Park Street Collegiate Institute, the ten artists in this exhibition have each embarked on their own unique and individual artistic journeys. His teachings and guidance were instrumental in shaping their creative visions, and are a key factor as to why they continue making art to this day.

Teachers and Their Enduring Impact, The Legacy of José Salas features artwork by Holly Atkinson, Neville Clarke, Tanya Cunnington, Philip Hare, David Hawke, Juliana Hawke, Meg Leslie, Terez Mull, José Salas, Bewabon Shilling and Margie Vinkle-Morano.

Gillian Lowry, Lucille’s Bee Hives, 2024, linocut relief print, oil based ink on Kozuke paper, 4″ x 6″

The Owl Pen Revisited
Gillian Lowry

On until January 18, 2025
Lounge Gallery

“When I moved to Orillia with my young family in 2014, a family member who thought I might appreciate the prints, introduced me to the book The Owl Pen written by Kenneth McNeill Wells and illustrated by Lucille Oille in the 1940’s and 1950’s. After years of reading the stories in The Owl Pen and admiring her prints, I started recreating some of the images in linocut, paying close attention to Oille’s use of line and image structure to hone her technique. Thus, the idea for The Owl Pen Revisited exhibition was born.” – Gillian Lowry

Gillian Lowry is an artist and writer living in Orillia, ON. Originally from Elora, ON, Gillian studied Studio Art at The University of Guelph, graduating with Honours, and on the Dean’s List in 2006. Gillian won the Printmaking Award and Top Prize in Sculpture in the Juried Arts Show in her graduating year.

Also at OMAH this Fall:

Orillia: Then & Now

Until May 3, 2025
Franklin Carmichael Gallery
Learn more

For information/Media Contact:
Tanya Cunnington Arts Programming Coordinator
705 326–2159 x109 | artscoordinator@orilliamuseum.org

Orillia Museum of Art & History
30 Peter Street South
Orillia, ON L3V 5A9
orilliamuseum.org
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OMAH has been the hub of art, culture, and heritage in the heart of Orillia’s Arts District for over twenty-five years. Located in downtown Orillia, the clocktower of the Sir Samuel Steele Memorial Building is a beacon for the museum. OMAH’s mission is to provide inclusive space to engage community, inspire creativity and celebrate culture, by exploring art and history.

The Orillia Museum of Art & History respectfully acknowledges our presence on the traditional territory of the Anishnaabeg which includes the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Pottawatomi nations, collectively known as the Three Fires Confederacy. We respect and observe the long and enduring presence of Indigenous Peoples – First Nations, Métis and Inuit – on this land. Their teachings and stewardship, culture and way of life have shaped our City’s unique identity.

Museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am to 4 pm. Suggested Admission is $5

The museum is fully accessible.

Acknowledgements

The Orillia Museum of Art & History gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, the City of Orillia, and our community supporters and contributors.