SPAO: OPEN HOUSE + Stay Silent, Drift Deep Exhibition Launch is Today!

Where: 77 Pamilla Street, Ottawa (Little Italy)
Reception and Open House: 5 November 2021 from 5-9 PM.
RSVP: via Facebook or through Eventbrite

Join us tonight Friday November 5, 2021, for the return of SPAO’s Annual Open House and the opening reception of the exhibition, Stay Silent, Drift Deep featuring work from Ontario Artists Ava Margueritte, Shaelynn Tredenick, Margo McDiamird, and Steven West.

About Open House:

Open House is SPAO’s largest event of the year, seeing over 800 guests over the course of the evening, and giving visitors the chance to tour our purpose-designed arts facility and exhibition space and learn more about our programming.

For this year’s Open house we will once again be opening our doors to the community! Join us to tour the facility, meet our staff and instructors, and experience the work being produced by our first and second year diploma studies students and artists in residence. A virtual component will also be available to view on our website.

Be sure to check out our winter part time studies calendar including virtual offerings!

Image by SPAO Artist in Residence Steve West

About the Exhibition:

Stay Silent, Drift Deep is a meditation on how one navigates through times of trauma. Each of the four artists sift the dark well of their internal structures, probing for a way to examine and resolve their individual dilemmas. Is there peace in solitude? Can my mental health be mapped? Where are the spaces for self-discovery? How deep does this grace go? The exhibition asks viewers to untether their expectations and fall into the turbulence of contemporary lived experience.

This exhibition is the culmination of a 6 month artist residency at The SPAO Centre, where each artist worked on personal passion projects.The artists negotiated between the challenges of ongoing pandemic restrictions, and staying true to their artistic pursuits. The result is a timely and thoughtful experience that pursues authenticity despite external pressures.

SPAO is now accepting applications for the Winter Artist Residency!

About the Residency:

The SPAO Residency provides mentorship, support and structure for professional photo-based artists to focus on the next level of their art practice.

This 6-month residency is one of the most unique residencies of its kind. It is designed for visual artists who have previously completed formal training in visual arts and/or lens-based media and are ready to focus on an aspect of their existing career or on a specific upcoming project. As a self-directed residency, artists are afforded the time and environment needed to research, experiment, and produce an on-going body of work as a professional working artist.

Application Deadline is December 10, 2021

Click here to apply

About the SPAO Centre:

The SPAO Centre is home to the Ottawa region’s only independent and critical gallery space dedicated to lens-based art. Gallery programming includes the exhibition of photographic and video art work by emerging and established artists, working locally, nationally and internationally.

The Gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12PM to 5PM. Our facility is equipped with accessible washrooms.

Connect with us on social media:
Facebook – spaocentre
Instagram – @spaocentre
Twitter – @spaocentre

Contact:
Tel: 613-562-3824
Email: info@spao.ca