Glebe Fine Art Show a local gem

By Eileen Durand
This year’s 9th annual Glebe Fine Art Show will be presenting many new artists as well as a great variety of artworks in a unique community setting. The Glebe Community Centre, 175 Third Avenue, is transforming itself for the weekend of September 20 – 21 into a gallery and lounge/ café for the two-day event.

Close to 20% of the artists will be new ones exhibiting for the first time. Many of these artists are already well known in the Ottawa art community (Brian Seed, Lynne Morin, Anne Swiderski, Nancy Riggs and Soraya Silvestri). Many returning artists are award-winning – to name a few: Anne Remmer Thomson (watercolour), Margaret Chwialkowska (oil), David Houlton (acrylic), John Shea (architectural landscapes in watercolour), Olaf Krassnitzky (oil and other media), and many more deserving artists.You can see the full list of artists and their biographies at:
www.glebefineartshow.ca. Art students are volunteering to assist the artists in this show in return for an opportunity to display and sell their own art.
The show highlights a variety of media. You will find fine artworks not only in oils, acrylics and watercolours, but also in mixed media, pastel, embroidery, fine art photography prints, glass painting and crayons.
It is a true local fine art exhibition. Visitors (over 1,000 last year) mostly come from the Glebe neighbourhood and the Ottawa area, but also from as far as Gatineau/Chelsea, Quebec. It is an event that is awaited yearly and has a loyal local following. Most importantly, the 30 artists exhibiting are all from the Ottawa-Gatineau region. From the Glebe area in particular you will be able to view the works of artists such as Roy Brash, Glenda Yates Krusberg and Anne Remmer Thomson.

The show is held in pleasant surroundings. The Glebe Community Centre is a beautifully renovated building with a spectacular rotunda from the art deco era. Adding to the pleasant atmosphere is an open café (Mato’s Café) with tables and chairs, serving soups, light lunches, beverages and desserts throughout the show hours (10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day). A live musician performs daily. Free admission and door prizes provide additional incentives to visit.
According to Linda Bordage, artist and co-coordinator of the show: “The Glebe Fine Art Show provides Ottawa with a cultural event not to be missed. If you are looking to find the perfect piece for your office, family room, living room or bedroom, this event is for you. After visiting the exhibition, visitors say: ‘It is like walking through an art gallery but with one important difference: not only can you purchase the artwork right there, but you can also meet the artist at the same time!’”
Eileen Durand is a Glebe resident and the media contact for the 2014 Glebe Fine Art Show.