A new art showcase at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre is an opportunity to build bridges between artists and residents and create an appreciation of such work, an artist believes.
Jess Zoerb helped organize “Space Holders: A collection of local art,” a display now showing in the cultural centre’s art gallery until Friday, Sept. 25. The collection features the work of 16 community artists, many of whom have never shown their work before in public.
The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The showcase is a filler event for the gallery, Zoerb explained. Staff asked her if she had artwork she wanted to hang since the art gallery would be empty until October. She put out a call on social media asking for submissions, and within a week, enough people had stepped forward.
“I saw it as an opportunity to give artists a chance to hang their art and share it with the public,” she said. “And this is part of a bigger vision I have for the Moose Jaw art community, in bridging connections between artists and the public.”
One reason to create these connections is to raise the value of art in people’s minds, while another reason is to display art where many people can see it, Zoerb continued. She was in Saskatoon a year ago and was inspired by the art scene there and the efforts to bring art into the public. She came home with a desire to do the same and build the arts scene here.
As an artist, she also wanted to build a supportive network among the arts community in Moose Jaw.
Zoerb hoped that the new art collection would help some of the 16 artists take the next step with their work and in their careers.
While some of the artists are known in the community, she noted others have been more humble in sharing their works publicly. When asking for submissions, she did not apply criteria or qualifications since she didn’t want to have a particular theme. Instead, she wanted to showcase a section of artists in the community.
That theme-less aspect is apparent in the collection. There is a diverse collection of styles and mediums being showcased, she said, and while most of the works are paintings, there is also some pottery, photographs and recycling wood.
“Just the feeling in the gallery when it was bare compared to when this exhibit went up was pretty profound, and is a reminder what art can do in an environment and how it can change the whole feel and energy of the room,” Zoerb said.
Unlike other gallery displays, there won’t be a public reception to celebrate the work due to capacity issues and pandemic restrictions, she pointed out. Instead, the artists will have a private get-together where they can network and support each other.
“Moose Jaw has a lot of hidden local talent. I would love to see that displayed in the community,” she continued. “I see that as one of many possible opportunities to do that. And because the gallery happened to be vacant due to changes from COVID, we were able to jump on this unique opportunity and display our work in the gallery.”
Zoerb has three paintings on display in the collection, all of them portraits of people. She rents a studio at the cultural centre and had her first solo show last January. That showcase, she added, gave her the confidence she needed to keep showing her work in public.
Zoerb encouraged residents to visit the gallery to be exposed to some community creativity.
