Art in the County

County’s premier art show now on at The Armoury

After an absence of two years, Art in the County (AITC) is once again welcoming visitors to The Armoury. One hundred and two works of art by 74 local artists are on display in the Bunker Room on the lower level until July 4. This is the 29th year of the art show, which, in a continuation of the past two years, can be viewed online as well. Over its history, more than 2,500 pieces of art have been displayed, with sales topping $360,000, and over 60,000 people have visited the show. This year, a panel of three jurors reviewed 160 submissions from 90 artists and eventually chose 102 pieces of work for final display. The jurors were Gordon Shadrach, Felicity Somerset and Debra Vincent, who are themselves artists and their work will be on display at 2gallery in Picton concurrently with Art in the County. The jurors awarded five Honourable Mentions and five Jurors’ Choice Awards, as well as having input in the selection for the Maison Depoivre Award and the inaugural Carson Arthur Award. With the return of the in-person show there will also be a People’s Choice Award and a Children’s Award where the winners will be determined by popular choice at the end of the show. Visitors to the show will be given a ballot to mark their favourite piece.

This year’s opening night party was limited to the selected artists, sponsors and a several buyers from past shows in order to keep the number of people in the display space at a comfortable level. Janna Smith, executive director of the Prince Edward County Arts Council, and Amy Shubert and Christophe Doussot, AITC cochairs, welcomed visitors to the opening night and thanked the sponsors for their continuing support. Libby Crombie is this year’s presenting sponsor, and she offered her congratulations to all of the artists who submitted their work. “Art feeds our soul, and there’s always been an eye for beautiful things here in the County. It is certainly present here in the architecture, and in the land and in the water that surrounds us, and in the people. I feel that artists have been drawn here over the years because they get the ‘feel good’ sensation which exists here. The artist can see what others can only catch a glimpse of. Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life,” she said.

The jurors awarded Honourable Mentions to artists Pam Mayhew, Florence Chik-Lau, Pauline Dinham and Leslie Fruman, as well as to Vicki Bradley for her woven piece called Taking Flight, which they said had “A lovely palette with a strong sense of design and beautiful balance.” The Jurors’ Choice Awards went to Josh Connell, Stewart Jones, Laura Dick, Paul Verrall and Bill Stearman. They were impressed with the design and complexity of Stearman’s quilt, and noted it contained a QR code that linked to a piece of online music. The jurors commented that Connell’s exquisitely detailed charcoal drawing, Holding On, is “A piece that has an interesting narrative that evokes a visceral response from the viewer,” and noted the creative use of negative space.

(L-R) Laurie Gruer and Monica Klingenberg stand with Sarah Moran, winner of the fifth annual Community Arts Builder Award.

Connell was also the winner of the Maison Depoivre Award, which was presented by the owners of Maison Depoivre Gallery, Christophe Doussot and Vincent Depoivre. They commented that the charcoal drawing was thought-provoking and “The artist took the risk to address a challenging theme during challenging times and the outcome is a beautifully executed charcoal drawing.”

The Carson Arthur award is new for 2022, and is presented to an artist whose work evokes nature in an innovative way. It is an award of $500, where half goes to the artist and the other half goes to a local non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the environment. The inaugural winner was Jason Pettit for his photographWinter Marsh. The jurors commented that the photograph was “A delicate piece that evoked a strong emotional response, triggering memory. The image advocated for environmental protection.” Pettit has been a photographer for only about four years, and he said he tries to take an innovative approach to landscape photography. “I want to evoke a love of nature, to portray a sense of importance of the environment as well as elevating that to art. I want to elicit emotions. I’m always searching for something new, as a challenge to keep going, trying to create art with a camera,” he said.

The final award presented on opening night was the fifth annual Community Arts Builder Award. This award celebrates individuals who have enriched community life through the arts. This year’s recipient is Sarah Moran, and she joins previous winners Kato Wake, Hri Neil, Krista Dalby and Alice and Peter Mennacher. Moran had served on the board of the Arts Council for many years, recently ending her term on May 31. She is also the cohost of County Radio’s Artscene. The selection committee for the award, Laurie Gruer, Monica Klingenberg and Catelyn Thornton, wrote “Sarah Moran is an outstanding choice for this award. Her contributions to the arts community have been very broad-based and have been offered over many years. Sarah has always been ready to step in where needed, and has been adept in any area she fills. She has been so competent, so resourceful, and so pleasant in her interactions.” Moran said she was honoured to receive the award. “I think it’s a really important award because it recognizes how essential the arts are to making meaning in our lives, and in building community, and how important community is to our sense of belonging,” she said “I find it very inspiring to be working to contribute to creative endeavours. It’s also wonderful to be part of something bigger than yourself, and to make a lot of friends and to see wonderful things come out of that.”

Art in the County is open daily in the lower level of The Armoury in Picton until July 4. For more information, please visit artinthecounty.com.