ArtPontiac held its grand opening of the new Stone School Shop which brought in many people from all over town. The shop allows community members to enjoy and purchase a wide range of . . .

art created by locals and folks outside the region.

Thrilled with the turnout, Cheryl Beillard, the President of the Pontiac Artists’ Association (PAA), said she hopes the shop provides a reason for people to spend more time around the art, compared to before when they had a limited number of exhibits they could run per season, which restricts the number of artists that can participate, she explained.

“Now with the shop, we’re able to attract more people, and they’ll stay longer because there’s a lot more to look at,” said Beillard. In addition to that, she is looking for community members to donate coffee and baked goods, all as a way to attract people to enjoy the space they have curated.

The shop is currently displaying art by 35 artists which before they couldn’t do, highlighted Beillard, “it’s a group exhibition.”

Maria Connell, an artist and a board member said she hopes more people are able to come out and discover this untapped gem that is the Pontiac.

“I think first of all the Pontiac is an undiscovered jewel, and it’s definitely got a lot of culture, heritage and history. And a lot of the artists here that come together want to promote the culture, promote the art of the Pontiac and also put the Pontiac on the map for other people to come and see,” said Connell.

Along with the Stone Shop opening, it was also the opening of the first exhibit of the season the fibre arts exhibition titled Conversations which featured ten artists from the east side of Ottawa–Lise Perras, Anne Warburton, Caroline Forcier Holloway, Olive Jones, Andrée G. Faubert, Krystyna Sadej, Janet Tulloch, Elaine Quehl, Dorothy De Rose, and Jeannie Koroluk.

The exhibit explores the notion of conversations. Janet Tulloch, one of the artists, explained that all the different artists expressed the theme of conversations in a way that affected them the most.

The common thread in all of it is the use of different types of fibres, be it textiles, or reused plastics in the pieces, said Tulloch.

Looking around the art gallery, the theme stands out with pieces that explore things people missed out on during the pandemic.

“Everybody took the theme personally and then decided to do what they felt most affected by at the start of covid. And then it just sort of blossomed from there,” said Tulloch.

In Olive Jones’s pieces, she did a lot of beadwork and felting. In one of her pieces, she did embroidery of vineyards in Portugal.

“I found last fall I was in a real slump. And we got word that we were going to be doing this show and all of a sudden I just got energized. So it means a lot to me, from that point of view. It just got me back working on art,” said Jones.

Elaine Quehl, in her pieces, depicts how she missed the ritual of going out and having conversations over coffee with her friends because when covid hit, that was put to a stop.

“It’s kind of commemorating having a conversation with a good friend and the kinds of things we would talk about. But as I was working on the series, my pieces got happier. There was one piece up there where if you look really closely in the background I had quilted very negative emotions and it was during the worst part of the pandemic, but then recently, everything started just becoming a lot more joyful,” said Quehl.

For Anne Warburton, one of her pieces took her back in time to when she would be having conversations with her grandparents. “It reminded me of doing laundry and hanging stuff on the line. So that led me to want to do a piece using older clothing that was faded, rusted, and stained,” she said.

Along with community members and artists, MP Sophie Chatel was invited to say a few words and highlighted that the place had a renewed energy to it and congratulated everyone for having the store.

“We had a difficult time during the pandemic, but who kept us together was really our artists, they innovate in many different ways to stay connected with us. But now that we are reopening it’s such a pleasure to be here surrounded by artists that make a big impact in our life,” said Chatel.

Lynne Cameron, the mayor of Portage-du-Fort was also present and was encouraging everyone to come back and continue to visit the gallery and store. “There’s been a lot of effort put into the building. And when you look at it, you can see the pride that it’s not just a building, they really put their souls into it.

The art is still displayed at the gallery for anyone wishing to see it. The PAA has many upcoming workshops, for more information on upcoming events visit their website https://artpontiac.com/en/.

Anne Warburton is pictured next to her art, which reminds her of conversations with her grandparents. Anne chose to use older clothing that was faded, rusted, and stained in her art.

Olive Jones standing next to some of her pieces where she incorporated some beadwork and felting.

Elaine Quehl depicts different coffee cups in her art that represent all the cups of coffee she missed sharing with friends during the pandemic.

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