April 21 - May 15, 2022

April 21 – May 15, 2022

Artist Reception Drop-in: Sunday April 24th from 1 – 3PM , everyone is welcome!

The Octarine Women Artists’ Collective (OWAC), founded in 2013, is a group of 8 artists, living in Centre Wellington, working in various media who exhibit together.  The OWAC members are Judy French (oil), Carol Hughes (watercolour), Kim Johnston (watermedia and oils), Dianne Kennedy Cruttenden (weaving,textiles) , Jean Loney (in memory, glass mosaic),  Gail Root (oils and chalk pastel) , M. Anne Smith, (textile and fibre arts)  and Nancy Farrell (acrylics).

About the Exhibition:

Climate Change is the existential crisis of our time.

Many of us have become very aware that we are part of a living planet, and that our health is connected to the health of our environment and all living creatures. There is a growing realization that solving our environmental problems will require  massive changes to our economic and social systems.

Everything is Connected: climate change, health, pollution, habitat loss, species loss, the economy and social justice.

Members of the Octarine artists have addressed different aspects of climate change: carbon storage, forest fires, ocean health and sea level  rise, endangered animals, food security, and farming practices.  The eight artists work in many different styles and mediums, including oil, acrylic, watercolour and pastel painting, weaving, textile and mosaic art.  Each has contributed four or more pieces of art to the exhibition.

Some of the art shows the impact of climate change, some shows the beauty that we hope to preserve.  All of it aims to provoke thought and promote individual action.

This exhibition has been curated by Annette Hansen, thanks to support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation Community Building Fund.  This funding has been instrumental in supporting the Art Centre’s emergence from the pandemic, deepen the curation of exhibitions, and supporting virtual outreach programs for students with (dis)Abilities.