The Westman Juried Art Show is back to being held in person and coming back to Killarney - as previously scheduled in 2020. 

Covid struck Manitoba just prior to the full-day art exhibit that was to be hosted by the Killarney-Turtle Mountain Arts Council.  That 2020 show was cancelled, but the following year was held virtually.  The last in-person show was in 2019.

Chris Moore is Treasurer of the Arts West Council and co-coordinator for the Westman Juried Art Show.

Moore is thrilled the show will be in person once again.  

“We just nicely got the show organized but we weren’t too sure which covid restrictions we’d be able to accomplish, but this year we’ve gone back to an in-person show so that artists will be able to submit their work and have the jurors look at it personally, rather than online like we did last year,” shares Moore.

This year’s show is scheduled from April 29-May 1st at the Killarney Legion Hall, with exhibition set-up taking place on Friday, the jurying of art pieces on Saturday, and the public reception on Sunday, May 1st.

Jurors, Janet Shaw-Russell and Barb Flemington will be adjudicators for all submissions, providing a formal critique on each piece as well as a one-on-one personal discussion with each artist if the artist so chooses.  Both jurors come from Brandon, although Shaw-Russell is currently living in Winnipeg.

It’s always interesting to see what new pieces are on display each year; works inspired by subjects and themes our local artists are passionate about.

Moore says the pandemic could be affecting local artists in different ways.  “I’m sure there’s a little bit of both sides of it.  Like the rest of us, it must be difficult at times to get motivated because we weren’t able to do too much of anything, and yet on the other side they have had more time and people can devote themselves to their art.”

Each year artists can participate in an optional theme.  This year’s theme category is ‘Relationships’. 

Moore says they’re expecting approximately 100 art pieces to be submitted, much like in previous years. A wide variety of flat art will be showcased at the exhibition including painting, drawing, fiber art, scratch art, print making, and multi-media.

“We don’t really have a competitive show,” she explains. “The jurors pick 20 works that form the Travelling Art Gallery which is going to visit several communities throughout Westman over the next number of months. But also, the jurors select 10 works which will be shown at the Rural and Northern Art Show, which is a virtual show this year, hosted by the Manitoba Arts Network.”

All works submitted must be original hand-made works of art, completed within the past 12 months, and each artist may enter a maximum of two works, regardless of category.  In addition to the adult category, there are two youth categories as well:  11-13 years and 14-19 years.

Visit www.artswestcouncil.ca for more information.