The Stewart Hall Art Gallery is offering a variety of exhibitions and workshops this summer to display the works of professional, local, national, and international artists through various approaches, themes, and mediums.
The featured exhibition with the theme of “Traversée/Crossing” explores the relationship between contemporary art and water sports such as swimming, diving, surfing, canoeing, kayaking, and boating.
Through numerous mediums, from traditional painting to sculptures and installations by various artists including Lori Blondeau, Chris Boyne, Michelle Furlong, Mark Iglorte, Nadia Myre, and Derrick Woods-Morrow, the artworks seek to establish connections between aquatics and cultural, social-political, and economic questions. Artists also refer to colonial histories or sites of exclusionary behaviors that shaped present-day water sports, while simultaneously celebrating queer, Black, and Indigenous life and placing an emphasis on water as a safe, spiritual space of leisure.
Artist Michelle Furlong recreates the environmental fluidity of Lake Saint-Louis in the interior space of the Project Room in the Stewart Hall Art Gallery. Furlong uses sculptural installations in her in situ response to Traversée/Crossing.
The exhibition will be on display from Sunday, July 10 to Sunday, August 28 in the Stewart Hall Art Gallary. The Gallery is open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m, Wednesday from 1 to 8 p.m., and closed on Saturdays.
As an extension to this major summer exhibition, multiple workshops mirroring the theme of Traversée/Crossing are also offered this summer.
The bilingual writing workshop with author and poet Vanessa Bell “Swimming as a Catalyst for Creativity” will take place on Sunday, July 10, from 2 to 4 p.m. in Stewart Park. This aquatic workshop invites guests to broaden their imagination and take inspiration from swimming experiences in open waters. Vanessa Bell will build bridges between open water swimming in all seasons and contemporary writing. Reservation is required at 514 630-1220 x 1795 or brooke.jurdak@pointe-claire.ca
At the same time and location (Sunday, July 10, 2 to 4 p.m. in Stewart Park), there is also an art activity in the park for guests of all ages to participate in a bilingual family art workshop inspired by the works of the exhibition.
On Wednesday, July 13, at 10 a.m, you could visit Stewart Hall for a discussion between the curator of the exhibition, Dier Morelli, as well as artists Mark Igloliorte, Michelle Furlong, and Chris Boyne on their views of contemporary art and aquatics. Reservation is required at 514 630-1220 x 1795 or brooke.jurdak@pointe-claire.ca
A creative adult art workshop following a short tour of the exhibition will also take place on Thursday, July 28, from 12 to 1 p.m, at Stewart Hall's patio. Reservation is required at 514 630-1220 x 1795 or brooke.jurdak@pointe-claire.ca.
Artist Chris Boyne is also hosting the family art workshop “One Boat, Two Boat” on Sunday, August 21, at 2 p.m to turn ordinary day-to-day objects like sardine cans, cardboard, wood, and string, into a boat that can float on water. Reservation is required at 514 630-1220 x 1795 or brooke.jurdak@pointe-claire.ca.
