The Heritage Home for the Arts will launch their first ever Art Walk in Killarney featuring the artwork of Killarney School students from Grades 9 to 12.
The exhibition, set to open Saturday (June 5), will be displayed in over 20 Killarney businesses and buildings, mainly in their storefront windows.
Jane Ireland, Arts Administrator for the Killarney Turtle Mountain Arts Council and the Heritage Home for the Arts says it’s the second year they’ve been unable to display the artwork of their students, “Normally, we try to reserve the month of June for a student exhibition at the gallery but due to COVID-19, we have been unable to do this for two years now.”
Last year, the student exhibition was featured on line on the Arts Council’s website. This year, Ireland did not want to have the pieces to be seen on line but in person. Thanks to a community member
sharing an article with her about another type of art walk, this idea was born.”We reached out to local businesses, the municipal offices, and even the post office to see if they would provide us with window space. We had 22 confirmations which provided us with more than enough window space!” said Ireland. “By displaying the work in storefront windows, we are able to have a safe and social distant art exhibition which can be viewed anytime!”
While most of the artwork will be in the storefront windows of the businesses, some pieces required an indoor space to accommodate the style of art.
“We had some pieces that could not be hung in windows and fortunately a couple of the businesses were able to allow us to display them inside their buildings,” Ireland added. “We are looking forward to
sharing the incredible work of our students with their families and community this year in a more personal way.”
The exhibition will be fully installed by Saturday, June 5 and will remain in the participating businesses until June 30, 2021.
