Art In Ottawa

Waves of Want and Welcome to the Dreamhouse - Vernissage
2025-05-29 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | National Gallery of Canada, 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 9N4, Canada
In Waves of Want, interdisciplinary artist Nadia Myre weaves personal and political narratives around Indigenous identity, both current and historical.
Welcome to the Dreamhouse tells the story of Skawennati’s dynamic artistic trajectory as she envisions Indigenous people in the future.

Threads of Memory Julie Gladstone & Olivia Mae Sinclair - Vernissage
2025-06-14 15:00 - 17:00 | Wall Space Gallery, 1090 Bank St, Ottawa, ON, K1S 3X5, Canada
WALL SPACE GALLERY is pleased to present Threads of Memory, an exhibition featuring the work of Julie Gladstone and Olivia Mae Sinclair. In this powerful and introspective presentation, both artists engage in intimate dialogues with themes of trauma, memory, and transformation. Through their deeply personal practices, they navigate the intersection of inner experience and external reality, examining how time, spirituality, and the physical body inform processes of healing and renewal.
Presented alongside Threads of Memory are new works by Marney McDiarmid, a ceramic artist based in Katarokwi/Kingston. Known for her functional and sculptural ceramics, McDiarmid’s latest pieces will be showcased in the gallery’s window display from June 14 to 28, 2025.

Resistant Fibres - Vernissage
2025-06-17 17:00 - 19:00 | Âjagemô art space, 150 Elgin St., Ottawa, ON, K2P 2P8, Canada
Resistant Fibres, curated by Julie Graff, presents 18 textile and fibre works of art from the Canada Council Art Bank collection by artists who use this medium as a powerful tool for protest, resistance, celebration, joy and healing.

Pierre Debain: The Journey of a Dedicated Artist - Vernissage
2025-06-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Espace Pierre-Debain, 120 Principale St, Gatineau, QC, J9H 3M3, Canada
The exhibition Pierre Debain: The Journey of a Dedicated Artist, curated by Kali Kim, Lindsay Sabourin, and Philippe Bourdau, will be on view at Espace Pierre-Debain from June 18 to August 17, 2025.
Celebrating a milestone, L’Imagier traces its roots back to 1975, when it began as a vibrant community space for friends, family, and rising artistic talents. Fifty years later, curator Simon Debain revisits this rich history in a two-part exhibition—presented simultaneously at Espace Pierre-Debain and the L’Imagier Exhibition Center.
Following the municipal merger, the newly formed City of Gatineau undertook the renovation of the former courthouse—a heritage building located in the Aylmer sector—and transformed it into a cultural center. It established its craft gallery within this space, which will carry the name Espace Pierre-Debain, in tribute to the artist who, together with his partner Yvette Bond, has profoundly shaped the cultural landscape of the region since their arrival.
Espace Pierre-Debain offers visitors a unique opportunity to delve into the creative world of Pierre Debain through a curated selection of works that highlight the richness of his mediums and artistic practice.
The second part of the exhibition will be presented at L’Imagier in the fall of 2025. This continuation will revisit the center’s origins, celebrate its artistic and community impact, and showcase the unique space that Pierre and Yvette Debain envisioned and brought to life.
Further details will be available soon at limagier.qc.ca.

Settling down - Feeling Nature’s Breath by Catherine Veilleux - Vernissage
2025-07-07 15:00 - 17:00 | Galerie Old Chelsea, 783 Route 105, Chelsea, QC, J9B 1P1, Canada
Vernissage: Saturday July 5, 2025 from 1 to 3 pm
Galerie Old Chelsea is delighted to present the wonderful intimate nature photographs of Catherine Veilleux, who presented her magnificent exhibition “Entre-deux” two years ago.
As Veilleux tells us, “After ‘Entre-deux’, which has guided my gaze over the last few years, I’m now presenting images in which one settles down – not by fleeing the tumult, but by embracing it. Anchoring oneself in instability is a fluid dance, and my photographs, imbued with minimalism, reflect this inner journey: they invite us to relax, to breathe, to gently connect with nature’.
Typically composed of two colours, sometimes just one, and largely immersed in blur, her images leave room for the essential, for sensation rather than definition. Mounted on wooden panels and protected by a natural finish, they offer themselves without barriers, without glass, to provide a direct, intimate – almost tactile – presence to the viewer.
At a time of ever-increasing visual noise and constant urgency, Settling Down offers something rare: a quiet, open invitation to linger in complexity and find calm there. An exhibition not to be missed.

Heather Markgraf Lowe, Passions & Inspirations - Vernissage
2025-08-31 13:00 - 15:00 | Arbor Gallery, 103 High St., Vankleek Hill, ON, K0B 1R0, Canada
Artist Heather Markgraf Lowe presents Passions and Inspirations, an exhibition of oil paintings celebrating the beauty of landscapes and portraiture.
Painting since 2020, Heather draws inspiration from local parks, beaches, and the people she loves most—her family and their pets. Her work blends heightened realism with warmth and personality, reflecting both the natural world and human connection.
A member of the artists association, Artistes Hudson Artists (AHA), Heather continues to expand her skills through studies in life drawing and portraiture, translating what she sees into colour, light, and form.
Vernissage
Sunday, August 31, 2025
1pm to 3pm

Hélène Roy & Wendy A. Thomas - Vernissage
2025-08-31 13:00 - 15:00 | Arbor Gallery, 103 High St., Vankleek Hill, ON, K0B 1R0, Canada
Born in Hearst, Ontario, Hélène now resides in Lefaivre, Ontario. She enjoys painting on barnboard and wooden rounds, experimenting with oil, watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media techniques, including acrylic on tissue paper. Her work spans semi-realism to abstract expression, exploring diverse subjects and approaches.
A lifelong art enthusiast, she participated in unique projects throughout high school and has since exhibited in numerous shows and holiday markets. For her, painting is a rewarding way to explore creativity and personal expression. She is a member and volunteer at Arbor Gallery.
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Wendy A. Thomas is a Montreal-based artist whose work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions across Quebec and Ontario. Her paintings are represented in private collections in Canada, the U.S., the Philippines, and Bulgaria, and have been highlighted in publications including *Embossed* and *The Review*.
In her semi-abstract work, Wendy explores scale and perception, inspired by her photography of the urban environment. She observes often-overlooked details — scratches, dents, and marks on concrete walls — and seeks to reveal the hidden beauty within them. Working in acrylic, she layers paint and textures to create depth, inviting viewers to look beyond the surface, embrace ambiguity, and discover new interpretations.

Drew Klassen, Bloemstukken - Vernissage
2025-09-04 17:00 - 20:00 | Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, 293 Dalhousie St, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7E5, Canada
Klassen Statement
Growing up, I used to watch my grandmother paint in her spare bedroom, which served as her studio. Often she’d paint flowers. Sometimes, to keep me occupied, she would give me a small panel and a palette of dabs of oil paints (toxicity notwithstanding), and I’d try to paint what she was painting. She sometimes painted landscapes, and sometimes flowers. My first oil painting was a small copy of one of her flower paintings, signed on the back: ‘flowers, by andrew’ in orange crayon.
I haven’t always been a painter of flowers. At first, I just painted what I saw around me but more recently, I’ve appreciated the rigour and shape to the flower paintings by traditional Dutch or Flemish painters—paintings that moved away from simply depicting flowers in a plain botanical sense, but also gave structure, and which pointed towards a framework of abstraction. At the time, these paintings were simply called ‘flower pieces’, or, in the tradition, ‘bloemstukken.’
Klassen Biography
Drew Klassen was born in Toronto, and lived there until he was about four months old. He then settled in Winnipeg, along with his parents. His grandmother, a draughtsperson by profession and avid painter by inclination, lived close by, and usually looked after him when his parents were out for an evening, or traveling. To keep him occupied, she would often give him a pencil and spread out a discarded blueprint for him to draw on, or give him a small canvas panel and a small palette of her oil paints to play with while he watched her paint. He didn’t dream a child’s dream of being an artist, but those early years inculcated a habit of looking at things carefully, and describing them with a pencil and imagination.
Fast forward to 1986: Klassen enrolled at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, in Halifax, where he studied drawing, sculpture, and typography. During his studies at NSCAD, his family urged him to take up a ‘sensible’ profession, and eventually he enrolled at the Dalhousie University School of Architecture, and graduated with a Master’s degree in architecture in 1992. But the year of his graduation was at the beginning of a global recession, and architectural work was sparse, so he returned to his first loves: painting and drawing. His current work tries to combine the two.
Klassen currently lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Parking is available on the street and in the parking garage right behind the gallery. It is accessible from Murray Street and Clarence Street. Keep in mind parking is only $4 on the weekends!

Two Views On Nature by Natalie Louise & Lucie Bertrand - Vernissage
2025-09-06 14:00 - 16:00 | Galerie Old Chelsea, 783 Route 105, Chelsea, QC, J9B 1P1, Canada
Galerie Old Chelsea is pleased to present “Two Views On Nature”, bringing together the evocative works of artists Natalie Louise and Lucie Bertrand, each drawing inspiration from the richness and diversity of the natural world. Though their techniques and perspectives differ, both artists share a deep reverence for nature, translating its beauty into works that are immersive, poetic, and emotionally resonant.
Natalie Louise – Wonder Captured on Canvas
A self-taught painter from Val-des-Monts, Natalie Louise invites viewers into serene landscapes infused with light and tranquility. Her acrylic paintings are rooted in careful observation and inspired by real places—often captured during hikes and travels. Through a close-up, eye-level perspective, she offers a warm, welcoming vision of nature that emphasizes peacefulness and authenticity. Her work gently urges us to pause, breathe, and take in the quiet splendour of the natural world.
Lucie Bertrand – An Exploration of Matter and Textures
Working in encaustic—a medium of hot wax infused with pigments—Lucie Bertrand creates textured, multi-layered compositions that blend organic materials such as leaf-dyed paper, metal fragments, and aged documents. Her art is tactile and sensory, echoing the strength and fragility of nature. Lucie’s abstract, luminous works are as much about process as they are about form, capturing the ever-evolving dance between materiality and transformation.
From September 4 to 21, 2025 – Wednesday to Saturday from noon to 6 pm and Sunday from noon to 5 pm

Vanessa McKernan | Dusk and Boyd Waites | New Works Feature - Vernissage
2025-09-13 15:00 - 17:00 | Wall Space Gallery, 1090 Bank St, Ottawa, ON, K1S 3X5, Canada
Wall Space Gallery is proud to present Vanessa McKernan’s solo exhibition Dusk. An oil painter who recently relocated from Toronto to the Ottawa Valley, McKernan creates dreamlike, emotionally resonant works that blur the lines between intentional thought and the subconscious. Her practice draws deeply from the garden as a recurring symbol, exploring themes of impermanence, intimacy, mothering, and the cycles of death and rebirth. Infused with personal experience, historical references, and intuitive imagery, her paintings offer a poetic meditation on the complexities of the feminine psyche.
McKernan holds a BFA from Concordia University, is a two-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award, and is supported by the Ontario Arts Council.
Wall Space Gallery is proud to present Boyd Waites’ latest feature of new works. With imagery that is partially obscured and grounded in landscape, these paintings encourage a personal and emotional response. Waites invites viewers to interpret each piece through their own sensory experience. The use of soft blending, thin layers, and subtle transitions creates a quiet, atmospheric quality. This approach may evoke a sense of calm, contemplation, or memory. The works suggest a reflective mood and a quiet strength, offering space for thought and interpretation rather than directing it. This collection continues Waites’ exploration of tone, space, and feeling.

Dialogue avec la Nature - Vernissage
2025-09-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Galerie Montcalm, 25 Laurier St, Gatineau, Quebec, J8X 3Y9, Canada
L’exposition sera présentée à la Galerie Montcalm, du 23 août au 05 octobre 2025.
Là où il n’y a rien, il y a quelque chose.
Quelque chose qui a une énergie. Et ça peut être beau et harmonieux.
Là où un projet se développe, il y a de la place pour du rêve.
La nature fournit des formes et des lignes qui peuvent devenir des passages, des transformations et des
apprentissages…

Spectrums & Grandeur - Vernissage
2025-09-21 13:00 - 15:00 | Kanata Civic Art Gallery, 2500 Campeau Drive, Kanata, ON, K2K 2W3, Canada
The Kanata Civic Art Gallery is delighted to welcome you back. To celebrate our re-opening, we are proud to present our latest exhibition: Spectrums & Grandeur.
The show brings together paintings, sculpture, textiles and photography. Each piece is created by local artists and is available for purchase.
Exhibition Dates
September 10 to October 19, 2025
Vernissage Celebration
Sunday, September 21, 1 to 3 pm
Join us for an afternoon of art, conversation and refreshments. Meet the artists, explore the gallery and help us mark this exciting new chapter.
About the Gallery
The Kanata Civic Art Gallery, established in 1996, is home to over 40 juried member artists from the Ottawa area. The gallery is an artist-run collective of emerging and established artists, in partnership with the City of Ottawa. Up to 9 exhibitions are presented each year, along with invitational shows and our signature event, the Gift of Art in November.

Éléments by Léa-Sylvie Pilon - Vernissage
2025-09-27 13:00 - 15:00 | Arbor Gallery, 103 High St., Vankleek Hill, ON, K0B 1R0, Canada
After a long personal journey, Léa-Sylvie Pilon now thrives through painting as a way of life. Inspired by nature and guided by her emotions, she has moved beyond the strict confines of hyperrealism to explore a vibrant, impressionistic style. Each canvas emerges from an instinctive impulse, layering inks and oils that reflect the stages of her life. Her works, luminous and full of contrast, convey a renewed sense of freedom and the deep joy of reconnecting with the child artist within her.
https://lespeinturesdelea.wixsite.com/sylvie
She will present her stunning pieces in her solo exhibition Éléments, running from
September 25 to October 18, 2025

Brian Beavis & Veronika McKerrell - Vernissage
2025-09-27 13:00 - 15:00 | Arbor Gallery, 103 High St., Vankleek Hill, ON, K0B 1R0, Canada
Born in England, Brian Beavis discovered his passion for art at a private school in Bournemouth, where he won several awards at the Royal Drawing Society. Initially working in watercolors, he fell in love with acrylic paint, captivated by its vibrant colors. In 1971, a book about Piet Mondrian confirmed his artistic direction, but he set aside painting for many years, only returning in 2018.
Although painting still serves as a meditative hobby for him, he has been exploring free form, inspired by macramé, to which he started adding dowel rods and other elements. His works, ranging from small to very large, develop organically without planning, revealing recognizable patterns. A few years ago, he observed a perceptible influence of the De Stijl movement in his free form creations.
* * *
Veronika McKerrell, a self-taught artist, has dedicated the last decade to painting practice and studying art history. She studied figurative and landscape art in Edinburgh, Scotland and portraiture and figurative work in London, UK.
Her art blends landscape and figurative styles, featuring gestural, intuitive marks that create a visceral texture. McKerrell’s experimental approach captures the essence of nature, inviting viewers to experience the textured beauty and deep connection she feels with the environment.
www.veronikamckerrell.com

Helen Nhan DEFINITIONS - Vernissage
2025-09-27 14:00 - 17:00 | Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, 293 Dalhousie St, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7E5, Canada
Helen Nhan
DEFINITIONS
September 25 – October 14
Vernissage: Saturday, September 27, 2:00 – 5:00pm
Nhan StatementIn this exhibition, artist Helen Nhan explores how our perceptions hold space. Redefining, within each piece, definitions by opening windows to identities.
From her latest works emerges an intimate, limited series titled Being Undone. Casting form and colour onto canvas to portray a lived experience, she creates a new chapter in order to carry the weight of the in-between.
It is a series born out of motherhood.
To find the truth behind vulnerability.
To search for the strength behind resilience.
The loss of self, found.
Throughout her artist practice, her process remains conscious in composition, the choice of colour, use of geometry, shape and form- deliberate.
Nhan Biography
Helen Nhan is a Canadian abstract artist based in Ottawa, ON. She returned to her artistic practice in 2019 after placing it on hold to build a successful career as an optometrist.
Recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition at the Shenkman Arts Centre and a group exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery. She has also been a featured artist of Saatchi Art.
helennhan.com
Represented by: Galerie St-Laurent + Hill
Parking is available on the street and in the parking garage right behind the gallery. It is accessible from Murray Street and Clarence Street. Keep in mind parking is only $4 on the weekends!

2025 Sobey Art Award exhibition - Opening
2025-10-02 17:00 - 20:00 | National Gallery of Canada, 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 9N4, Canada
Join us as we celebrate the opening of the 2025 Sobey Art Award Exhibition with the six shortlisted artists!
Thursday, October 2, 2025
5 to 8 p.m. – Exhibition opening
6 p.m. – Opening remarks in the Scotiabank Great Hall
6:20 p.m. – The artists will be in the exhibition space for informal conversations and questions about their work
National Gallery of Canada
Scotiabank Great Hall
380 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1N 9N4
Canada
Food and refreshments available for purchase. Free admission. Bilingual event. Book your free ticket for admission to the Gallery on Thursday evening.

Haute Couture by OMMA - Vernissage
2025-10-07 17:30 - 21:30 | ALLIANCE FRANCAISE OTTAWA, 352 MacLaren St, Ottawa, ON, K2P 0M6, Canada
Step into a world where canvas becomes cloth, and creativity is stitched with imagination.
The Ottawa Mixed Media Art Show: Haute Couture invites you to experience fashion like never before—reimagined through texture, colour, and layered expression. This exhibition pays homage to the elegance of couture while breaking every rule it ever wrote. It is here, in the interplay of paint and paper, fabric and found object, that high fashion finds new life beyond the runway.
Each piece tells a story—of identity, transformation, rebellion, and beauty. Artists weave together tradition and innovation, thread and theme, crafting visual symphonies that echo the meticulous artistry of bespoke design. From sculptural silhouettes to bold textile abstractions, this is fashion unbound—reconstructed, deconstructed, and fearlessly redefined.
Haute couture is no longer just what we wear—it’s what we feel, what we create, and what we dare to imagine.
Welcome to a celebration of elegance, edge, and the exquisite power of mixed media.

New Arboreal – Arboricole, Vernissage
2025-10-22 18:00 - 20:00 | Espace Pierre-Debain, 120 Principale St, Gatineau, QC, J9H 3M3, Canada
Découvrez le tapis forestier et plongez dans le royaume souterrain qui se trouve juste en dessous.
Dans New Arboreal, l’artiste explore les phénomènes de la coévolution et de la symbiose. L’exposition présente une installation créée à partir de feutre et de fil de fer. Elle évoque des systèmes racinaires et des champignons micellaires. S’y imbriquent des feuilles de papier créées à la main par l’artiste et des sculptures de papier figurant des branches d’arbre, du lichen et du fongus.
Jenny McMaster travaille les textures, les suspensions, les ombres portées et la multiplication des plans pour créer des environnements immersifs.

Masino + Vincent MERAKI (μεράκι) - Vernissage
2025-10-25 14:00 - 17:00 | Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, 293 Dalhousie St, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7E5, Canada
À cet égard, au hasard des lectures, le mot d’origine grecque meraki leur semble inspirant et approprié pour exprimer cette force et cet objectif. Bien qu’intraduisible, on pourrait paraphraser en se referrant à l’ardeur et à l’enthousiasme où nous sommes aspirés dans ce que nous façonnons, en rejetant la logique habituelle et les intérêts de la vie d’usage.
La volonté derrière la présente exposition et l’élan de faire dialoguer les œuvres s’inscrit donc dans la longue durée des échanges et des partages où des conceptions picturales et philosophiques concordantes se retrouvent et se dynamisent. Dans le travail respectif des deux peintres, on peut ainsi aisément retrouver un espace pictural construit par superpositions et juxtapositions où une pluralité temporelle de points de vue cohabite.
Vernissage: Saturday, October 25, 2:00 – 5:00pm

Mosaic 2025 - Vernissage
2025-10-30 17:30 - 19:30 | Shenkman Arts Centre, 245 Centrum Blvd, Orléans, ON, K1E 0A1, Canada
We’re excited to announce that Mosaic 2025 is opening soon at the Trinity Art Gallery! From October 30 to January 13, come see one of Ottawa’s largest juried art shows featuring amazing works in a variety of media by Arteast members.
Opening Reception:
Join us on Thursday, October 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm to celebrate the artists and award winners. Awards will be announced at 6:15pm.
It’s a great chance to meet fellow art lovers, chat with the artists, and enjoy an inspiring evening surrounded by creativity. Everyone’s welcome!

The Light We Hold, The Light We Carry - Vernissage
2025-11-01 13:00 - 15:00 | Arbor Gallery, 103 High St., Vankleek Hill, ON, K0B 1R0, Canada
During a sabbatical year devoted to creative exploration, Lauren Michelle Levesque immersed herself in the slow, reflective processes of making. The resulting works, gathered under the title “the light we hold, the light we carry”, illuminate the quiet ways in which art-making brings meaning, care, whimsy, and a touch of magic into everyday life.
Created within the intimate spaces of home, these textile-based pieces give form to stories of connection and transformation. An arts-based researcher and associate professor at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Levesque’s work explores how everyday spaces become sites of social, political, and personal significance. Through this exhibition, she invites viewers to reflect on how creativity itself becomes an act of holding light — for ourselves, and for one another.

Isabelle Gauvreau - TIME (Vernissage)
2025-11-07 17:00 - 20:00 | Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, 293 Dalhousie St, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7E5, Canada
Isabelle Gauvreau’s work has always focused on the human condition and, more specifically, on the interpretation of the female body through the development of a highly personal visual language. Her practice is inspired by a long lineage of women artists influenced by feminism, from the 1970s to the present day.
This series is an emotional and visual response to existential questions in the face of today’s global crises. From these impressions of rupture, what emerges, if not, as Leonard Cohen suggested, light? Gauvreau seeks to bring together what unites us: light as well as darkness, for one cannot exist without the other.
This duality manifests in the series through contrasts of splashes, golden orbs, and white flashes on dark backgrounds, all striving toward harmony. In response to a growing need to reconnect with nature, Gauvreau also explores more elaborate techniques, adding colour with stick paint, which brings an even more earthy quality to her work than usual.
Collage on Japanese paper remains central to the artist’s approach. The use of gold leaf and pigments serves as an anchor and symbolizes a connection to nature. Writing and drawing intertwine in layered compositions over collage and ink drips, encounters that evoke complex impressions.

Sunlit Moments by Marianne Feaver - Vernissage
2025-11-08 13:00 - 16:00 | Galerie Old Chelsea, 783 Route 105, Chelsea, QC, J9B 1P1, Canada
Marianne Feaver celebrates the natural world through colour and light. Fleeting moments of radiance – sunlight filtering through trees, the shimmer of water across a lake or the dancing highlights of flower petals – form the heart of her work. Her inspiration is drawn from the landscapes that surround her; the forest trails of the Gatineau Hills or the peaceful, rugged beauty that surrounds Wakefield.
Through vivid colour and loose, expressive brushstrokes, Marianne translates her emotional response to the landscape onto canvas. Each painting seeks to capture the awe, joy and serenity found in those moments – the stillness of reflection, the brilliance of passing light, the quiet energy of the natural world.
Her works invite the viewer to pause and be immersed in the harmony and vitality of the scene – to breathe, to feel the exuberance, and to be transported to a place of peace and familiarity.

BHAT BOY: Artist Showcase - Vernissage
2025-11-14 18:00 - 21:00 | Salon des Bananes, 2207 Carling Ave., Ottawa, ON, K2B 7E9, Canada
Experience the grand reveal of ‘National Capital Legacy’
The Salon Des Bananes is proud to present this special Artist Showcase, featuring Bhat Boy, one of Ottawa’s most celebrated artists. Be among the first to see the reveal of Bhat’s latest painting: National Capital Legacy – measuring an impressive 9 ft x 9 ft!
The National Capital Legacy art piece was commissioned by the National Capital Commission for its 125th anniversary, and will be displayed in the public area of the NCC’s new headquarters (at 80 Elgin Street).
You will also get to see several other original artworks by Bhat Boy!

An Nguyen, "Fortune" Solo Exhibition - Vernissage
2025-11-16 17:30 - 19:30 | Atrium Gallery – Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Dr, Ottawa, K2G 0B5, Canada
Artist Statement

As immigrants entering a foreign land, we all share the common desire to make our new country a place we can freely call home. We make efforts, from bringing our culinary traditions, to running enterprises that shape a nation’s economic future. As newcomers we do so with innovation, grit and determination. Our journeys to freedom are often fought with challenges, sacrifice, and difficult decisions.
April 30th, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary since the fall of Saigon. The Canadian government recognizes this day as a national day to commemorate the large exodus of Vietnamese refugees and their acceptance into Canada. Through art, I bear witness to this historical event by creating a series of paintings, which illustrates the story of my refugee beginnings and celebrates how far I’ve come. My vivid paintings chronicle the perilous journey of leaving Vietnam to stories of life as an Canadian immigrant.
During the Vietnam war, my parents lived through the trauma of hearing constant gunshots while watching the skies engulfed in flames. They heard cries of those lost at sea and witnessed children die in the arms of their parents. They saw the desperate who tossed their offspring onto precarious vessels in the hopes that their child might find potential refuge. These memories are etched in their hearts and forever changed their view on life and parenting.
My brother and I grew up in a home grounded in traditional values situated within a typical Canadian milieu. Growing up, most of what we learned about the Vietnam War was through our parents. My parents taught us how to cook old family recipes so that we remember where we came from, while watching Wheel of Fortune. They planted flowers to beautify our home, while cultivating basil and chili plants for aromatic dishes. As stoic survivors of war, they cried when I graduated from university. They decorated the house in “lucky” red to affirm their happiness during my tea ceremony, and shared laughter and joy when I danced at my wedding. They are changemakers who bravely risked everything so that we could live in safety to pursue our hopes and dreams. As a child of these war heroes, I honour their valour and courage in the face of such seemingly insurmountable adversity.
This exhibition showcases, how my road to a bright future, was founded on decades of personal sacrifices and hardship. For many Vietnamese Boat People, crossing the tumultuous South China Sea was a huge risk. Like many immigrant families our origins were humble, but overtime we have made substantial contributions to our communities, while preserving our heritage and customs. It is my hope that this exposition celebrates the half-century of achievements of the Vietnamese diaspora and the triumphs we have made in the face of adversity. Let this show be a beacon of light that shines luck on those who today make similar perilous journeys. May their “hopes adrift” in the water, to light a path towards safety and a better future.
An Nguyen

Grand Opening :
NOV 6, 2025, 5:30pm to 7:30pm,
Atrium Art Gallery, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centre Point Drive, Ottawa, ON
Free Family Friendly Event

TwelvebyTwelve 2025 - Vernissage
2025-11-27 17:00 - 19:00 | Wall Space Gallery, 1090 Bank St, Ottawa, ON, K1S 3X5, Canada
Wall Space Gallery x Interval House of Ottawa
Purchase advance tickets!
Or pay at the door (suggested minimum donation of $10)

Join us for an inspiring evening celebrating local creativity and community impact at Wall Space Gallery’s TwelvebyTwelve, a large-scale group exhibition featuring square-foot artworks and jewellery by more than 50 Canadian artists. This annual event offers a unique opportunity to acquire works by both emerging and established artists at accessible price points.
Enjoy art, jewellery, drinks, snacks, and more, with every ticket including entry into a raffle for a chance to win a stunning piece from one of our participating local jewellers, including Hailey Jane, Andrea Mueller, Galili Ellis Jewelry, and Brenda Wong.
As part of this year’s event, we’re proud to support Interval House of Ottawa, a local organization providing safety and shelter for women and children fleeing violence. Proceeds from ticket and painting sales will directly fund the purchase of furniture for their new second-stage housing, scheduled to open in spring 2026. This new space will offer safe, stable housing and enhanced supports for families rebuilding their lives after violence, and your participation will help make it feel like home for those transitioning to safety and independence. This is a wonderful opportunity to give meaningful, artful gifts this holiday season while supporting those in need.

Please join us at the gallery for the opening reception on
Thursday, Nov 27 from 5 – 7 pm!

Winter Count: Embracing the Cold - Vernissage
2025-11-27 17:00 - 20:00 | National Gallery of Canada, 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 9N4, Canada
Featuring more than 150 works from the early 19th century to the present, this exhibition brings together Indigenous, Canadian settler and European perspectives on the subject.
Winter Count delves into concepts of tradition, identity and heritage as it explores how individual artists engage with winter motifs through objects, paintings, sculpture and works on paper. Historic Indigenous belongings are juxtaposed with works by contemporary artists like Inuit printmaker Pitseolak Ashoona and Cree artists Duane Linklater and Kent Monkman, highlighting ancestral knowledge, storytelling and contemporary critique. The exhibition then draws comparisons between Canadian painters such as Maurice Cullen and Clarence Gagnon and French Impressionists Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, focusing on their distinct approaches to capturing the effects of light on snow. Finally, it reveals a shared visual language among Canadian artists like J.E.H. MacDonald and Lawren S. Harris and their Canadian and Scandinavian counterparts through the lens of winter.
Named for the pictorial records used by Indigenous nations from the Plains like the Lakota, Winter Countreflects on themes of survival, adaptation and kinship, portraying winter as a transformative force that shapes human experience.
This exhibition is a collaboration between the departments of Indigenous Ways and Decolonization, Canadian Art and European, American and Asian art.

Camera and the City and Sylvia Safdie: TERRA - OPENING
2025-12-11 17:00 - 20:00 | National Gallery of Canada, 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 9N4, Canada
Drawing on the rich collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Camera and the City brings together the work of a wide range of photographers who have captured the spirit of city streets.
Sylvia Safdie: TERRA examines the decades-long career of Montreal-based artist Sylvia Safdie through a selection of her paintings, sculptures and videos.
Thursday, 11 December
5 to 8 p.m. – Exhibition opening
6 p.m. – Opening remarks
National Gallery of Canada
Scotiabank Great Hall
380 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1N 9N4
Canada
Food and refreshments available for purchase. Free admission. Bilingual event.

Julie Beauchemin Mirrors - Vernissage
2026-01-15 17:00 - 20:00 | Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, 293 Dalhousie St, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7E5, Canada
Mirrors serves as a conceptual lens for this body of work, extending beyond literal reflection to consider how experience, perception, emotion, and interaction are mirrored through the act of painting. The works emphasize response as a central principle, where gestures unfold in relation to prior marks and material conditions, much like the effects of our interactions on one another. Through layered material processes, the paintings trace the imprint of response and presence, while serving as records of moments in time.

Shaelynn Tredenick The Weight of Quiet: Vernissage
2026-02-05 17:00 - 20:00 | Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, 293 Dalhousie St, Ottawa, ON, K1N 7E5, Canada
Shaelynn Tredenick
The Weight of Quiet
February 5 – 24
Vernissage: Thursday, February 5, 5:00 – 8:00pm
Tredenick Artist Statement The Weight of Quiet: An exploration of stillness, tension, and emotional restraint.
I feel compelled to scan – drawn to preserving fleeting moments before they disappear. My work does not begin with a fixed narrative, but with an instinct to reimagine familiar florals into contemporary compositions guided by emotion and sensation rather than story.
Working with both living bouquets and preserved botanicals, I’m interested in moments of transition—when vibrancy softens, structure loosens, and beauty exists briefly between states. Recently, my practice has shifted toward embracing this tension more fully, allowing compositions to hold both calm and intensity at once, where restraint and release exist in quiet balance.
Rather than offering a prescribed meaning, my work creates space for reflection and emotional stillness under the surface. Built through feeling first, each piece invites viewers to sit with instability, softness, and their own interpretations.
Tredenick Biography
Shaelynn Tredenick is a photo-based artist based in Ottawa, Canada, holding a Graduate Diploma in Photographic Arts + Production from the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa and a formal degree in Photography from Algonquin College. A decade of competitive dance informs her work, bringing a sense of movement, rhythm, and choreography into her visual practice.
Her current practice centers on scanography of both preserved and living botanicals, drawing inspiration from 17th-century Dutch floral paintings while engaging with contemporary digital processes and everyday arrangements. Through careful composition, hand techniques, and digital manipulation, she reimagines historic floral motifs with a modern sensibility, creating forms that exist between nature, memory, and transformation.
