10-foot, 3-D mural of Wilcox Park, Westerly Library will highlight work of children, adults
Olean Center participants in the Children’s and Adult Art Programs have been working all year to create a wide variety of works for the Center’s annual Art Show at the Westerly Library's Hoxie Gallery.
The ‘Meet the Artists’ Opening Reception is scheduled for 5-7 p.m., Wednesday April 5. The show will run through Sunday, April 26.
And this year offers a new twist – a chance for our artists to create art in the Gallery inspired by the process of participating in a public showing and by the artwork displayed around them.
“All four art classes will be held at the Gallery that week” said Phebe Campsey, who runs all of the Center’s art programming. “We’ll be able to talk about the show and the works that are hanging and generate response art – creating art based on how it feels to be in the show, what’s in the Gallery at the time.” The public is invited to these sessions on April 4 and April 6 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and again from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. both days.
Campsey said she’s excited by the enthusiasm she’s seeing ahead of this year’s event. Well over a dozen participants will be showing their work.
“I feel like we’re taking it to another level this year with the types of art and the participation,” Campsey said. “Last year, one person from the Children’s Program volunteered to participate in the hanging and organization of the show, and this year we have two from the Children’s Program and one from the Adult Program hanging the show.”
“It’s another opportunity for empowerment and accomplishment and pride -- the same benefits that can come from making art.”
The centerpiece of this year’s exhibit is one that Campsey says is her “most favorite communal art piece she has created with any group. All of the art classes participated to create a representation of Wilcox Park and Westerly Library and all the special parts of the park,” Campsey said. “We collaborated from inception to production. It’s a 10-foot-long by 5-foot-wide, mixed-media, 3-D celebration of a big part of the community.”
As she did last year, Campsey will include another group art piece featuring handprints of all who want to take part – community members, families, staff, and participants.
