Ladysmith fabric artist Christine Earl was awarded Best in Show in the Arts Council of Ladysmith and District’s (ACLD) biennial Fine Arts Show.
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The piece, ‘Ramona’ is a quilt portrait of her grand-daughter, Ramona. The piece also placed first in the 3D fibre art category.
“I was engaged by her shy personality, and I tried to get that into the picture,” Earl said.
Earl said she’s thrilled to have won Best in Show, and hailed it as an achievement for fibre artists in general.
“We have our own fibre art shows, and quilt shows, but this was with all mediums of art. It’s important to see fibre as a legitimate art form.”
Almost 300 pieces of art were entered for the ACLD Fine Arts Show, 254 of those entries were for the juried competition. Artists from across Vancouver Island, and the Gulf Islands submitted their work to the show.
Due to COVID-19, the show is being held entirely online in the ACLD’s virtual gallery. ACLD members processed the pieces into a program that guides viewers around an online gallery space, simulating the experience of being in a physical gallery.
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“This is the first time we’ve done a virtual show, and the first time we’ve done a fine arts show online,” ACLD President, Kathy Holmes said. “It’s new technology for us. The artists had to learn how to submit online, and do everything. It was a big learning curve for us to put the whole thing together.”
The ACLD held a live opening via Zoom hosted by Canadian artist, Sheila Norgate. The opening was virtually attended by over 100 people. And so far, over 2,000 people have toured the virtual gallery.
“We will definitely continue this, because it opens up opportunity for more people to see art. Hopefully, we’ll still have live shows where people can come in the future,” Holmes said.
Items can also be viewed under the ACLD’s online store. All of the pieces in the show are available for sale.
The show will be available online until the end of March at ladysmitharts.ca/ladysmith-fine-art-show. Gallery-goers can also vote in the People’s Choice Award for their favourite pieces. Voting for the People’s Choice category ends Feb. 28.
