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Art has the power to transcend boundaries, tell stories, and ignite emotions. The Ottawa-Gatineau region is rich in cultural diversity and artistic expression. As such, the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) is home to a thriving community where artists from various disciplines are not only contributing their work to the Gallery but are also actively supporting the Gallery’s mission and sustainability through membership.
In this #OttawaArts feature, we showcase the artists supporting the OAG through membership, giving recognition to the impact of their contributions.
Taiwo Apampa is a self-taught mixed-media artist based in Ottawa, Canada. She is renowned for her captivating portraits that celebrate the strength, beauty and resilience of Black women while exploring themes of culture, gender and identity.
Her artistic inspiration springs from her deep-rooted African heritage and its unique fashion influences.
Strength & Unity, 2020, Acrylic on Canvas, 16 x 20
Kathy Bergquist works in found objects and mild steel exploring the relationships between tangible and intangible elements of landscape.
What We Are Learning from the Animals (Murmuration) 2023 Mild steel, stone, plywood
Julea Boswell is a dancer-turned-visual artist who creates mood-boosting lyrical abstracts filled with energy, emotion and movement. She also collaborates with dancers, musicians and multi-media artists.
Levitating, Acrylic, 19 x 19 inches
Gail Bourgeois employs themes and methodologies in her studio practice to express the tension between academic knowledge and experimental forms of knowledge based on her interest in collective practices and community engagement.
Urban Gleaner
Diane Brazeau is a wildlife artist working with acrylics, oils and mixed media. Her art journey is rooted in her passion for conservation and capturing the raw beauty of the natural world.
Cecilia Chan is impressionistic artist that mainly works with oil and acrylic and has a passion for both landscape and cityscape paintings.
My exploration of clarity and contentment comes from physically shaping in metal how ideas, expressions, and mysteries feel.
Double Spiral #17, architectural bronze, stainless steel, granite, 570 x 120 x 130
Roberto C. Fernandez is a visual artist whose work are in technical illustrations and in the fine arts with the combinations of graphics and in the world of art.
Colette’s artistic pursuits are characterized by abstraction and experimentation. She works in oil, mixed media and etching with materials such as paper, wood, canvas and metal. To retain originality and freshness in her work she employs surprise details, different perspectives and sweeping colour.
Back to Front – oil on wood – 60cm x 60cm
Kathy M Haycock shares a very personal connection with the landscape through her plein air oil paintings from across North America’s wilderness.
Sunset Island, Lake Superior Park, 30 x 40, 2024, oil on canvas
Carol Howard Donati (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist of settler origins working with still and moving images, print, paint and found materials related to place.
Cindy Ji is a versatile artist whose work spans oil painting, AI painting, and photography. She explores the world and freedom spirit through her art.
Cozumel, Mexico
Leo Khordoc-Davis is a painter who primarily uses oil paint and watercolour. His works are mainly landscapes and cityscapes, with an emphasis on themes such as history, cultural semiotics and the contrast between light and shadow.
Staircase Dialogue, Watercolour on Paper, June 2023, 27.9 x 30.5 cm
Sharon Lafferty is a visual artist inspired by the beauty to be found in the mundane and the absurd.
“Inside Or Out” 2019 acrylic 30 x 30 inches.
Kelly McDonald is a photo-based artist living with Parkinson’s disease. Using a contemplative approach, Kelly explores the numerous losses which have occurred in her body due to the progression of her illness. The resulting images are relics of a gradual disappearance, now shrouded in delicate washi paper.
Judi Miller is a textile artist, using embroidery to convey the richness of nature that surrounds us.
Forest Magic, 8×8, framed, 2023
Shirley is an Ottawa-based artist and writer, painting landscapes and florals in a variety of media, in the contemporary realism style.
Leah Mowers is a lens-based artist. Her focus is on developing personal connections within unique, often private communities to explore themes of spirituality and cultural stereotypes.
Dominican Habits
James Murray is an upcycle artist who reuses discarded materials to create his environmental cartoons and also shares what other creators reuse.
Ralph Nevins is an experimental photographer whose work is an observation on the concept of time and movement.
Aerialist (2023)
Pooja P. is a sculptor embracing wabi-sabi, highlighting the beauty in imperfection. Her work fosters self-acceptance and joy, encouraging appreciation of uniqueness.
I am a Black man of African / Caribbean heritage. While I was born in Ottawa, Canada, and grew up in Chicago, the USA, my family originates from Jamaica. I have the unique experience of living in multiple urban centers while remaining connected to my Jamaican roots expressed in the modern context of North American style, fashion, and culture. It is important to me that my work empowers men and women, especially women of color, and showcases non-European depictions of beauty, strength, and resilience.
David Leclerc, a.k.a. Poppa Quest, is a composer, director, producer and sound engineer on the Ottawa/Gatineau hip hop scene. With a track record that boasts over twenty years of experience in the industry, David Leclerc has composed and worked with many great hip hop artists, including Misa, D-Track, Dip Black, Mindflip, Mischa and SeinsSucrer, to name but a few. He is also a photographer, organizer of the Cultivé Ici music festival, and continues to work on various artistic projects, including the 83 til infinity exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery (2023-2024).
SND*TRK Vol. 2
Jacqueline Ratto Allard, an acrylic and oil artist, records an altered and colorful vision of designs and various subject matters.
Lucie Raymond is a mixed media artist whose work reflect a deep love for the earth and all things living, advocating for collective responsibility and awareness.
Cymbidium Web
Bryce Ritchie is a pop artist inspired by vibrant colours representing a bright future ahead. Incorporating a taste of graffiti with his work.
Whatever idea I am working on, usually involves a new technical ceramic challenge, often incorporating non ceramic materials. I am interested in textiles, texture, and an architectural underpinning to my ceramic forms.
Surviving Winter
Manju Sah paints with oils, acrylics, and watercolours. She draws her inspiration from nature, and paints both realistic and abstract themes.
Manal is a contemporary and mixed media artist inspired by her fascination of the complexity of city life and the dynamics of the world we live in.
“This town is for the birds” mixed media
I am a self-taught artist working mainly with oils. I also paint in watercolour, draw and create mobile sculptures.
I have been influenced by Kupka, Kandinsky, Brooker, Russolo and others and have made an extensive study of representing music.
I am also interested in images representing non-sexualized feminity and political protest art.
Funky Trio, 60 x 40 in oil on canvas, 2016
Roger Sutcliffe is a painter and printmaker motivated to continually explore new ideas creating works that are reactions to his environment, evoking emotions rooted in memories and experiences.
Off the Line #5, 2022, monoprint Hahnemühle paper, 56 x 77 cm. From the series: Patience: a Space for Reflection and Thought. Unique print 1/1 from collagraph plates made from found material. Hahnemühle paper and Graphic Chemical oil based ink.
Lori Victor is a multidisciplinary artist who integrates installation, painting, photography and video. Using a visceral approach, Lori cuts up materials into long strips or ‘lines’ to create works that visually express how we connect to one another – a subject matter or theme she has used throughout her 20-year art practice.
I am a digital artist and do photography and digital art. My artwork is a creative expression of what I see around me. It gives empowerment to the person who sees it because with my art, a person feels good about themselves and adds a modern look to their home or the office. My artwork is multicultural art and I get the inspiration to do my art by studying cultures and people. My artwork emphasizes giving hope to people when faced with adversity of life and disadvantaged individuals to make their life better in Canada.
The OAG is proud to have a community of member artists who recognize the importance of sustaining cultural institutions. Not only are memberships one aspect of expressing a commitment to the local art scene but, they also show commitment to actively contributing to the sustainability of the gallery. Membership allows people to invest in the gallery’s success, playing a direct role in shaping the cultural identity of Ottawa.
The XO OAG Membership program provides sustainability, allowing the OAG to expand its programming, reach a broader audience, and continue fostering a vibrant and dynamic arts community. It also means artists are personally invested in the Gallery, forming a reciprocal relationship of inspiration and growth.
Artists supporting the Ottawa Art Gallery through membership exemplify the collaborative spirit that defines a thriving arts community. By actively engaging in the gallery’s vision, these artists contribute not only to their individual artistic journeys but also to the cultural richness of Ottawa.
Interested in becoming a member of the OAG? Learn more here!
Artist bios, images, and artwork credits provided by the artists.
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Mailing Address: 10 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1N 6E2 | Rideau O-Train Station
Ottawa Art Gallery is situated on traditional Anishinābe Aki.
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