Local artists host show and sale for Mother’s Day

By Gurman Sahota, May 10, 2017 —

With Mother’s Day fast approaching, Denis Brière and six other artists are hosting a Mother’s Day Art Show and Sale for the important motherly figures in your life. Paintings, photography and other visual art will be on sale at the event, which aims to raise funds to support the Tick-Tock Children’s Theatre.

Brière says the exposure offered by events like these is important for both artists and patrons. 

Courtesy Mark Vazquez-MacKay

“There is a growing arts community — a fine arts community — both for paintings and for stage theatre that is becoming more and more appropriate in a city [with a population of] over a million,” Brière says.

The show will highlight works by Brière, Polina Akhmad, Evgeny Chertov, Svetlana Simeons, Inna Taikova, Rich Théroux and Mark Vazquez-MacKay. All of the art for sale is inspired by Alberta, if not Calgary itself.

Vazquez-MacKay is an instructor at the Alberta College of Art and Design and a renowned figure painter. Brière also highlights Théroux, whose artwork has been sent into space. 

Courtesy Rich Théroux

“[Théroux] invites artists of all ages to come in and they spin a wheel and choose a topic and for a few hours they paint that subject and they auction off their work,” Brière says. “He has a unique viewpoint on art and his famous quote is ‘stop making art and die.’”

While the show mainly features painters, Chertov is the sole photographer. His work focuses on nature, floral imagery and aquatic life.

Courtesy Denis Brière

Brière, a painter in his own right, will showcase Métis art from a show he presented in North Battleford, Saskatchewan called First Contact.

“I have painted some themes about what is dear to Métis’s hearts and how the environment will [show how] we used to live on the land.”

The Mother’s Day Weekend Art Show and Sale will take place at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre on Saturday, May 13 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.