In 1976, one year after The Blyth Festival began producing Original Canadian Theatre in Huron County, local visual artists Bev and Ron Walker formed a committee of volunteers to create a public art gallery as a complement to the Festival. The aim was to showcase regional artists working in various media. The Blyth Festival Art Gallery was born.
A vibrant and integral part of the Blyth Centre for the Arts, The Blyth Festival Art Gallery is housed in the Bainton Gallery (so named thanks to a generous gift from Frank and Cenetta Bainton, in 1990). The Gallery is physically attached to Blyth Community Memorial Hall.
The Blyth Festival Art Gallery hosts five shows annually: one group student show, one group community show, and three professional shows.
2018 Season
Now into its 43rd year, the Blyth Festival Art Gallery continues its mandate of presenting quality art work to the Huron County community as well as to visiting theatre-goers.
The annual Student Show has a growing reputation for featuring the best work from art students in Perth and Huron County secondary schools. The public at large is invited to submit their art for the annual Community Show, a non-juried (open) exhibition.
The Gallery annually presents three exhibitions of professional level art. The first of these is by Kathy White, a Stratford fibre artist who uses wool yarn and beeswax to create complex realistic images with a dreamy haze.
This will be followed by a retrospective exhibition in various media by a group of artists whose professional collective, the Huron Society of Artists, dissolved more than 20 years ago. Many of the members are still producing creative work and have close friendships with each other.
Then, the viewing public will be treated to a show of whimsical marionettes. Artist Gemma James Smith creates the pieces as caricatures of notable local residents and historical figures. This is a show not to be missed!
All Blyth Festival Art Gallery exhibitions are organized by an enthusiastic group of volunteers and are displayed at the Bainton Gallery in the recently renovated Blyth Memorial Hall. The Gallery is open the same hours as the Festival Theatre Box Office. Admission is free. Donations are appreciated.
Past Professional Gallery Shows:
2017
PERFECT IMPERFECTION: Michelle Zarytshansky
REFLECTIONS FROM THE SANDS: Darren Woluschuk
SILENT SPACES: Julian Mulock
2016
QUIET TIME: Wendy Orr
COMMON GROUND: Elfi Enns, Madeleine Roske, & Jane Stryker
TRANSFIGURATION: Montina Hussey
2015
FROM the BEGINNING; the FOUNDERS’ RETROSPECTIVE:
the Art Gallery founders Ron and Bev Walker
A VISION of HOME: Michelle Miller
A TRICK of the LIGHT: Greg Sherwood
2014
VESTIGES and PAUSES: Rose Pearson
WHO HEALS YOU: Kelly Stevenson
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS: to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Blyth Centre for the Arts: selected works from previous gallery shows
2013
TRANSPARENT ARCHITECTURE: Brenda McDonnell
INDWELLING: Wayne Muma
COLOURS of the LAND: Susan Hay
2012
AN ENCAUSTIC VIEWPOINT: Anna Koot, Wendy O’Brien, & Wendy Orr
BEAL ART – a 100th anniversary group exhibition: works by H. B. Beal Secondary School Art teachers
WHILE I WAS WAITING: Monica Eckert
2011
FOOTSTEPS in the GARDEN: Danuta and Vlodek Tydor
RETROSPECTIVE: Jo Manning
DOUBLE EXPOSURE: Anne Hamilton and Tristan Eekhoff
2010
ROAD to OLYMPUS: Edward Schleimer
CARNIVAL: Natalie Hussey
COORDINATES: Elizabeth Van den Broeck
2009
THE ART of FUNCTION – Eight Ontario potters
PERCEPTIONS – ABSTRACTS on ALUMINUM: Darlean Morris
RURAL ROOTS – a group exhibition Members of Stratford’s Gallery 96
2008
A BEND in the RIVER: Kerry Ferris and Catherine Morrisey
BEHIND the MASK: Monte Wright
A GLASS MENAGERIE: Paulus Tjiang
2007
SYMBOLS: Ron Milton
EN MASSE: Irene Hartwick and Madeleine Roske
SCENE CHANGES: Phil Irish
2006
LAYERS and LAYERS: Cathy Van Raay-Myers
DIALOGUES in CLAY: Zsuzsa Monostory
AT FIRST LIGHT: Tim Murton
2005
CELEBRATION 30 – 30th Anniversary Show
New works from artists exhibited over the last 30 years
WHIMSICAL DISORDER: by June Selznick Drutz
UNTITLED: Landscape paintings by Leonard Jubenville
SPIRIT of the NARROWS: Willi Henry
2004
HARLEQUIN’S MASK: Wesley Bates
LAST VISIONS: Walter Sunahara
2003
COLOUR DYNAMICS: Maurice Stubbs
HOOKS, PINS and SHUTTLES: fabric artist group show
NORTHERN FRAGMENTS: Joel Masewich
2002
DIMENSIONAL ILLUSIONS & INCARNATIONS: Roberta Corey, & Cyril Leeper
THE SELECTIVE EYE: Jerry McDonnell & John Palmer, with Greg Sherwood
2001
POSITIVE/NEGATIVE – Gerard Bender à Brandis and Scott McKowen,
LINKS to a TRADITION – work from the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford
REAL PAINTING – Jane Stryker, Elfi Enns, and Gwen Smithers Kiar
2000
FROM THE COLLECTION OF: a silver anniversary exhibition – an exhibition of art works purchased by private collectors from the Art Gallery Since 1975
1999
An exhibition of children’s book illustrations by Eric Beddows (aka Ken Nutt)
CLOSING the CIRCLE: Robert Tetu
DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM: Geri Binks and Chris Wallis
1998
WATERCOLOURS and ACRYLICS: works by wildlife artist William Creighton
POLARIZED TEXTURES: Saree Marais and Debbie New
SANCTUARIES: Ada K Hunsberger
1997
From SERENE FIELDS to DYNAMIC WATERFALLS: Andres Vilar
INCANDESCENCE – CONTEMPORARY HOT GLASS:
an exhibition featuring the best of Ontario’s contemporary hot glass artists
REACHING OUT of the FRAME: Gerald Pedros
1996
A BEAUTIFUL GARDENSCAPE: Bonnie Parkinson
THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S EYE: photos by our region’s best photographers
CONTAINERS / CONTAINERS within a CONTAINER:
an exhibition of vessels and containers by our region’s artists and artistans
1995
ABSTRACT GRAPHIC and FLORAL COLLAGE WORKS: by Mary Donlan
MINIATURES : Vanita Jay
MIXED MEDIA FIGURATIVE WORKS: Liisa Rissanen
1994
Woodcut Prints & Unique Figurative Wood Sculpture: Peter Wilde
Chalk and Pastel Waterscapes: Antje Laidler
COMPLEX TEXTILE ART: Lorraine Roy
NATIVE WOODCARVINGS: Harold Rice
1993
PLAYERS: Alan Dayton
SPACE CLEARINGS: Joyce Honsberger’s paper cast
MASTERY of MEDIA and the FIGURATIVE TRADITION: Herb Ariss’s works of war imagery
1992
IN the ACADEMIC TRADITION, RURAL ROOTS: George Reid
Multimedia Installation by Audrey Shimizu & Janny Fraser
THE PRINT DEFINED: curated by Jo Manning and Eunice Diamond
1991
FOLK ART TREASURES of HURON COUNTY:
An Exhibition of Local Folk Art with a Driving Tour Guide
ART DECO QUILTS: Ellen Adams
1990
WITHIN the LANDSCAPE: David Peter Hunsberger
RAKU, PERFORMANCE in CLAY: from the Leslie Tichner Collection
Paintings by Members of the Canadian Group of Painters, from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s
1989
UNTITLED: Ron Milton
HANG the QUILT: a juried show of traditional and contemporary quilts
CONTEMPORARY WORKS: Mark Fletcher
1988
Canadian Embroiderer’s Guild: A selection of works
Huron Photographs: a juried exhibit
ASPECTS of NATURE: by Jo Manning & Ron Walker
1987
INNER LANDSCAPES: Katherine Marshall Naylor
RAKU WORKS: Karen Scott Booth
FABRIC ART 1: Sharyn Seibert
FABRIC ART 2: John Muldrew Scott
1986
ARTISTS with THEIR WORK: Tom Benner
FACE IT: an exhibition of contemporary portraits by three artists
Country Arts – quilting, woodworking & other country crafts by four artists
Exhibition from the Huron County Pioneer Museum, Goderich
WALLS and WAYSIDES – three local artists
1984 & 1985
Selected works from The Objibwe Cultural Foundation, Manitoulin Island
ONTARIO NATIVE ARTISTS at WORK: Helena Wilson
PERSPECTIVES in WATERCOLOUR: paintings by five artists
THE COMPANY WORKS: artwork by members of the Blyth Festival
THE QUILTERS COLLECTION: Traditional and modern quilts and fabric arts
FESTIVALS: Brian Cere, photographs
WATERCOLOURS: Ed Krauter
1983
CANADIAN LANDSCAPES: works on loan from Gallery Stratford
RETROSPECTIVE: Jack MacLaren
Paintings and Prints from The Objibwe Cultural Foundation, Manitoulin Island
1982
WATERCOLOURS: Denise Ireland
A COLLECTION of QUILTS II
1981
COLOURSCAPES ON PAPER: Karen Kulyk
PHOTOGRAPHS :Brian Cere
1980
60 PAINTINGS: Jack McLaren
1978
G. Brender a’ Brandis – wood engravings
Doris McCarthy – Arctic landscape in watercolours and oils.
1977
An exhibition of works by eight area artists
1976
An exhibition featuring works by nine area artists
1975
SPIRIT GATHERING: Robert Evans and Shirley Clifford
Recent work of landscape by Ron Walker