URBAN FUTURITIES at Propeller Art Gallery ~ Aug23 - Sept10

I am delighted to have a piece in this curated group show at Propeller!! Details below……

Guest curated by Ilene Solva, Urban Futurities seeks to address the global crisis of our urban environments as they affect artists, arts organizations and cultural production.

Inflation, the housing crisis, and gentrification are calling into question the future of our global cities. Affordability, rising food costs, skyrocketing rents and real estate development are pushing people to the margins. Artists and creatives are quickly moving out of urban centres worldwide. Cultural workers are experiencing precarity on all levels, with studio spaces and creative workspaces vanishing at alarming numbers. This exhibition aims to think through how we can imagine an equitable future for citizens in which urban centres are healthy and livable places for us all. The exhibition will discuss this crisis point through art and creativity as a jumping-off point.

Exhibiting Artists:

Kezleigh Amy, ARTIFACTS, Beverly Daniels, Bret Culp, Douglas Gammage, Carly Friesen, Thomas Hlavacek, Ruth Maude, Joseph Muscat, Frances Patella, Dan Philips, Hye Yeon Shin, Patrick Stieber, Genevieve Singer, Jonathan Stern, Helena Wehrstein and Maddy Young.

The Curator:

Guest Curator, Ilene Sova is an artist and activist whose art practice focuses on equity and diversity with a feminist focus on creating a dialogue around anti-oppression. She is also heavily involved in arts advocacy, community activation, and curatorial projects that promote pluralism in the arts. Sova is the founder of the Feminist Art Conference and Blank Canvases, an in-school creative arts programme for elementary school students.

Salon17 at Propeller Art Gallery

August 2 – 20, 2023 (online to October 2nd)
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 3rd, 5 – 8 pm
Artist Talks: Sunday, August 20th, 3 – 5 pm

Salon 17 features 129 artworks by 85 artists in this annual showcase of work by Propeller Members & Invited Guests. Since 2007 Salon has become an annual art event and an anticipated fixture in Propeller’s yearly programming. Once again we will fill the walls of the gallery with a classic salon-style exhibition and celebrate the diversity of styles of the Propeller community.
We hope you can join us for the Opening Reception on Thursday, August 3rd from 5 to 8 pm.  

EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Olivia Aguiar, Sandamali Angunawela, Lex Barrie, Melissa Boodoo, Anne Boulton, Debra Carter, Kailas Cassidy, Jennifer Coghill, lucie collins, Simone Collins, Vanessa Cress Lokos, Beverley Daniels, Jacques Descoteaux, Chris Domanski, Sandrine Dickel, Ulla Djelweh, Anna Edwards, Lucy Erskine, Marlene Etherington, Sarah Fabrizi, Susan Farquhar, Linda Fitz, Zia Foley, Brittany Forrest, Peter Friedrichsen, Douglas Gammage, Aryan Ghaemmaghami, Rosa Graci, Em Leighton Hern, Horst Herget, Rita Hisar, Thomas Hlavacek, Christine Hoeldke, Cathy Hunt, Nicola Jacobson, Heejae Jo, HyunRyoung Kim, Karen Klee-Atlin, Adam Kolodziej, Mark Krawczynski, Timothy Laspa, Kasia Latos, Jennie Lau, Sandra Laurin, Michelle Letarte, William Lottering, Valerie MacIntosh, Ian Mackenzie, Gary MacLeod, Christine Marshall-Smith, Viv Moore, Lauren Huffman Morris, Geoffrey Nawn, Frances O’Flynn, Anne-Marie Olczak, Loree Ovens, Frances Patella, Kamelia Pezeshki, Dominique Prevost, Piera Pugliese, Doris Purchase, Heather Raymont, Saundra Reiner, Edna Ruiz, Susan Ruptash, Garth Scheuer, Sheryl Shapiro, Olivia Mae Sinclair, Audrey Smith, Carol Lee Smith, Vidhya Srijesh, Cortney Stephenson, Marianne Sung, Liz “Ela” Szymczak, Keijo Tapanainen, Natalia Tcherniak, Carol Finkbeiner Thomas, Tracy Thomson, Gwendolyne J. Tooth, Audra Townsend, Roxanne Tull, Theo Vandergraaf, Andres Vosu, Helena Wehrstein, Noriko Yamamoto, and Shahnaz Yekta-Fard.

TOAF 2022

I’m excited to have been accepted into the 61st Toronto Outdoor Art Fair at City Hall, July 15-17. Booth numbers will be announced soon. There is also an online sale from July8-17 on the TOAF website.

So…….I’m busy making art and doing all the prep required for the show!!!

TOAF Instagram Takeover

Done! I had a lot of fun doing it, but wow, the learning curve to get up to speed with Instagram was steep!! Anyway, doing it has prepared me for the Toronto ONLINE Art Fair coming up July2-12. Still lots to learn about using social media though…lol. Thanks to TOAF for inviting me to do it :)

#torontooutdoorart

#toaf59

#helena.wehrstein

TOAF Instagram Takeover May 19-26

I have been asked to ‘takeover’ the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair’s Instagram page for the week May 19-26. I am very excited about this opportunity to showcase my work, my inspiration, my process.

I have had an Instagram account for a couple of years and only done 4 posts…lol. I am being brought kicking and screaming into the social media world! and have to learn how it all works!!

PETROFF GALLERY ~ The Element of Texture

I will be one of 6 artists in the upcoming show at the Petroff Gallery Oct 31-Nov 26: The Element of Texture.

I am delighted to begin a partnership with this gallery! May it be fruitful for all :)

Please join me at the Gallery for the opening. My works includes pieces from the past couple of years, so if you missed the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, here’s your chance to see some of my wiry works :)

Hope to see you there.

WEH promo-1000x1000.jpg

My Image on Heritage Toronto website

Heritage Toronto has used an image I took in 1982 to advertise their Lady Action:
Toronto’s Trailblazing Women
tours this year. They found my image on ‘Rise Up!’…an archive of Canadian feminism. https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/

March 1982, Toronto

March 1982, Toronto

INSPIRED in GUATEMALA

I love Mayan textiles!

I have purchased quite a few used huipiles (women’s blouses/shirts) over the past few years, mostly from a store in Antigua, a lovely old colonial city about 45 minutes away from Guatemala City. The store has a huge pile of old huipiles that I go through each time I’m in Guatemala; I’m always searching for treasures.

On my recent trip I started looking also at the insides of the huipiles to see the weavings’ backsides. A lot have little thread ends all over from small coloured sections, woven in or hand-embroidered. They reminded me of the wires I use these days….so I am going to work on combining wires and textiles in the next little while. I love working with wires, but very much miss the textures of textiles.

Used huipiles for sale, Antigua, Guatemala

Used huipiles for sale, Antigua, Guatemala