{"id":97944,"date":"2021-05-20T17:05:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T21:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=97944"},"modified":"2021-05-20T17:05:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T21:05:08","slug":"little-art-gallery-brings-joy-to-a-simple-stroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/little-art-gallery-brings-joy-to-a-simple-stroll\/","title":{"rendered":"Little art gallery brings joy to a simple stroll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Art and creativity is in Helena Renwick’s very DNA. Her mother was an artist and her father a potter so she came to her love of art naturally. Her formal arts education began at York University, continued at Ryerson, and culminated with a degree in fine arts and art history from the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through everything in her personal and professional life, art has been a constant. So, it was no surprise that when a friend forwarded a link to a story about a little art gallery in Seattle, WA, she wholeheartedly embraced the idea for her Hunters Bay Drive community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Seattle gallery followed the concept of www.littlefreelibrary.org<\/span><\/a>, a global literacy initiative with the motto \u201cTake a Book, Leave a Book.\u201d While Renwick believed that the original idea of actually taking a tiny piece of art and leaving one in exchange might work well in a busy, downtown area, she just \u201cwanted to make people smile\u201d as they simply viewed the artworks in her own neighbourhood. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic was another driver in Renwick’s desire to spread a little joy via art. \u201cLast year when the pandemic began, I started the ‘Self Isolation Portrait Project’ and painted 75 small portraits of local friends and acquaintances,” she recalls. “I posted them online and the positive response was immediate. I realized that art online was one of the ways we could stay connected while being apart.\u201d When she heard about the \u201cLittle Art Gallery\u201d it all came together. She thought, \u201cThis is a way to continue with my small paintings and to share a view of them with people walking the neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks after the gallery opened, Renwick’s fertile imagination and creativity kicked into high gear and she considered further changes to the concept. \u201cThe gallery opened on May 9, 2021. At first, I wanted other artists to be showcased – and that might happen in the future – but for now I\u2019d like to have a little fun with it and present art from around the world and from different periods in art history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She smiles, \u201cFor example, the next show is coming from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam; we have four pieces of Vincent\u2019s work to display. I believe there is a special viewing of the Mona Lisa on loan from the Louvre coming the week after. And there may even be a show of the \u201cGroup of Seven\u201d if we can get the McMichael Art Gallery to loan the works. I\u2019m hoping that people might send me their ideas and or requests of their favourite artists.\u201d Of course, all of this is in the name of fun and whimsy and Renwick herself will be painting works of art in the manner of the Old Masters and New World Masters, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t