A tradition for over 20 years, the Kawartha Art Gallery
Annual Juried Student Exhibition is back!
All are welcome to attend the Awards Presentation Reception!
Saturday, March 29 2025 • 2 to 4 at the Pie Eyed Monk in Lindsay
ABOUT THE EXHBIT
It is an opportunity for all high school students in the City of Kawartha Lakes and within the Trillium Lakelands District School Board and is one of our most anticipated exhibitions of the year.
The students’ works span a variety of media and include representations of landscape, everyday objects, loved ones, belonging and identity. This exhibition provides an exciting opportunity to showcase the wide variety and high quality of artwork created by our area high school students.
Artwork submissions were selected by the art teachers with all work to be done for a course in Visual Arts within the current academic year or has been completed since September 3, 2024.
There was no limit on the number of students or grade level from each high school who may participate, with a maximum of one piece of original work per student, in any media, including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, mixed media, fibre arts, and digital art.
The student artworks were selected by an external juror, with the juror providing constructive comments and suggestions for acknowledging and building on the students’ skill sets. This year we were delighted to work with juror Michael Dumas.
ABOUT THE JUROR: MICHAEL DUMAS
Michael Dumas was born and raised in the small town of Whitney, Ontario, located at the eastern borders of Algonquin Park. Exposure and familiarity with the wilderness and it’s creatures are reflected in his art, from childhood to present day. He worked for a time as a ranger in Algonquin and has continued his connection to the Park by accompanying research teams on projects such as the winter bear den census. Michael’s subject matter also includes rural themes and people; the common denominator within all of his art being an intimate connection based on personal experience. Much of Michael’s work expresses the simple harmony of the everyday, often paying tribute to humble subject matter that is frequently ignored or gone unnoticed. These he elevates by skilful painting and beautifully balanced compositions bathed in luminescent light.
Michael’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including such notable institutions as the National Museum of Canada, The McMichael Collection – Canada, The Leigh-Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the Slamagundi Club NYC, Brookgreen Gardens, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art – USA, Suntory Museum of Art, the Imaoka Collection – Japan, Quingdao Lan Wan Gallery of Art – China, The Museum of Art Inspired by Nature – England, and the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) – Spain to name but a few.
He is listed in many biographical reference volumes, including Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Canada, Who’s Who in the World, and the International Register of Profiles. His art has also been featured on Canadian postage stamps and commemorative coins produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. Numerous awards include 2 ARC International Salon Dual Category Awards, Artists for Conservation Best of Show and 7 Medals of Excellence, the Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award, National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society Award of Excellence, Society of Animal Artists President’s Artistic Achievement Award, Peterborough Pathway of Fame, Kawartha Order of the Arts, and the Algonquin Art Centre’s Legacy Award.
As a member of the Artists for Conservation, he contributed seven components to the Silent Skies composite mural depicting 678 endangered birds of the world. In 2022 his work was presented in a six-page article in Art Tour International Magazine’s Earth Day edition, and he participated in a live presentation of his work on the Global Earth Day Broadcast via ATIM International Network. More recently he was the subject of a two-part interview on Kathryn Lloyd’s ‘The Artist Secrets’, and contributed to two major conservation fund raisers, Sketch for Survival, hosted by The Explorer’s Club in NYC, and ‘On the Brink’, the latter being displayed at The Dundas St. Gallery, Edinburgh Scotland, and the OXO Gallery, on London’s Southbank prior to the Real World Conservation auction. The Artists for Conservation has chosen Michael as the 2023 recipient of the Simon Combes Conservation Award, with the presentation being held at the AFC 2023 International Exhibition of Nature Art in Vancouver in September.
More than $1200 will be presented in awards due to generous support of:
LEAD EXHIBIT SPONSOR
EXHIBIT SPONSORS
AWARD SPONSORS
ABOUT THE HELENE BAKER MEMORIAL BURSARY AWARD
This bursary for $100 is presented to the exhibiting student whose work is considered to be of the highest achievement in the exhibit.
Helene Baker was a founding member of Kawartha Art Gallery and a lifelong proponent of the arts. Helene lived with her family on a farm in the Valentia area. Multi-talented in a variety of arts and crafts, Helene was also a piano teacher. This Award has been established by Helene’s family in her memory.
ABOUT THE BRENDA MILNER MEMORIAL BURSARY AWARD
This bursary for $100 is presented to an exhibiting Grade 12 student going onto post-secondary studies in the visual arts. Brenda Milner’s association started with Kawartha Art Gallery in its early days, with Brenda serving on the Gallery Board for 13 years.
For over 30 years Brenda taught Basic Drawing, Watercolour and Mixed Media through Fleming College’s Lindsay and Haliburton campuses and at Kawartha Art Gallery. Brenda was very active in the Lindsay community and was honoured to be chosen as Citizen of the Year in 2002. This Award has been established by Brenda’s family in her memory.