Opening night features music, food, opportunities to support U of O student-artists
A night of live music, hors d’oeuvres, and fine art for sale awaits in the Paradigm[e] Gallery’s latest exhibit, Revive, opening on Tuesday, Dec. 5, with the vernissage starting at 8 p.m.
Revive will be showcasing approximately forty creations of University of Ottawa visual arts students, with all pieces available for sale, and admission will be free of charge.
“This event is to just bring everyone together. We’re gonna have paintings in the foyer and in the hallway for that night, but the gallery is just in the dean’s hallway,” said Olivia Leon, a third-year environmental studies and visual arts student, and one of the project managers. “It is interdisciplinary, so there are gonna be music students that are gonna come and perform some live music, we’re gonna have a silent auction.” Leon added that the artwork on display will be up for sale.
“We have a huge grouping of work, everyone wants to be a part of it,” said Billie Sue Johnston, a fourth-year visual arts student. “We’re getting major submissions, making it so that we actually have a reserve of art in the back, so that when things sell the night of, we’ll be able to replace it with more art.”
This type of event, especially on this scale is quite rare at the university.
“I don’t hear of (events such as Revive) too often, honestly,” Johnstone said. “Maybe when students run a project and it goes big, but you don’t see much from the university doing much themselves.”
What makes this event particularly interesting is that the artwork itself will be up for sale and the gallery will remain open until the spring. The artists will receive 85 per cent of the proceeds with 10 per cent going towards the student art bank, a university fund that allows them to purchase students’ artwork to be displayed on campus. The last five per cent covers operational costs.
Zeina Hamod, a third-year art history and psychology major, and another of the project managers, said that this event, more than anything, is a great opportunity to support local artists, something that is often harder to engage students to do.
“I would say that they should come out support their local artists,” she said. “There is an eclectic variety of works, and there’s free food, live music, it’s a free event, and it’s always great to support local artists.”
Revive opens Dec. 8, in the Arts Administration Foyer and the Dean’s Gallery in Simard Hall, from 5 p.m to 8 p. m. Admission and refreshments are free.
