RM: I’m speaking with Sue Hayduk from the Canmore Art Guild. It’s been a while since the Canmore Art Guild Gallery has been open, but you have a show coming up. I’d imagine that a lot of local artists have been spending their lockdown being furiously creative.

SH: Yeah, I would say so for most people, either working on art pieces or finding ways to circumvent the idea of some of the closures by going online or offering workshops. It’s been a pretty busy time for artists even though we’re not as out in the community as much we typically are.

RM: Your popular Christmas show every year – you’ve managed to find a way to bring it back in the gallery space?

SH: We’re feeling a bit more comfortable with the guidelines and processes to keep people safe and to keep our volunteers safe. We’re really excited that we’re contributing this Christmas spirit to Canmore and being able to bring our show back to life.

RM: What are the details on when the show is running?

SH: It’s a limited show. It’s going to run November 28th and 29th, and that’s with the Bow Valley Artisan Studio Tour. We’re happy to be one of the stops on the map for that. After this weekend, we’ll be running Thursdays to Sundays from 10 AM to 4 PM all the way through to December 23rd.

RM: How many people can you get into the gallery at one time with current indoor restrictions?

SH: We’ve been working with the town. We’ve been instructed to allow eight people in the gallery at one time, so that may be six to seven visitors depending on how many volunteers we have at the time. We encourage people to visit during non-peak hours.

RM: In the past with your Christmas show, it’s generally been a large number of smaller works. Is that the theme this year?

SH: Yeah, it’s a small work show, a little personal items-type show. We have 15 artists that are presenting everything from fabric art, to paper or wall art, to maybe some sculpture journals, etc. There’s a real variety for a boutique shopping experience there.

RM: I’d imagine for your membership, having the opportunity to display their works in a gallery again in a proper show – it’s probably something they haven’t been able to do for a while. They must be pretty excited about it.

SH: Yeah. It’s combining the Christmas spirit and the perseverance of artists wanting to get something going. We’ve been able to put together a pretty good compliment of artists and a great little market.

RM: Unfortunately, I understand that doesn’t mean a full reopening of the gallery though. This is more of a one-time thing?

SH: We’re certainly going to be putting all our efforts into this Christmas show, and this will be our last show for a while. The Town has requested we make the gallery space available to help them manage their personnel and upgrade their program needs during the pandemic. It is a temporary measure, but it’s the best way we feel that we can serve our community.

Filed under: Canmore, Canmore Art Guild