WEYBURN - Last year there was a black steel panther that stole the show – this year, it might just be a large chicken … or something else might steal your imagination.
The 41st edition of the James Weir People’s Choice art exhibition was installed by curator Regan Lanning on Monday afternoon, and the show opened for viewing and voting on Tuesday, set to run from now until March 14, 2025, as the sole exhibition in the Weyburn Art Gallery.
“This year, for the James Weir People’s Choice, we have 23 unique works on exhibition,” said Lanning. “They range from paintings to drawings to fibre works, to clay and wood-burning. We have a chest of drawers, and we even have a painted guitar case. It’s literally everything you can imagine on display, and voting opened on Tuesday.”
Ballots are available as viewers come in to the gallery, and people are encouraged to vote for their favourite three pieces.
The artists’ names have been removed so as not to impact the voting process, and this year artists were invited to include an artist’s statement if they wished.
The chest of drawers, featuring several types of wood in its design, includes an extensive artist’s statement explaining why all of the types of wood were included, and what kinds of wood were used.
Lanning is planning to once again host tours for classes of the exhibition starting in February, and invites any interested people or groups in the community who wish to arrange for a tour as well.
“If there are any community groups interested in a tour, just contact the front desk at the Credit Union Spark Centre,” she said.
In addition, the Weyburn Art Gallery is open for viewing anytime the Spark Centre is open, she noted.
Voting will be all in person this year, and Lanning expressed doubt that online voting will be used again as it had been during the COVID lockdowns.
“It was quite arduous and difficult. Voting platforms are very particular, and it scales down all of the works to being the same size, so it’s hard to get a true look at it,” she said, noting it’s far better to see in person and see all of the works as they were created.
Last year, she noted 10 per cent of Weyburn’s population came out to vote with a record-setting number of ballots cast at 1,549 votes.
“That’s how we trend, every year we get more votes than we had the year before, and I’d love to see that trend continue,” said Lanning.
