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Gallery in the Grove reopens with new exhibition

Artistic Explorations, an exhibition by Sarnia-area artists Leonard Segall and Regina Gudelis, has reopened at Gallery in the Grove in Sarnia’s Bright’s Grove.

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Artistic Explorations, an exhibition by Sarnia-area artists Leonard Segall and Regina Gudelis, has reopened at Gallery in the Grove in Sarnia’s Bright’s Grove.

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The show, featuring Segall’s photographs and Gudelis’ paintings, opened this week and will continue at the volunteer-operated art gallery at the Bright’s Grove library branch until Sept. 4.

Kirsty Kilner-Holmes, the chair of the gallery’s board, said it is its first show since the latest pandemic lockdown eased.

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“It looks like the art world is reopening safely and cautiously,” she said. “It feels so good.”

Face masks are required in the gallery, and there is a limit in the numbers of patrons allowed in at one time.

Kilner-Holmes said the gallery has also reduced the hours for the first exhibition following the easing of pandemic restrictions.

The gallery will be open Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the current show.

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Regina Gudelis is shown with one of her paintings at Gallery in the Grove. (PAUL MORDEN, The Observer)
Regina Gudelis is shown with one of her paintings at Gallery in the Grove. (PAUL MORDEN, The Observer) Handout

“The exhibition opening with Leonard and Regina is absolutely stunning,” Kilner-Holmes said.

Gudelis has been painting for more than 40 years and her work is in collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

“My paintings are created in a loose and intuitive style using watercolours and acrylics,” she said. “I draw images from the universe and creativity from within.”

Kilner-Holmes described the artist’s paintings as “happy and full of colour.

“Regina’s paintings feel like a breath of fresh air,” she said.

Segall’s landscape photographs in the exhibition were taken more than two years at Walter and Mary Petrysychuk’s Hickory Creek conservation project in Plympton-Wyoming.

“I was given by first camera as a present on my 13th birthday,” said Segall, who grew up in Quebec and retired from Imperial Oil in Sarnia. “I shot slides until I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into digital photography.”

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Photographer Leonard Segall stands near his work exhibited at Gallery in the Grove at the Bright’s Grove Library. (PAUL MORDEN, The Observer)
Photographer Leonard Segall stands near his work exhibited at Gallery in the Grove at the Bright’s Grove Library. (PAUL MORDEN, The Observer) Photo by Paul Morden /The Observer

Segall said he grew up in a forest and was attracted to Petrysychuk’s property, where the couple has planted trees and maintained the natural landscape.

“I love being in the forest,” he said. “One of my loves is the wildflowers, so there’s photographs of trilliums, dog tooth violets and jack in the pulpit.”

Gallery in the Grove, which has about 70 active volunteers, is planning to continue in the fall with an exhibition by Laura Kreviazuk and Laura Manzano Arias from Sept. 16 to Oct. 23, followed by this year’s Gifts of the Season show from Nov. 12 to Dec. 18.

The gallery will also continue its tradition of awarding $1,000 scholarships to local students studying the arts.

Kilner-Holmes said they are set to award four scholarships later this month.

“That’s so important to us and part of our mandate,” she said.

The gallery has awarded more than $120,000 in scholarships since 1982.

“We’ve managed to weather COVID,” Kilner-Holmes said. “We look forward to welcoming friends and new volunteers back into the gallery space.”

pmorden@postmedia.com

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