Local Collective Art Project unveils work of 12 Amherstburg artists

An open house was held Sunday afternoon at The O to officially unveil a dozen works of art from Amherstburg artists. The group is part of the Local Collective Art Project.

The work of a dozen local artists now has a home in a hotel bar.

The Local Collective Art Project is comprised of 12 Amherstburg artists and all are represented on a wall at The O, the latter being the eating and bar establishment as part of Hotel STRY. The collective is comprised of artists Stephen Gibb, Matthew Zaidan, Marshall White, Rob MacLellan, Dennis White, Julie Robinson, Jay Santarossa, Brooke White, Andrea White, Natalie White, Cameron Arksey, and Dylan White.

Dylan White helped found the Local Collective Art Project, and pointed out he was sitting with Hotel STRY owner Lauri Brouyette one day talking about projects they could work on. One of the walls near the rear of The O was blank and Dylan said instead of putting up one large piece of art, they decided it would be good to divide it into 12 pieces and have artists from town contribute their work.

“Everyone has a different style,” he said. “It’s cool to see the contrasting styles all on one wall.”

The artists are all known to Dylan and his father Dennis White and they reached out to them.

“We really didn’t have to go too far,” said Dylan. “Almost everyone is in the downtown core. They are friends and acquaintances.”

“I’m just a participant,” joked Dennis.

An open house was held last Sunday afternoon at The O with friends, family, and the general public streaming through to view the artwork. Local musician Bethany D’Alimonte was on hand performing as well as other area musicians.

Dylan said the plan is for the collective to work on other projects and participate at other events. Further collaborating with D’Alimonte could be in the works with Dylan stating it is nice to mix music and artwork together in the same project.

“It’s about local artists supporting artists,” he said. 

Some of the artwork is for sale, Dylan added, and they may switch some of the work from time to time to keep it fresh.

The current collaboration with The O began about a month-and-a-half ago, Dylan stated.

“It’s pretty short notice for things to come together,” he said. 

The open house was designed for the artists to gather and to meet the public.

“It’s getting our feet wet and getting the ball rolling,” said Dylan.

Artists were pleased to get involved and jump on board.

“Dylan White approached me a few weeks ago about showing my art at Hotel STRY with some other artists. He told me that they were really trying to promote local art, and that was really all I needed to hear to get me on board,” said Zaidan. "Initially, I didn’t even know who the other artists were but once I found out I knew that I was in good company, and it really motivated me to create something unique and interesting for this show.”

Zaidan, who is also a graphic designer with the River Town Times, said he is always interested in supporting initiatives such as this, either as an artist or in support of local art organizations such as the Gibson Gallery, where he is a board member or the Art Amherstburg Society. 

“Supporting local art and artists is important for so many reasons from nurturing local culture and talent to attracting tourism. It’s also good for business, but it’s up to us to keep reminding people of its value and significance by proactively working collaboratively and creatively on projects such as this,” he said.

MacLellan said there are other opportunities being talked about, including coming up with themes and then allowing artists to create their own interpretations of it.

“I’m really excited,” said MacLellan. “All of the artists are completely excited about it.” Marshall White is joined in the collective by his three daughters – Andrea , Brooke and Natalie – and they all worked on their pieces separately.

“It’s very cool,” he said. “It’s cool all four of us were able to do something to contribute to it.”

Marshall said he created his work in approximately three days, using oils and cold wax, something he hadn’t tried before. 

Local Collective Art Project unveils work of 12 Amherstburg artists

By Ron Giofu