Read The Full Pop Up Art Report Here
What is Pop Up Art?
Ottawa Valley Community Arts (OV-CAOS), in partnership with the Community Resource Centre (Killaloe), received a three-year Grow Grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to expand on Pop Up Art programming that was established in 2019.
From 2020-2023, Ottawa Valley residents had the opportunity to experience Pop Up Art in a number of ways.
Pop Up Art Galleries and Exhibitions
The Ottawa Valley is home to three semi-permanent public art exhibition venues, located in the communities of Eganville, Garrison Petawawa and Arnprior. Each of these galleries is hosted 10 curated exhibitions between March 2021 and June 2023. The exhibition line-up features themed, juried, multi-artist/creative people exhibitions and open community exhibits.
Pop Up Art Events*
Ottawa Valley Community Arts hosted a series of Pop Up Art events* in communities across the Ottawa Valley. These events* primarily occur outdoors and include collaborative art-making in a range of media and a performance element. As well, some of these events* included the creation of a public art installation.
Pop Up Art-Making
There are multiple ways that people can engage in collaborative art-making. Art-making at home: art-making kits are designed for people to create a component of a community art installation from their homes. Workshops: people are invited to participate at in-person workshops hosted throughout the Ottawa Valley.
Why Pop Up Art?
Currently, Renfrew County does not have a public art gallery, but we do have many artists, creative people and cultural workers. Renfrew County is very large geographically and we don’t have public transportation. Through Pop Up Art, we explore the impact and viability of bringing mobile art experiences to people living in rural communities.
OV-CAOS, the CRC and the Ontario Trillium Foundation believe that by creating public art spaces and exhibitions — about Renfrew County and by its artists and creative people— residents will have increased access to meaningful artistic experiences.
Who is this Project For? EVERYONE!
Pop Up Art is here to address the need for Ottawa Valley residents to have more opportunities to interact with art in public spaces.
Artists and Creative People
Pop Up Art features four to five multi-artist/creative people, juried, art exhibits. This means over 50 artists and creative people had the opportunity to create and exhibit artwork for the Pop Up Art exhibitions.
* Pop Up Art and COVID-19
Each element of Pop Up Art programing is designed to ebb and flow with the ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic. When it’s safe to do so, we will offer in-person programing. When it’s not safe to gather, we will offer virtual programming and opportunities for people to contribute to a collaborative project by creating from their homes via specially designed kits. Most of the Pop Up Art events will occur outdoors, in places where physical distancing can be maintained. All of our programming will take place in locations across the Ottawa Valley, hosted by organizations and businesses other than OV-CAOS. Therefore, we are committed to upholding our own COVID-19 protocols as well as reinforcing the protocols of our hosts.
