Covid-19 Update
The Thames Art Gallery is now open for drop-in visits during our business hours Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. Open to 7:00 pm on Thursdays. Pre-registration is no longer required. Mask mandate lifted. Patrons who wish to still wear a mask may do so. We look forward to your visit!
Welcome
The Thames Art Gallery is a part of the Arts + Culture division of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent dedicated to promoting the understanding, appreciation, conservation and enjoyment of the visual arts in the community for both present and future generations. The gallery places an emphasis on public arts education programming and multidisciplinary exhibition programming.
Information & Services
Hours: Open Wednesday to Sunday 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. Open to 7:00 pm on Thursdays.
Address: Chatham Cultural Centre, 75 William Street North, Chatham, Ontario
Phone: 519-360-1998
Email:
ckartgallery@chatham-kent.ca
Website:
www.tagartspace.com
Admission: By donation
Fully wheelchair accessible
What's On
- Winter ARTcrawl February 10, 2023 | 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
- Exhibition What Lays Beneath A Retrospective of Works by Leonard Jubenville January 27, 2022 - March 26, 2023. Opening ARTcrawl February 10, 2023 | 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm.
- Exhibition The Floating World Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints from the Hortense and John Sloan Gordon Collection January 27, 2022 - March 26, 2023. Opening ARTcrawl February 10, 2023 | 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm.
- Register for March Break ARTcamp
- Register for Art Programs
Stay connected and check out what's on at www.tagartspace.com
Exhibitions
What Lays Beneath: A Retrospective of Works by Leonard Jubenville
January 27, 2022 - March 26, 2023
Opening ARTcrawl February 10, 2023 | 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
From the first, thin layer of glazed oil paint to the last, Leonard Jubenville has built a celebrated career by taking us just beyond the surface of the seen. Optical plays of light elicit volumes of crisp, clear air. Glassy surfaces of water hide the depths we know to be there. With an irrepressible delight in colour and composition, it is through the unmarred surfaces of his paintings that the viewer is ultimately transported beyond the material to experience the world anew. Whether Jubenville turns his eye to the common objects of daily life, the picturesque expanse of the landscape, or its steady evolution into the Anthropocene, there is something equally beautiful and unsettling uncanny about his vision.
The Floating World
Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints from the Hortense and John Sloan Gordon Collection
January 27, 2022 - March 26, 2023
Opening ARTcrawl February 10, 2023 | 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Exemplifying the influence of Japanese Culture on the development of modernism in the West, TAG's collection of Ukiyo-e prints was assembled by artist/educator Hortense Gordon. She used these prints to illustrate modernist principles, but Ukiyo-e continues to hold significant influence over contemporary culture. Their engagement with craftsmanship, disregard for hierarchy in matters of medium, and their embrace of popular subject matters combine to create a nodal point as we continue our transition into the digital age including the current fascination with anime.
Upcoming Exhibition
Tether
April 6, 2023 - June 4, 2023
Opening Reception April 14, 2023 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Tether explores narratives of motherhood and correlated themes, including artwork by April Hickox, Natasha Lan, Jennifer Long, Kelly O'Brien, Theola Ross, Arpita Shah, and Jessica Wohl. This group brings together parents of toddlers, children with disabilities, and school-aged youth, who have actively explored their personal experiences of being or becoming a parent within their practice. From sewing to film making to photography, this collection of artworks includes works ranging from three decades ago to imagery created in response to our current time. Interweaving themes of the experience of time, visibility, intimacy and memory, the artists examine their relationships with parenting and their larger connection to the world in which we live.
Virtual Exhibitions
Here I Am: Secondary School Virtual Exhibition 2022
July 14 - October 30, 2022
Here I Am Virtual Student Exhibition is a collection of works celebrating the curiosity, passion, technique, and talent of emerging young creatives in grades 9 – 12 across Chatham-Kent. Explore the visual narratives young artists, designers, and makers use to capture their unique stories and impressions about their world through diverse mediums and creative processes.
The Thames Art Gallery staff would like to express our warmest gratitude to all the talented young artists who have submitted to both Here I Am and the Thames Art Gallery Graduating Art Scholarship. We have enjoyed viewing your art and are delighted to be sharing it with our community. A special thank you also goes to Cathy Van Raay-Myers whose generous donation made the Graduating Art Scholarship opportunity possible for the students of Chatham-Kent.
We would also like to acknowledge the support, guidance, and enthusiasm that parents and teachers alike have shown throughout the process of bringing this exhibition to life. You continue to inspire our young artists, a fact we should never overlook.
We encourage you all to vote for your favourite pieces in Here I Am. Three winners of a $100 People's Choice Award will be presented to those artists.
To all of the students: best of luck with your continued studies, and enjoy your summer!
View Students Art and Vote for People's Choice Award Today
Thames Art Gallery Graduating Art Scholarship Award 2022: Aiden Hawgood
The Thames Art Gallery is offering a one thousand dollar scholarship award to a Chatham-Kent secondary school student who intends to further their education in any of the visual arts, including fine arts, commercial or graphic arts. The recipient must be planning to attend a post-secondary institution (college or university) full-time in the fall of the year following graduation in an arts program.
This scholarship is graciously donated by sponsor Cathy Van Raay-Myers who made this opportunity possible for the students of Chatham-Kent.
Congratulations, Aiden Hawgood. Your passion for advocacy, LGBTQIA+, Feminism and dedication to your practice was clear to see. We wish you the best in your continued studies.
Thames Art Gallery staff wishes commiserations to all the other graduating students who have applied to the scholarship. We received several deserving applications, and it was challenging to select only one of the many qualified candidates.
Programs
Part of the Thames Art Gallery's mandate is to foster a love and understanding of the arts. We have many great art programs, workshops, classes, lectures, films and events for young and old, beginner and advanced for those wanting to be serious and those looking for a little fun!
Check Out Gallery ProgramsWe are pleased to offer an online registration service for your convenience. In order to register for a program in Arts + Culture, you will need to create a new account. Once you have your account set up, please browse through the available programs offered in galleries. Need help registering? Please call 519-360-1998 or email ckartgallery@chatham-kent.ca.
Register for Art Programs
Visitor Guidelines
TAG would like to reassure patrons that all recommended safety measures are in line with COVID-19 public health guidelines.
- Hand sanitizer is available at all entrances and exits for public use.
- Frequent and enhanced cleaning routine (high touch zones).
- If you feel ill or have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, please stay home.
- If you have COVID-19 symptoms, contact
CK Public Health.
By entering, you acknowledge and agree on behalf of yourself and those for whom you are a parent or guardian, that as an indoor facility the use of this building may include possible exposure to and illness from infectious diseases such as COVID-19, and you freely assume all such risks.
Community Arts Initiatives
The Thames Art Gallery presents, throughout the year, a series of Community Arts Initiatives that are open to Chatham-Kent artists. These are intended to engage community artists in themed or directed exhibition projects. Community Arts Initiatives are platforms that engage and teach – they also bring and connect people to the gallery. The Thames Art Gallery prepares workshops and programs to complement Arts Initiative Projects, by bringing in visiting artists to provide opportunities for the community audience/artists to investigate the art-making process. As well, these projects conceptually link and provide a window of accessibility to complex and challenging exhibitions in the Ground Floor Gallery.
Artist in Residence
The Thames Art Gallery is pleased to host a number of contemporary Canadian artists throughout the year. Residencies provide an opportunity for student tours and members of the community to engage with professional artists and with each other.
Permanent Collection
The Thames Art Gallery's Permanent Collection represents the works of visual artists, historical and contemporary, relevant to the development and growth of Chatham-Kent's art history and contemporary Canadian artists from Southwestern Ontario. Today the collection of approximately 500 paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures and installations covers a period from the mid-1800s to the present day.
Includes:
- Alexander M. Fleming (1875-1929) - over 50 works by Alexander M. Fleming. The Gallery has been very active in collecting Fleming paintings and without this effort, his artwork would be lost to the citizens of this community.
- George Wolfe - made major contributions to the advancement of the arts in Chatham-Kent. His "Kent County" landscapes present a shared geographical place and establish an identity that is unique to this area of rural Southwestern Ontario.
- Hortense Gordon (1887-1961) - Showed great talent early, exhibiting with the Ontario Society of Artists while still in her teens. She was a trailblazer in the popularization of modern art in Canada.
- Hortense Gordon, Sketchbooks - Features eleven Hortense (Mattice) Gordon sketchbooks, ranging from the early 1900s to 1960.
You can visit the collection online at
www.vitacollections.ca/ThamesArtGallery.
