The Kerrobert Courtroom Gallery is now showing “The Gift” a collection of paintings and pottery made by Marilyn Kennedy of Luseland, SK and Jo Petty of Ashcroft, BC. The show opened on June 28th and will be running until August 28th.

The Kerrobert Courtroom Gallery is a year-round venue that is open daily during the town office hours. There are five shows a year featuring artists around the province. The varying artists are local or have local ties to the community, 

The Courtroom Gallery opened in May, 2008 and has since grown as the gallery has become hit in the community. Before taking it’s spot in the Courtroom the Perspectives Art Group displayed a gallery once a year at the Prarieland Community Centre starting in 2005.

In 2016 the courthouse underwent renovations to better the gallery. With the help of volunteers to lower the cost, they put in new lighting and painted to better promote the artwork. Artists from bigger centres who have displayed their work in Kerrobert have said that there are not a lot of galleries that are as nice as the courtroom. Artists have said that the space is amazing and that there is great character in the room along with the whole building. 

Tracey Cholin, chairperson of the Kerrobert Courtroom Gallery highlighted why it is an important venue to have in the town, “It’s nice because it is a year-round venue, it is not something that is hit and miss. Anybody coming through town, during business hours, can stop in and see the gallery along with the museum. Our traffic has been increasing the last few years as we have done more advertising and brought in more artists.” 

Cholin added that the gallery is always changing, “It’s not all paintings. At the moment we have paintings and pottery, we’ve had metal sculptures and a lot of different artwork on display.” She also said that for every show there is an opening reception that involves live entertainment, snacks, and a meet and greet with the artist. For the current show, “The Gift”, there was no opening reception but instead a closing reception will be held on August 28th at 7:00pm. At the closing reception will be an additional show to be displayed called “100 Days/ 100 Bowls”.

The Courtroom Gallery will also be hosting an art workshop in August led by Jo Petty exploring Natural Earth Pigments. It will be running August 26th and 27th with a $185.00 fee per person, you must per-register by August 12th. To register for the workshop call Tracey at 306 834 7510 or email her at tlctlc@xplornet.ca.

“The Gift” is a beautiful collection of paintings and pottery, Jo Petty describes it as “A circle of creation, love and homecoming”.