Cultivating Creativity

For publication March 12, 2025

The Quinte Arts Council Cultural Hub and Gallery is abuzz with creativity and inspiration this
March as it hosts the 7th annual RISE exhibition. This event showcases the talents of local
artists under the national theme “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”
The exhibition is a vibrant celebration of the unique perspectives and creative journeys of
women and girls, reflecting their struggles, triumphs, and aspirations.

Each work on display tells a story, capturing the essence of the theme through various mediums
such as painting, photography, and mixed media. Visitors to the gallery are treated to a diverse
array of artworks that highlight the multifaceted experiences of women and girls.
Adding to the excitement, the Quinte area hosted numerous gatherings on March 8th in honour
of International Women’s Day. These events brought the community together to celebrate and
support the rights, equality, and empowerment of women and girls. From panel discussions and
workshops to performances and social gatherings, the day was filled with activities that
highlighted the importance of gender equality and the contributions of women in various fields.
The Quinte Arts Council has provided a welcoming space for these artists to share their voices
and visions. The RISE exhibition runs for the month of March.

Matriarch by Karen Buck-Mackintosh
The group portrait depicts female, intergenerational relationships, figure-headed by the
matriarch. Four generations are posed together on the 1960’s sofa with appointed positions and
respective loyalties. Each figure is under painted in a hue to denote personality and a sense of
individual, spiritual aura. A halo crowns the rose-coloured, mother figure to signify her status.
Skin tones are worked in paynes grey in respect to the great grandmother. The lack of realistic
skin colour also represents the suppression of shared knowledge and wisdom between the
figures of that era. Underlying wounds of sexual abuse, cancer, mental health and aging
resurface with the experience of memories and the passage of each generation. The desire for
individuality is suppressed by the need for refuge from vulnerability within the family group.

Kelly Beaulieu
I have been reflecting on family and the dynamics of abandonment and abuse. My sisters and I
are survivors. I start a natural portrait based on a photo and then let the paint guide me into the
subconscious. The results show the balance of being content in your own skin or fighting the
negative self-talk. I deliberately share what I am uncomfortable with—my weight gain, my self
unclothed, vulnerable. Trying to be a beacon for authentic love of my raw, unfiltered, with no
cosmetic enhancement. There is anger there. It is kept at bay by painting out the anger in broad
strokes. There is the humility of being held honest with my artist community and the students I
work with. They demand that I am as vulnerable as I ask them to be in the process.

Rhonda Nolan
O Apasia how did that happen? How did you get forgotten? Who dared do that to you when you
were the esteemed teacher of such a prized and historically known scholar, Plato. But where
are you now? Wiped and scrubbed from history books. You and the many other forgotten
women will now be unearthed, recognized and thanked. Yes we are deserving of this.
We have wonderful and worthy attributes that have been completely forgotten. We will reclaim
them. Methodically and slowly we will move from a very battered and time-worn past to rise from
the hourglass of time, and find our own voice. Women supporting women to nourish this planet.
I feel it is important to have this altar. Now is the appropriate time for all women to be
worshipped. This altar is a place that will hold space for reverence to all women. We are now
reconstructing anew, and creating a strong unified threshold. Standing on the shoulders of our
foremothers, we enter into our future. Listening and opening our girdered hearts to hear our own
true voices. We will strengthen and redeem these lost women. Women supporting women.

Angela Wiggins
My art shows bold colour and movement. I want everyone who views my work to feel joy and a
sense of healing within their soul. I have always felt a need to heal those around me and my
work enhances my ability to bring joy to those around me.
Embraced – The strawberry representing love surrounded by the traditional medicine wheel
colours in the vine as it embraces the lost souls looking for roots, and an identity.
I Am Here – Standing as a proud indigenous woman in front of the traditional medicine wheel
wearing a contemporary ribbon skirt with medicine wheel color ribbons. This piece is paying
homage to so many indigenous women in a culture that does not claim them. I speak for many
women who are lost and looking for a foundation to grow roots and grow strong!

Ruth McCurdy
I Capture Moments in Time; through my camera lens that can never be recreated. I respect and
honour the world I live in and am able to capture the most tender moments as a result and it
shows up in my work.

Sarah Winn
Jackie
Jackie Shane was a pioneer transgender performer and was a prominent jazz singer in the
1960s, Toronto, ON.

Anne Risi
My work is rooted in themes of self-resilience, explores femininity and the complexity of
womanhood. Each piece is a part of my personal journey, where I share my experience and I
hope to create space for introspection, where the viewer can engage with their own feelings.
I often activate my canvas using the colour yellow, which symbolizes something deeply personal
to me. It’s the foundation of my art; it wouldn’t exist without it. I then apply paint and drag it
across the surface in order to create a raw, impressionistic feel.

Without formal art training, I have the freedom to experiment and follows what feels right. As I
build confidence in my art, my work has evolved from abstract to a more realistic style, layering
charcoal over shapes to create depth, texture and to guide the viewer through my work. I love
working on large scale pieces, often including circles and flowers -known symbols of femininity,
growth, wholeness, and cyclical nature- though I am still figuring out why I am strongly attracted
to those.
I aspire to seamlessly blend fine art with craft by combining paint and textiles in a way that
challenges traditional boundaries. Just as painting has been a historically male-dominated
form of fine art, textiles have often been considered women’s crafts, yet together, they can
create unmatched textures and meaning. My approach is about bridging the divide between
these two worlds while honouring both. Maybe that’s just my way of merging passion and
breaking boundaries, just as I did studying electrical engineering.

Darlene Longo
The dummy
Makeshift, made a bit of old wood, paper-mache and some imagination.
The boots
Old worn cowboy boots,painted and glittered.
The overalls
Whimsical Individual sketches done on fabric and sewn onto the piece. Inspired by a jacket
sketched from photographs. And those days in class(eons ago) when we all doodled on our
jeans.

Lorraine Huebner
This work explores the concept of invisibility – personally, societally and globally. Many
marginalized individuals today are unseen, their struggles overlooked. Within laws, religion and
politics women and girls are increasingly becoming more invisible.
This work was inspired by my friend and neighbour Shirley, after many discussions about this
topic. Shirley has recently passed away.

Kathy Keenan
These three art pieces were executed from loose pencil drawings of draped models at Belleville
Libraries’s life drawing sessions over the last few months. It was wonderful to jump in on this
opportunity to hone my skills further. I believe I was successful in capturing some great
emotions expressed by these women.

Tina Osborne
This year my creative processes are being drawn to more spiritual expressions of who the
female energy is and can be .