Miniature Hamilton art gallery pairs up with high school students for first solo exhibits
17-year-old Frank Chen is one of three students whose work is being featured starting this week
A free tiny art gallery in Hamilton that launched two months ago on Mapleside Avenue is hosting its first solo exhibition this week, with the art of 17-year-old Burlington resident Frank Chen on display.
His exhibit at the Mapleside Museum of Miniature Art (MMOMA) is part of the city's Winterfest and is the first of three weekly installations there that will feature the works of local high school students.
"This is actually my very first exhibit," Chen told the CBC about his display, which he calls ARTCEPTION.
Chen says he was recommended by his art teacher, Jennifer Smallwood, at Dr. Frank J Hayden Secondary School in Burlington, where he is in his final year.
"I picked a lot of pieces that had variation, because I wanted to show the range I could draw," Chen said.
The original drawings Chen created are much larger at 17 by 14 inches, but in order to fit in the small MMOMA space, they were photographed and shrunken down.
The MMOMA was created by founder Matt Coleman after he learned about similar community projects through an online article shared by a friend.
The walk-up, outdoor gallery is usually populated with pieces from community members who are free to visit and take or leave a piece of art in the museum.
"This gallery is a space for both young artists and established artists alike," Coleman said. "There have been contributions from school-aged artists to established professional artists, like E. Robert Ross."
Coleman modelled the physical build of the MMOMA after the free little libraries made by and for community members, often seen at the end of front yards or next to the sidewalk. The enclosed book cases, sometimes in the shape of little houses, can be found throughout Hamilton and other cities around the world. (As for the name, the original MoMA — the Museum of Modern Art in New York City — is world-renowned.)
"It took me a long time to figure out how to build the gallery," Coleman said. "I asked friends and neighbours who knew how to build, looked at plans on free little library websites for how to actually build one and it was slowly in the works over many months."
After the project launched at the end of December, Coleman said he was approached days later by a Winterfest organizer to see if the MMOMA would be interested in featuring artists as a part of the local festival.
"It's been a nice sort of vehicle for exploring the new possibilities of an art scene in Hamilton," Coleman said.
Chen's exhibit will be followed by works from high schoolers Jasmine Huber, starting Feb. 26, and Delaney Browne, starting March 6.
Chen said that drawing provides a cathartic, emotional release which, he says, he fell in love with, and which made him consider art as more than just a hobby. "After some lovely brain-numbing Grade 12 physics, there's something nice about being able to unwind [doing art]," he said.
He told CBC that his favourite piece on display is the one that depicts himself balancing a scale.
"It means a lot to me because this illustrates what I'm feeling in Grade 12, because you know, in Grade 12, you have to pick a career path," Chen said. "And I'm kind of torn between either doing something with STEM [Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] or doing something with arts. I love both and I see both as really valid options, so it's a decision I have difficulty making even now," he said.
Chen said that he hopes to study animation at Sheridan College after graduation, but even if that doesn't lead to a career, he will always incorporate art into his life because of his passion for it.
"Art serves as an emotional outlet for me," Chen said.