Acadian history, culture on display in Abram-Village art exhibition
Installed in mid-July the paintings will be up until the end of September
Painted artwork is lined up on either side of the street in Abram-Village, P.E.I. to showcase Acadian culture.
It's part of a provincial beautification project to enhance the experience for the 2019 Congrès Mondial Acadien or World Acadian Congress, which begins on Aug. 10.
Artists painted 35 large, multicolour displays posted in front of homes along route 124 between Evangeline School and the Evangeline Recreation Centre.
Visitors are invited to pick up a program for the Street Exhibition from La Palette Gallery located at Village Musical Acadien.
The project's co-ordinator said he hopes people will park their vehicles and walk along to enjoy the exhibition.
"Look at the paintings and understand what we meant by each one of these paintings, so they could spend more time in our community. Because we find out that people that come to Abram-Village, they come back," said Théodore Thériault.
Thériault was inspired to create the project based on a similar art exhibition in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, France.
Showcasing local talent
Island artists were quick to get on board with the paintings, donating their time to showcase the Acadian joie de vivre, which translates as the joy of living.
"The culture, the culinary, the music, the history if we could," said Jeannette Blaquière, president of the Palette Artists Co-operative.
"But we also knew we wanted something a little bit more modern, kind of mixed both together."
"I think that I was more inspired by my grandmother so that is why I painted their homestead with the quilts on the line and her spinning wheel," said Rita Arsenault, one of the contributing artists.
She estimates she put in every spare moment over a few weeks to finish five different pieces for the exhibition.
"It's a big event, you know, thousands of people are going to come down," Arsenault said. "You want to make a good impression and you wanted them to see how life was for the Acadians, the pride we have in it."
The program lists the street address where the paintings are located, along with the artists involved and a brief description.
Thériault estimates the walking tour could take people about an hour to explore the different paintings.
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With files from Tom Steepe