By Marissa Galko
Ottawa’s Little Italy is now home to the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO)’s first-ever PhotoWalk, a public art exhibition showcasing works from different Canadian photographers, in partnership with the Preston Street BIA.
The exhibition, dubbed “Canada’s Photographic Treasure Hunt,” debuted May 10, syncing with the beginning of Ottawa’s Tulip Festival at Dow’s Lake and setting to be a “semi-permanent” exhibition.
Participants scan a QR code and follow the virtual map with coordinates for the self-guided tour. Katie Lydiatt, Gallery Manager at the SPAO, says the hunt for pieces began last February.
“The Birth of Modernisation” by Sabrine Hakam, a photographic work as part of the SPAO PhotoWalk off of Preston Street in Ottawa. Photo: Marissa Galko
The gallery received over 500 submissions and a panel of jurors had the impossible task of whittling that list down to the 30 whose work is on display now.
The panel of jurors was made up of greats of the Canadian art scene, such as Ann Thomas (former Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Canada), Robert Stevens (Director of the Portrait Gallery of Canada), Sandra Brewster (renowned photo-based artist), Sylvia Dreaver ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ (Emerging Curator of Indigenous Art at the Canadian Museum of History) and Frédéric Loury (Founder of Art Souterrain in Montreal).
When choosing who would be featured, the panel was looking for technical expertise, appropriateness for public exposition, visual impact and whether the piece could be appreciated without the artist’s context, according to Lydiatt.
“We wanted to show what’s going on in photography in Canada today. We wanted to show a range of approaches to photography as well as regional differences. We have artists from coast to coast and some from the Yukon,” says Lydiatt.
Some notable works include themes on ecology, identity, and the passage of time. The artists use various techniques from collaging to set production to film photography to evoke strong emotions from their works.
“Shayla” by Christina Oyawale, displayed outside of Santini Gallery on Preston Street. Photo: Marissa Galko
Lydiatt says reactions to the PhotoWalk are “quite positive” so far.
“We have a piece displayed in front of the gallery and sometimes I’ll peak outside and see people scanning the QR code so it’s nice to see people interacting with it.”
Despite some “growing pains,” Lydiatt says the gallery is committed to making the experience as user-friendly as possible.
Local businesses are excited about the exhibition, as it allows residents and tourists to discover places they would not have known about otherwise.
“Even when we were going door-to-door to look for places to put the works, we found out about businesses we never knew were there, so this is super beneficial for those businesses. Reception has been good from what we’ve heard, but it is still pretty early to say.”
The idea for the PhotoWalk came as the gallery wanted to “spread its fingers into the community” and expand its outreach. The method for printing the works, a material called AluPanel, was both “cost-effective and durable for colour” according to Lydiatt.
“We pitched the idea to the BIA; we had never done anything of this scale before. But they were super excited since it would bring some life to the unused spaces in the community.”
Looking to the future, Lydiatt says the SPAO will be looking to expand the exhibition to get more artists involved.
“We just put four works up next to the LRT station, and there are still spaces available next to them, so there is definitely room for growth.”
While the current exhibition is planned to be “semi-permanent,” the gallery will replace works as needed and look forward to adding new ones in the coming months.
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