THUNDER BAY — Showcasing pieces for the first time, students in the visual arts program at Lakehead University are preparing for an exhibition at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.
Two exhibitions are taking place at the gallery: a juried exhibition that will be on display until April 28 and the honours exhibition that runs from March 22 to May 5.
The juried exhibition features pieces from a variety of mediums and does not follow a specific theme other than the students' hard work to be on display for the public.
Gina Marin is a part-time student in the program and has three pieces in the exhibition: a pair of small portraits of her parents from the 70s, a large portrait of a former family home, and a soft sculpture of an espresso coffee maker.
She spoke about the inspiration behind painting the generation home portrait.
"My great-grandparents lived there. It was their home, and it was surrounded by homes of other family members, a big Italian community and in the 70s my parents took it over, and we lived there until my dad passed away in 2016."
Marin said she feels like she's coming back to her "roots" of making art.
"There's so many talented students in this program and I'm really honoured to be part of the show. Now I feel like I'm coming back to the roots of what I really wanted to do -- to just make art."
Veritie Beauvais is in the visual arts honours program and is one of three artists getting to showcase some of their pieces during the exhibition.
"I'm looking forward to seeing people's perspective and views on my work, because I think it's really nice to see what people see in your work instead of just like going and looking at it.
"I want to know what they think about it, you know, I want to know their thoughts."
Penelope Smart is a curator at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.
"It's a really important show in our community. These are the young artists in our community - these are the students who are studying art at Lakehead.
"All different kinds of art, coming from all different backgrounds, and this is, for many of them, a first debut at a professional art gallery and for the honour students, a sort of big moment in the next step to a professional art career."
Visitors will be able to vote for their favourite piece and the People's Choice Award will be handed out during a brief awards ceremony on April 5 during a reception.
More details about the students' exhibition are available through the art gallery's website.
