At the Purple Pansy this month three young lakecity artists are getting the chance to showcase their artwork thanks to the newly formed Cariboo Art Beat.
An artist group founded by Tiffany Jorgensen, Brittany Murphy and Sarah Sigurdson, Cariboo Art Beat seeks to promote local art in and around Williams Lake. To this end, the ladies of the group have partnered with the Purple Pansy, a local florist shop on Second Avenue, to rent space at the store to host an artist’s gallery.
Sigurdson said they wanted to make their premier show special and when they saw that Lake City Secondary School Williams Lake Campus was hosting a student art show, they sent Jorgensen there to scout local young talent. After taking pictures of the various pieces of art and talking back and forth via text, Sigurdson said they selected three really talented youth whose art they wanted to showcase.
The youth are Carmen Davis, Isaac Lauren and Michaela Gilbert whom Sigurdson said were all selected for different reasons beyond their overall talent. Their art, in her opinion, really shows where they’re going in life which is why they titled the show Forseen.
“You can see the depth of character in their art, that there is so much going on in these individuals emotionally. They just seem to be highly emotionally intelligent and artistic youth as well,” Sigurdson said.
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Featuring young artists is especially close to Sigurdson’s heart as she gave up her own art for a time straight out of high school to pursue a professional career. When she found art again, however, she said she kicked herself for ever giving up something she enjoys so much. She’s now of the opinion that if you see talent and recognize it in your community, it’s your job to help hold it up and bring positive attention to it.
“We’re just really excited to lift up some other people, we’ve been really fortunate we’ve had lots of support this last year so it’s our turn to shine the light on some others,” Sigurdson said.
Lauren, who is a Grade 11 student at LCSS, said he’s excited to be taking part in this local art show. Primarily a watercolour artist, Lauren said he does play around with an opaque version of watercolour called gouache, charcoal, graphite and oil pastels, lately focusing on increasing his output and skills.
When he got invited to be in this show in January, Lauren said he saw it as an opportunity he couldn’t pass up as it would be a fun way to bring more exposure to his art. He thinks the concept of having his art along with some other great young artists on display for the greater lakecity community drop-in and see is quite cool.
“I think the arts should be integrated more into our community,” Lauren said.
He hopes the community comes out to support him but more importantly Davis and Gilbert who are planning on pursuing art as a professional career.
Forseen is on display during operating hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Purple Pansy from March 6 to April 12. The artists and Cariboo Art Beat will be doing an official opening on Friday, March 6 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a cover charge of $5, half of which goes to the students the other half of which will go to cover snacks Cariboo Art Beat Provides.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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