Ten years of community-based art will be celebrated with a special show later this year.
Artawa, a grassroots collective run by Kina Forney, is marking its 10th anniversary in November with the group’s biggest exhibition yet.
The event’s theme has not been decided. Forney said she wants to get input from the Artawa members before she makes any final decisions about the exhibition, but she says she has ideas about an emphasis on the intersection of collective identity and individuality.
The exhibition will showcase the Ottawa artists and creatives who make up Artawa.
Artawa holds monthly meetups for artists of all kinds. At a recent get-together, Forney worked on her latest project: a small canvas, using white transfer paper to sketch an intricate moth and floral design onto a dark blue background.
She said she wanted to bring together previous themes she has worked with to reflect her inner light — a culmination of sorts aligning with her ideas about the November exhibition.
The piece, reflects the 10-year journey of Artawa, one marked by transformation, connection and creative self-discovery, she said.
Forney, co-founder of Artawa, is a full-time painter and teacher at the Ottawa School of Art’s Orléans campus.
She founded Artawa after returning to Ottawa from the U.S. She said she felt that she was missing the community of artists that she craved.
Forney had spent a lot of her time immersed in the academic art world, and noticed a pattern of inaccessibility.
At the beginning of Artawa, she says, the art community 10 years ago “felt really exclusive,” she said. “It felt like a cool kids’ club that I just couldn’t get into.”
To Forney “everyone has the right to be creative in whatever shape and capacity that they can be,” she said.
Anoushka Hollinger echoed Forney’s sentiment. “We need to go back to playing,” Hollinger said during the recent meeting.
To break into the professional art world, to show in a gallery, a creative often needs to have already shown in a gallery, explained Forney.
On top of that, the professional art world tends to have academic barriers, requiring artists to have studied at art school — which is often expensive. “You have to pay to play,” said Forney.
Artawa started as a regular meetup between Forney, her partner Brad, and several of her artist friends. “It was just something we did for fun,” she said.
Over time, she opened the doors to anyone and everyone: professionals, hobbyists and beginners. Her goal was to create an anti-gatekeeping and anti-competition environment for artists of all kinds to share. The idea was to create a space where anyone, whether practising artists or those simply curious about art, could explore their interests, learn from others and become part of a safe and welcoming community.
Artawa has held two public exhibitions. The first was in 2018 with the theme Our Ottawa, which included 50 artists’ works and a large map installation displaying where every artist was from. “It was a way for people to show where they felt at home,” said Forney.
The second exhibition took place in 2023 with the theme of Emergence. It was a post-COVID reflection that focused on transformation and the return to normalcy following the isolating years of the pandemic.
“It was kind of like coming out of the shadows,” said Forney, who noted that the second exhibit was larger than the first, showcasing 65 to 70 artists.
For the upcoming exhibition, Forney has applied for a grant from the city’s arts funding program to eliminate barriers and to make the exhibition the biggest yet. “I don’t think it’s too ambitious to hope for 100 entries,” she said.
Everyone has the right to be creative in whatever shape and capacity that they can be.
— Kina Forney, Artawa
Artawa’s monthly meetups initially took place at Ottawa cafés. But as Forney’s Artawa community grew, so did accessibility concerns.
Forney pivoted and secured a free monthly meeting space in the Chris and Mary Ann Turnbull Studio at the Ottawa Art Gallery in Orleans, which was accessible to all members of the Artawa community.
The monthly gatherings in Orleans continue to be held at the OAG. The events are free and bring-your-own-materials. “It’s really just like hanging out,” she said.
For 10 years, Artawa has been personally funded by Forney and her partner. She covers coffee, snacks, website costs and insurance. “I’ve always just funded it out of pocket because we believe it should be free,” she said.
Starting this year, however, she said she will be applying for grants to complete her goal of making Artawa a formal collective.
