A very BIG Thank you to the Windon Fund within the Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation for providing funds to  support art education at the Public Art Centre.  This generous grant supports learning, creating, exploring and inspiration through the visual arts.

The Public Art Centre offers great learning programs and opportunities for schools and teachers, classes and workshops for children and adults and free public programs for all.

Kim Wilkie

FOUND

Gallery One and Two

January 14 to February 18, 2023

Artist Reception February 18, 2023 1-3pm

Kim’s use of materials reflects her familial and educational background while living in London, Ontario. She always had an interest in making and its functionality through crafts and sewing, and when she entered Western University, she applied these to the fine arts such as drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture.

Recent Acquisitions

Selections from the Permanent Collection

Gallery Three

January 14 to February 18, 2023

Like many public art galleries and museums, the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre cares for a Permanent Collection of artworks that has been gathering and growing since our first acquisitions in 1969. Through generous donations and thoughtful purchases, the Public Art Centre has been steadily adding artworks to our Collection resulting in a Collection that now numbers over 2000 artworks.

By collecting the artists and their works on display, the Public Art Centre ensures their ideas remain active in today’s conversations – ready to be enjoyed in exhibitions of our Permanent Collection and safeguarded for the understanding of future generations.

Many new and exciting workshops for Children and Adults are available now.

Visit Classes and Workshops for more information!

In View of the Artist is Back!

July 29 to September 9, 2023

Any artist over 18 years who resides in Southwestern Ontario.

Works entered must be an original composition created by the entrant.

Submitted artwork must have been created within the past three years and not previously shown at the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre. All mediums are acceptable. No copies from other artists, from published material or supervised work will be considered.

Why not join us on YouTube and check out the many online resources.  You will find surveys of our exhibitions, online instructional videos, art lessons and great content on our local artists. Visit our "Resources"  page for our current videos.  Subscribe today and never miss an update. 

The St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre is pleased to announce that our Executive Director, Laura Woermke, will be coordinating the new “Art, Trees & Trails” project, a community-wide collaboration with partners including the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, and St. Thomas Elevated Park. This project will bring historic and contemporary artwork from the Art Centre permanent collection to our beautiful local trails and Elevated Park through the installation of attractive signs that feature high quality reproductions of many of our landmark paintings. The “Art, Trees & Trails” project has been generously funded with $115,000 by the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell.

Art has an incredible ability to unify. Supporting the mission of the Public Art Centre, especially “encouraging the appreciation for and supporting the practice of the visual arts in St. Thomas and Elgin County”, the “Art, Trees & Trails” project will allow us to engage with the community outside the walls of the Public Art Centre, promote art education, and add to our visual environment in places where community members and visitors explore nature. Signs will be installed along the trails at Springwater Forest, Dalewood Conservation Area, and St. Thomas Elevated Park. In each case, the artwork selected will correspond to the precise physical location.

It is with gratitude that we thank the Ontario Trillium Foundation for providing support through the Community Building Fund.  The funds provided, contributed to the operating and equipment costs, which has allowed us to continue to fulfill our mission "to encourage the appreciation and support the practice of the visual arts in St. Thomas and Elgin County." 

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday March 28, 2023

5:30pm

301 Talbot Street, St. Thomas