Laval artists say they have the talent but nowhere to showcase it

Laval artist Reine Goodrow uses pastels to express herself.

She recently showcased some of her favourite artwork at a symposium for artists at the Centre de la nature park in Laval.

"What you want when you do exhibitions is to basically have people discover what you do," she says.

Goodrow is one of more than a dozen artists who displayed their artwork at the small outdoor fair in May — some setting up in white tents they brought themselves, others in small cabins in the park.

They say it's one of the only places in the city where they can showcase their art.

"Artists work on their own. We're in our homes, our little workshops, and when it's time to exhibit, that's our only opportunity to show our work," says Goodrow.

The Quartier des Arts du Cheval Blanc art group organizes the symposium in Laval every other year with help from the city.

Karyne St-Hilaire, the executive director, says it helps local artists, since there aren't many other venues.

"When you're an artist, you produce something. You put a part of yourself, of your soul, into a piece of canvas," St-Hilaire says. "At some point, you want other people to know [about it] and sell it. [if it's] in your basement, it just stacks up."

St-Hilaire says the symposium is a good opportunity for Laval artists who aren't all professionals to become familiar to their neighbours and community.

Culture on the back burner for decades

Charlotte Panaccio Letendre leads Verticale, a Laval non-profit organization for professional artists. She says for decades, art has been forgotten in the city.

"Laval has a complex and very specific political context," she said. "That has been very problematic for cultural development, so culture hasn't been a priority for prior governments," she says.

Letendre says over the past decade, that's changed thanks to municipal leadership, including current Laval Mayor Stephane Boyer.

Despite this, she says, there is still a lack of infrastructure that makes it hard to be an artist in Laval, pushing many talented artists toward Montreal.

"I think artists can be isolated. They may have a home studio or they often go to Montreal and go find equipment, studios there, to show their work."

There are only six performance venues and two exhibition spaces, including the Maison des Arts de Laval.

'Important way to bring the world together'

A lack of venue spaces is also what pushed Laval entrepreneur Alexandre Kénol to create an online platform for artists, called Feaster, to help them get discovered.

Kénol also started the Feaster music festival, which has become an annual event at the Centre du Sablon community centre.

"We have a lot of talent in Laval, but we don't have a lot of places to show that talent."

He says "there is a huge opportunity because of the diversity that's right there and the talent available."

He says it was also important for him to make art more accessible for people in the area so that they don't need to travel to other places.

"There is a quote that says 'l'art sauvera le monde,'"— art will save the world, he said.

"I think it's a way to express yourself, a way to bring beauty. It's also a really important way to bring the world together."

Culture now considered in all city decisions, says councillor

Laval city councillor Flavia Alexandra Novac says art was not a priority a decade ago, but now the city wants to make up for that.

"Culture was not important in the past so now we have to make up for all the years we lost and we have to put double the effort in to realize our efforts," says Novac.

She says there are many projects in the works, but they can take years to realize. That includes plans to eventually build a new library.

"Right next to our central library, we're going to have our creation centre for our professional artists. It's going to be a big, important infrastructure for our local artists and artists groups," she says.

She says the city is also organizing art events in parks and other locations where they want to reach people of all ages.