Beaverbrook Art Gallery launches 'jaw-dropping' exhibit of N.B. artists

About two months ago, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton began showing works by New Brunswick artists in the Harrison McCain Pavilion just as you enter the lobby area.

They called it the "Made in New Brunswick" campaign and regularly switched out the works to showcase the province's roster of great artists, mostly since the Second World War. 

The initial display of works coincided with the onset of the tariff battle and the ensuing burst of patriotism nationwide.

"We received a great response," said John Leroux, the Beaverbrook's manager of collections and exhibitions. "That was really as soon as the tariffs came down and [people were embracing] everything Canadian and New Brunswick."

Leroux said they realized they were onto something and decided to put together an official exhibit, which opens this weekend, of works from their permanent collection, some of which have never been displayed before. 

He said the pride is genuine and justifiable in a province that's always "punched above its weight," winning four Governor General's Awards in the visual arts in the last 20 years alone.

"It's a special place when it comes to [visual art]," said Leroux. "Even for me who knows our collections so well, to revisit these works and put them together in a new way has been revelatory."

There are works by well-known artists like Thaddeus Holownia, Kathy Hooper, Molly Lamb Bobak, Miller Brittain and Fred Ross. 

Leroux mentions, in particular, a large drawing by Ross, a Saint John artist who died in 2014. It's a portrait of his wife Sheila, who was a dancer. The work was "probably his most prized possession," said Leroux, and it's never been shown in a gallery before.

"It could be right out of the Renaissance, [there] is a beautiful sort of glowing light coming from her face as she's lounging on this lovely 19th century settee in a Saint John house."

It was given to the Beaverbrook by his daughter Cathy Ross, who is also an artist. She has a watercolour on display right next to the portrait of her mother.

As part of the exhibit, there are also lesser-known works like 10 hand-blown glass pieces from the 1970s by Martin Demaine, who came here from the U.S. and set up the first "flame-powered, hand-blown" glass studio in Canada in Mactaquac. He's now in his 80s and an instructor in the glass lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston.

"They're stunning," Leroux said. "They've never been shown."

The exhibit will continue at the Beaverbrook until July 6.

"It's a pretty broad show," said Leroux. "I don't think anyone will leave this exhibition feeling short-changed. In fact, I think they'll come with their jaw-dropping, saying this is outstanding and fills you with pride."