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Atlantic Women Fish Packers
An Exhibition by Su Rogers
September 10th - 27th
"These expressive figurative works combine images and text to explore the often invisible work of Nova Scotia women in the fishery–both as fish packers and as fishers.
The paintings draw on many sources: religious iconography echoing the reliance on faith to sustain fishers and their families through storms and loss; classical symbolism relating to the age-old biblical work of fishing; and folk traditions and motifs which decorated and enriched domestic lives in the coastal communities.
Hopefully, I have succeeded in celebrating aspects of the seaward lives of the many women fish packers who work in small sheds along Nova Scotia’s South Shore and the fisher women who earn their living from the sea."
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Tender the Garden
An Exhibition by Sera Senakovicz
August 20th - September 8th
‘Tender the Garden’ centres around my work as a ceramicist, painter and gardener. Using inspiration from my own garden to depict the growth, resilience, community and determination found within the space.
Four large scale oil paintings act as keystones of the exhibition, with eighty sgraffito ceramic pots connected with similar imagery to the paintings. All the pieces play with the real and imagined inhabitants/visitors to the garden space including depictions of plants, insects and birds.
The garden has been my refuge for many years. The pleasant street garden has been a project for a decade since moving to Truro. I first began planting with the goal centered around feeding my household but it quickly changed as I noticed more and more insects and birds relying on it for sustenance. It now holds roughly 100 plants that create refuge for numerous pollinators. The garden itself is surrounded by concrete and townscape but inside the fence are over 100 plants that provide refuge for pollinators and myself. Each year I replace more of the grass with native and pollinator friendly plants.
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Blanketing an Acre
An Exhibition by Bryson Chisholm
July 30th - August 16th
"Since moving back to rural Nova Scotia I have been re-familiarizing myself with the environment I was raised in, a place I didn't connect with in my youth. In my work I am always searching for a way to portray an authentic interpretation of the surroundings that I interact with everyday, ones that define the region and manner of living, but also reflect on what makes it unique to my experience. I took notice of the abundance of properties that double up as junkyards, repair shops and buy & sell shops. An assortment of entrepreneurship that is either someones side job or their main source of income. I believe this is a reflection of work culture in rural NS., where many folks working in the trades run their own businesses or have several different income sources to stay afloat. I have personally experienced this challenge with finding work here and my commute to multiple jobs has me passing by many of these properties, observing people trying to do the same thing as I am but with their own type of skill set."
The Feel of Water
An Exhibition by Coleen M. Davidson
July 9th - 26th
"In this exhibition I explore the theme of water as a physical and symbolic substance. I am deeply interested in how we feel and experience water, varying from: beauty and awe; power and fragility; turbulence and tranquility; healing and rhythm. The natural beauty and power of the waters that are in and around Nova Scotia are an endless source of inspiration for my work.
Working primarily in silk and paper I plan to exhibit a combination of large-scale interactive hangings and soft sculptures. Chester Art Centre visitors will have the opportunity to walk through voluminous and luxurious silk hangings for an immersive experience. As part of the creative process, I will invite visitors to be active participants in the exhibit by writing their personal feelings about water onto an interactive silk and paper wall hanging. This piece will be a collective creative community response to the “feel of water”.
Fishers
An Exhibition by Curtis Botham
June 11th - 28th
Large-scale charcoal drawings depicting the labour and processes of Nova Scotia’s commercial fishing industry.
Botham started this project in 2022, while in Chester Art Centre’s Artist-in-Residency program.
"The artworks in this series were made using sketches and photos that I’ve accumulated on
fishing boats, processing plants, and docks. They aimed to cut through the often-idealized, touristy depictions of quaint fishing villages, instead depicting the unromanticized, real labour and processes of an industry that’s so quintessential to maritime culture, but often taken for granted. The work was made in a hands-on, documentary way, with a keen sense of passive observation showing each stage of the seafood industry from ocean to plate.
Since my Chester residency marked the beginning of the project, it’s fitting to display the finished project in the same place. The impressive scale and high degree of detail in the
work encourages people to spend a long time with each piece; I’ve been told routinely how much time they spend soaking it in. People involved with the fishing industry have remarked on feeling seen by even the more mundane aspects of the drawing; I’ve had so many long discussions about their own experiences at sea, so I know the work can make an impact."
Forest Heights Show
May 21st - 31st
This exhibition was a showcase of the graduating art students of local artist, Rebecca S. Fisk, who has helped these young artists explore multiple art forms during their time at Forest Heights.
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She Sees It All
An Exhibition by Rebecca Fisk
April 23rd - May 17th
This exhibition features large acrylic paintings that illustrate phrases and sayings rooted in a racially hierarchical society. Some of these sayings and phrases are commonplace, such as ‘cotton-pickin minute’ and ‘strange fruit.’ Others are not so common, such as ‘Sundown Town’ and ‘cake-walk.’
"The work explores the layered realities of race, identity, and perception through large-scale acrylic self-portraits in which the subject is always masked. These masks are not meant to conceal, but to reveal: they represent the complex personas we adopt to navigate systems of power, expectation, and survival. Each portrait questions how identity is constructed—by ourselves, by others, and by the culture we live in.
By working at a monumental scale, I reclaim physical and psychological space. My presence, even when veiled, demands to be seen, not just looked at. These portraits are not about hiding, but about complexity—about the identities we carry, the ones imposed upon us, and the ones we’re still discovering.
Through this series, I invite viewers to sit with discomfort, ambiguity, and contradiction. The work asks: Who do we become when we are seen only through masks? And what truths emerge when we choose to wear them on our own terms?"
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Regeneratio
March 19th - April 5th
At the beginning of each spring, we fill the walls of our gallery with Springtime imagery for a cheerful & sweet community exhibition.
Local artists who create art works that celebrate the rebirth of the season, the reappearance of green growth, and the revitalization of the human spirit share their creativity with the community to help us celebrate the season of regeneration.
Hooking Goes Pop
An Exhibition by Terri Whetstone & Rose Wilson
February 26th - March 15th
This exhibition brings together two visual artists working with rug hooking, exploring contemporary approaches through technique, materials, and personal narrative as subject matter.
Rug hooking, and fibre arts in general, has seen a surge in popularity in recent years, driven by people’s search for activities during the Covid pandemic and also by the development of new tools and novel materials. This exhibition highlights the emergence of new themes and ideas being expressed through rug hooking that go beyond the traditional motifs so often seen in our community. It seeks to encourage individual exploration of the medium as a form of self-expression and narrative (pictorial) story-telling.
The exhibition comprises both graphic and text-based work, which compliment each other in their wry humour while riffing on mass culture. The work can be considered contemporary Pop Art in both its content and its visual impact; and thoroughly Post-Modern in its tongue-in-cheek, confrontational self-awareness of style. Rose’s work is reminiscent of both tattoo art and comic book illustration, while Terri’s text-based work with stylized consideration for the “right” font to match the word plays with expectations of appropriate language and the written word.
The exhibition concept and curation is Terri Whetstone’s. Terri is a visual artist, former arts administrator, and arts volunteer. Although she has participated in numerous group exhibitions this is her first time curating an exhibition. Terri’s motivation to present this exhibition arises from her passion to share innovative and exciting approaches that utilize rug hooking as a contemporary art form with her community, with the hopes of fostering the enthusiasm she and the second artist, Rose Wilson, feel for the medium. Terri hopes the exhibition will inspire others to approach rug hooking in ways that push boundaries and move this traditional craft beyond the use of commercial and repeated patterns, to a contemporary, creative exploration of the personal and the political in art-making.
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The Spoken Landscape
An Exhibition by Lorna Mulligan
February 12th - 22nd
This exhibition features work that talks about landscape with black ink, words, gestural mark making, and flowing colours. The lyrical imagery wavers between the suggestion of a real place and the constant reminder of the actual painted surface.
Working at the intersection of materiality and memory, my paintings are often about unpredictable edges, incorporating the immediacy of watercolour, hand-ground pigments, and black ink. I’m motivated by observation, visual responses, and the contemplative joy of walking through the coastal landscape.
I tend to work in series, mostly on paper, including handmade paper. Gestural brushwork and water intermingle in my paintings, with written text woven in and around like ambulatory thoughts. These are mostly quiet, yet graphic paintings, about this place where I now live.
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2026 PEOPLE'S PORTRAIT PRIZE
A community showcase celebrating the diversity and creativity of the human spirit
January 15th- February 8th
2026 PPP Winners
Digital Art & Mixed Media
Winner: Sue Howard - “Silenced”
Painting
Winner: Rebecca Fisk - “Yes, Queen”
Drawing
Winner: Ann Smith Kenny - “Mom”
Sculpture
Winner: Charles Weiss - “Largemouth Bob”
Textile
Winner: Sue Blair - “Hop On, Hop Off”
Photography
Winner: Mark Heine - “Wyonna Bernard Portrait”
People’s Choice Award
Winner: Lisa Quigley - “Serendipity”
"Serendipity" by Lisa Quigley
2025
FESTIVE MINI EXHIBITION 2025
A Fundraiser for the Chester Art Centre
November 21-30th
140 Pieces of stunning and diverse artwork all on 6"x6" canvasses donated by local artists.
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ONENESS
An exhibition by Sarah Hagen, inspired by Bach's Goldberg Variations
November 12-16th
Sarah Hagen is a pianist and visual artist who has translated the 32 movements of Bach's Goldberg Variations into 32 works of art. ONENESS is a visual and aural exploration of connectivity through isolation.
Wandering Through Trees
An exhibition in partnership with the Robert Pope Foundation
October 15th to November 7th
Works in all media that engage with the biology, beauty, symbolism, and significance of trees in our lives and landscapes.
ABSTRACT BRUTALISM
An exhibition by Manny Blair
September 26th to October 5th
A multifaceted exploration of brutalist architecture and the visionary ideals of New Babylon, layering colour and form with Joy Division–inspired titles to evoke both utopian and dystopian visions where art, architecture, and music intersect.
The Measure of Han
An exhibition by mihyun maria kim
August 22 to September 14
Han is an untranslatable Korean affect associated with historical unresolved grief, separated families, and loss of collective identity.
Grounded in the Lost and Found
An exhibition by Audrey Nicoll
July 25th to August 17th
This series of drawings is a quiet, personal response to upheaval—both global and deeply personal. Rooted in childhood rituals of wandering, collecting, and observing the natural world, these works reflect on the fragile, fleeting nature of life. Created after a time of absence and healing, each drawing is a meditation on decay, resilience, and the grounding act of making—where memory, nature, and meaning meet in stillness.
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Outside Art from an Outside Life
An exhibition by Ron Williams
June 27 – July 20
This exhibition is a raw, reflective journey through wild landscapes and lived experience. Ron Williams former forest ranger, conservation officer, and lifelong fieldworker — returns to the terrain of his memory with paint as his guide.
Meeting in the Shallows
Natalie Goulet and Carrie Phillips Kieser
May 30 – June 22, 2025
Materializing Atlantic coastal habitats in a plethora of ways. Melting and merging motifs dance between and among each other revealing conflicting feelings of wonder, surprise and horror within natural forms and threatened habitats.
EXPLORATIONS IV
May 16 – 25, 2025
Showcasing the talented student artists of Forest Heights Community School
FOLK ART
May 7th to 14th
Folk Art Lecture by Gordon Stewart on May 13th at 6pm as part of the Donald Curley Lecture Series
CREATIVE SENIOR'ITAS
Art From the Heart
April 25th to May 4th, 2025
REGENERATIO
Community Exhibition
April 9th to 18th
LOVE BOAT
Amanda Rhodenizer
March 8th-30th, 2025
January 9th to 25th, 2025
People's Portrait Prize
Over 100 Amazing Pieces by
Lunenburg County Artists!
THAT SILENT MOMENT
by Robert Williams
Opening Reception September 20, 5-7pm
Show Runs September 20 to October 13
That Silent Moment is an exhibition in two parts: paintings and drawings on paper, and an animated video. It explores the meditative or spiritual side of art represented through abstract images and the spaces between them.
2023
LOOK WITHIN AND LOOK OUTSIDE
Solo Exhibition by Micahel Greer
Opening Reception: September 7th, 5-7pm
Gallery Hours: September 8th - October 1st
Twofold
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE EXHIBITION
by Renée Brazeau and Inbal Newman
OPENING RECEPTION
June 8, 5 - 7PM
GALLERY HOURS
June 9 - 18, 12PM - 4PM
Mothers of Science
SOLO EXHIBITION by Jo Napier
Opening Reception: February 2, 5 - 7PM
Gallery Hours: February 2 - 26
Wednesday - Sunday, 10AM-4PM
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE EXHIBITION
OPENING RECEPTION
June 8, 5 - 7PM
GALLERY HOURS
June 9 - 15, 10AM - 4PM
Curtis Botham
The Fishery Waterfront
Elise Campbell
Fibre Art Macro Mushroom Study
HAVEN
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION by
Sara Harley
Opening Reception: May 5th, 5-7pm
Gallery Hours: May 6th- 29th
Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-4pm
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