The Silvercreek and Eramosa River trails will be turning into an art exhibition this fall and a photo of you could be featured as the art.
Through her project #GuelphMovesMe, art teacher Mallory Tolcher will feature 12 members of the community in hand-drawn charcoal pictures posted along the trails from Sept 3. to Sept 29 in hopes to get the community out to promote physical fitness by luring them through art.
She is asking the community to submit photos of themselves to the project's Instagram page.
Tolcher was just named this year’s City of Guelph Artist in Residence, the city’s annual program that calls on artists to engage with the community.
“My hope is to see more faces on the trails. I would love to show a range of everybody in Guelph I would love to show a range of abilities,” said Tolcher.
Tolcher says the project is not limited for people who are physically active, rather it is an open invitation for anyone who is interested in physical activity while the art exhibition comes to them, not the other way around.
“I went to school for art and I've been constantly surrounded by the arts community but it's hard for me to get people out to a gallery,” said Mallory.
“So my goal as an artist, in general, is to is to get more people engaged in a place that's not a white wall environment so I think this is a nice project because anyone can go see it and you're not in this life contrived atmosphere where you feel like you are not allowed to touch anything or you're not allowed to be involved.”
Six portraits will be positioned on different points along the Silvercreek and Eramosa trails for the first half of the exhibition and then will be replaced by six new portraits.
Information about the portraits and the people they depict will be available on the trails as well. The last day of the exhibition will feature an artist talk about the project along with a trail walk on Sept 29.
General manager for culture, tourism and community investment Danna Evans says this project is the city’s way to engage with working artists in the community and also offer opportunities for the artist to engage back with the community members.
“This year it was just about being able to offer an experience,” said Evans.
