Metro Gallery
Ortona Artists’ Reach Society (OARS)
Ortona Diaspora Group Exhibit
Site #18
Metro Gallery @ Garneau Theatre
8712 109 Street NW, Edmonton
June 1 - August 1, 2025
Wednesday to Sunday: Accessible during film screenings or by appointment.
For appointment contact 780-425-9212
Monica Pitre, Into the Great Wide Open, 22.5” x 15”, lithography, etching, screen-print, archival mounting film on paper, 2024
Presenting Ortona Diaspora Group Exhibit featuring artists from the Ortona Armoury Arts Community with sculpture, paintings, drawings, photography, home movies and a diorama.
FEATURED ARTISTS: Artists include: Blair Brennan, Candace Makowichuk, Craig Talbot, Marlena Wyman, Michael Caskenette, Monica Pitre, Paddy Lamb, Wilfred Kozub, Will Truchon, and William Northlich.
SPECIAL EVENT: An Affectionate Salute to the Mighty Ortona Armoury Arts Bldg
Thursday, June 26
5:30-10:00pm
An Affectionate Salute to the Mighty Ortona Armoury Arts Bldg. starts the evening with the Ortona Diaspora Group exhibit reception in the theatre lobby followed by Reel Ortona, a retrospective of short films in the theatre from local filmmakers sprung from the Ortona and a music performance by the Trincan Steel Orchestra. The evening wraps up with “Edmonton Tonight”; join host Tom Bernier for laughs, music and tips for living in a late-night talk show format featuring a who’s who of Edmonton’s art & cultural scene with musical guest Danielle George of Trincan.
5:30-6:30pm Ortona Diaspora group exhibit reception
6:30-8:00pm Reel Ortona short film program
8:15-9pm Trincan Steel Orchestra music performance
9:00-10pm Edmonton Tonight, Live variety show
Filmmakers: Aaron Munson, Adolfo Ruiz, Alex Vizmeg, Conor McNally, Dave Morgan, Eva Colmers, Helen Folkmann, John Osborne, Ken Berry, Kyle Armstrong, Patrick Higgins, Lindsay McIntyre, Matthew Rankin, Mike McLaughlin, Tim Folkmann, Tom Bernier, and Trevor Anderson.
ABOUT THE ORTONA DIASPORA
Ortona Diaspora is a group exhibition celebrating a dispersed arts community that faced an uncertain future in 2019. Ortona Artists’ Reach Society (OARS) is proud to feature artists of the Ortona Armoury Arts Community from past and present through an array of mediums including sculpture, painting, film, drawing, steel drum, vidéo, party dancing, live talk show, photography, home movies, installation and performance art. OARS is multidisciplinary, multicultural, multilingual and multi-generational, and are inspired to assembling with their cherished and supportive community partners. This Edmonton-based grassroots community is alive, expanding, and growing in encouraging and unforeseen ways. Ortona Diaspora is a dynamic reflection of this unique arts community in flux.
The Ortona was home to many artists, including misfit anarchists with a punk rock ethos. Prior to the recent gutting of its historic 1940s interior naval design, the Ortona Armoury Arts Building had been open to the public and was home to a steel drum band, a film co-op, filmmakers, conservators, writers, cinematographers, editors, photographers, painters, musicians, poets, performers, composers, dancers, actors and agitators, as well as eleven in-studio artists along with their collaborators, enthusiasts, volunteers, families and friends. The artists of the Ortona always invited and included the wider public community at every opportunity. This exhibit captures a glimpse of the Ortona powerhouse of Art.
OARS is motivated to highlight the significant work of these artists who were dispersed due to their 2019 renoviction from their home, the historical Ortona Armoury Arts Building in the Rossdale neighbourhood.
Funding generously provided by the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton
Curated by the Ortona Artists’ Reach Society (OARS)