Contest, gallery show exploring connection between art, books

Young artists are invited to design cover art for their favorite books.

Winners — categories are open for ages five to eight, and nine to 12 — of the contest through the Lambton County Library will get their artwork displayed at Gallery in the Grove, and there are art kit and book prizes for winners and runners-up, said the library’s Vanitia Campbell.

“Whatever book they really, really love, they can take that and design or redesign the cover,” she said.

The contest kicks off July 3 and submissions are received at library branches until Sept. 2, she said, noting a series of workshops conducted by local artists are planned during the summer to help participants, if they need it.

Printmaking is July 14, 1-2 pm at the Corunna Library.

Acrylic painting techniques are taught July 15, 1-2 pm at the Sarnia library.

Watercolor painting is July 22, 1:30-3 pm at the Forest library.

And book illustration workshops are Aug. 15, 22 and 29, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Florence library.

“So, (youth) can get those kind of background skills to use, if they choose,” Campbell said.

Plans for the contest have been in the works since 2020, when it was one of the events slated to help mark Gallery in the Grove’s 40th anniversary year, said the gallery’s Kirsten Kilner Holmes.

“Of course, that was postponed many times” amid COVID-19, she said.

“So, it’s been a long time in the making.”

The Sept. 9 to Oct. 28 exhibition, tying into the contest, is expected to feature at least 30 children’s book illustrations from the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP), she said.

“We thought it makes so much sense to connect with the county and the libraries regarding this event because it’s just such a natural fit,” she said.

Gallery in the Grove’s Ron Broda has a connection to CANSCAIP and proposed the show in the first place, she said, adding some of the illustrations for children’s book covers are “just absolutely stunning.”

The exhibition also will be tailored to a younger crowd, she said, with the artwork hung lower.

The gallery is partnering with local school boards to host workshops for youth and featuring some of the artists during the exhibition, she said.

The gallery and Bright’s Grove library share space in the community’s Faethorne House, she said.

Detailed design work is also underway for a proposal to expand that building by 650 square meters, to bring it more in line with Administrators of Rural and Urban Public Libraries of Ontario (ARUPLO) standards for large-volume libraries like Bright’s Grove’s.

“It was kind of all tied into that,” Kilner Holmes said.

“This is a great way of raising awareness about the value of this library, but also the importance of the gallery, and how these partnerships can really be successful.”

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