When you think of art at a museum, you’re most likely to picture antique paintings and photographs; displaying new and current works is mostly left to the art galleries.
But for a little while, a corner of the Penticton Museum and Archives has been turned into a gallery by the members of the Penticton Photography Club, thanks to museum curator Peter Ord.
“Peter has allowed us to use a portion of the museum space to display some photography in the theme of their next exhibit, which is conservation,” said Ian Mackinder, president of the local photography club.
While the museum switches from one temporary exhibit to another, the exhibition space is often unoccupied.
But after disassembling the previous exhibit, H2O! the story of water, Ord decided to get someone in to occupy the space as he prepares the next unit, Wild at Heart, which opens on March 16.
The new exhibit focuses on a century of conservation in the Okanagan, and the photography exhibit mirrors the theme.
“Between exhibits our temporary gallery space, which is the area people see the most, usually stands empty or has half-finished exhibits,” said Ord. “We thought it would be great to use the space constructively and feature work from the community.”
Mackinder said there are nine local photographers taking part, with about 70 images on display in the front foyer of the museum.
“While they are assembling their next exhibit, we’ve got the display area there,” said Mackinder, adding that since the exhibit would only be on display for a short time — until March 14 — the club didn’t plan a grand opening or other events around the exhibit.
“It’s actually a limited time that we have there, between exhibits. Originally we were supposed to only be there until the 10th, but it looks like we have an extra couple of days because Peter is not quite ready to install the next exhibit,” said Mackinder. “We couldn’t really plan any events around it, but for us it is a great opportunity to show. We are all amateur photographers and you don’t always get a great opportunity like this to show off your pictures.”
The Penticton Photography Club meets every fourth Tuesday of the month from 7 to 9 p.m. at the museum.
More information is available online at www.pentictonphotoclub.com or via email at pentictonphotoclub@gmail.com.