Posted: 21 December 2020
Earlier today, the Province of Ontario ordered a province-wide lockdown of all non-essential businesses in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. This lockdown takes effect at 12:01 am on Saturday 26 December.
Based on this directive and out of an abundance of concern for the well-being of our community, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery will be closed effective immediately from Tuesday 22 December, until further notice. While every effort will be made to sustain our virtual programs, all on-site programming including exhibitions will be suspended until further notice.
Given the rapid acceleration of infection in our community and across the province, our responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of staff and the larger public must take utmost priority. The first wave of this pandemic proved that KWAG is able to withstand the challenges of a temporary closure, and our staff are more prepared than ever to continue our work under these difficult circumstances. While the Gallery will be closed for now, our commitment to art and its ideas remains steadfast and strong.
As we all know, this is an uncertain and ever-changing situation. We encourage you to continue following the advice of public health officials and remain connected with us through our website and social media channels, where we will share updated information about future exhibitions and programs as it becomes available.
The following virtual programs are currently open for registration and may provide some inspiration to look forward to in the months ahead:
- The Axis Group, a new online peer group for practicing artists to develop new projects in a supportive virtual setting over eight weeks starting Monday 18 January
- Art Explorations, our four-week art class for children ages 7-11 starting Tuesday 2 February
- A Make-Together Workshop presented by Brenda Reid's From Behind the Mask community quilt project on Sunday 17 January, presented as a free program as part of our Family Sunday virtual programs with the support of Equitable Life
And while Deanna Bowen's Black Drones in the Hive remains closed for now, our interpretative video and Artist Talk for this exhibition remain available online, with more to come as we continue to adapt to this changing situation. We hope you'll stay connected as we continue to be creative in the face of, well, all this.