Current and Upcoming 2026 Exhibitions
HYPHENATED
Artist: Lana Matskiv
Exhibition Date: April 17, 2026 - July 5, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, April 17, 2026 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Hyphenated brings together over forty works by Lana Matskiv that explore the hyphen as both lived experience and poetic metaphor. Through paintings, drawings, collages, and installations, the exhibition reflects on hyphenated Canadian identities—linking ancestry and belonging—not as division, but as connection. Extending beyond ethnicity, the works consider relationships across time, land, memory, and shared human aspirations. Grounded in Chatham-Kent, itself a hyphenated place, the exhibition reflects Canada’s layered cultural fabric. Drawing on Ukrainian and contemporary influences, Matskiv’s practice affirms identity as an evolving space of collective belonging and strength.
HERE I AM
Artists: Student Art Exhibition
Exhibition Date: April 17, 2026 - July 5, 2026
Opening Reception & Award Ceremony:
Friday, April 17, 2026 | 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Celebrates young artists from grades 9–12 in Chatham Kent. Each artwork shares a story. These creators use many materials and techniques to explore their ideas. Look closely and discover how they see their world and their place in it.
Thank you to our valued Award Sponsors. The Thames Art Gallery Graduating Art Scholarship was generously donated by Cathy Van Raay Myers, Awards of Excellence sponsored by The Andersons, People’s Choice Awards sponsored by Salus Mutual.
QUEER PORTRAITS: Call for Entry
Submission Open: April 27th at 9:00 am to May 29th at 4:00 pm
The Thames Art Gallery invites artists connected to the Chatham‑Kent community to submit work for Queer Portraits, part of the Community Arts Initiative. This exhibition highlights portraits that reflect 2SLGBTQIA+ lives, identities, and allies, celebrating personal stories and lived experiences through art. Artists may submit up to two works in any medium, provided they are ready for display and do not require wall mounting.
Selected works will be exhibited at the Rotary Lounge at the Capitol Theatre August 21-23, 2026. We welcome artists to share work that centres visibility, representation, and connection through portraiture.
PAST EXHIBITS
RAFT
Artists: Karen Kraven and Swapnaa Tamhane
Exhibition Dates: January 16, 2026 - April 04, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, January 16, 2026 | 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
RAFT is a collaborative exploration of unseen labour, handmade processes, and everyday working environments. Inspired by the historical figure of the rag‑picker and contemporary textile workers in Kutch, Gujarat, the artists examine handmade versus mass‑produced practices through a sculptural installation: a cloth‑dyeing washing tank reimagined as a 20‑foot steel frame. Paper works and textiles embedded within the structure reflect their shared research, material exchange, and commitment to honouring the histories and gestures of manual and craft work.