Ortona Diaspora
Art, Sculpture, Film, Steel Drums, Drawing Party Dancing, Dinorama, etc!
June 1st to August 30th
A partner event at The Works Art and Design Festival 2025
Ortona Diaspora celebrates a dispersed arts community. The 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, video, party dancing, live talk show, photography, home movies, installation and performance art. OARS is multidisciplinary, multicultural, multilingual, multi-generational, and inspired to assemble with our cherished and supportive community partners. Our Edmonton-based grassroots community is alive, expanding, and growing in encouraging and unforeseen ways. Ortona Diaspora is a dynamic reflection of our 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, family 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.
Group Art exhibits:
8712 109 St, June 1st to August 1st
Reception June 26th 5:30-6:30pm
Located in the warm and cozy theatre lobby, this group exhibit features paintings, drawings, photography, prints, mix media, home movies, animation and a dinorama.
Artists include: Blair Brennan, Candace Makowichuk, Craig Talbot, Jordan Rule, Marlena Wyman, Michael Caskenette, Monica Pitre, Paddy Lamb, Wilfred Kozub, Will Truchon, and William Northlich.
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Art Gallery of Alberta Community Gallery
Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA), 2 Sir Winston Churchill Square
June 7 – August 30, Reception June 28th, 1-4pm
Presenting Ortona Diaspora Group Exhibit featuring artists from the Ortona Armoury Arts Community. Sculptures, paintings, drawings, sound, video and featuring a panel discussion on artist studio spaces in Edmonton during the reception on Saturday June 28th.
Artists include: Beth Pederson, Caitlin Siân Richards, Finn Phillips, Gerri Harden, Jeff Collins, Jordan Rule, Krista Acheson, Marlena Wyman, Markus Eymann, Maya Jarvis, Patrick Arès-Pilon, Patrick Byers, Patrick Higgins, Shawn Pinchbeck, Stephen Sereda, T22, Tim Rechner, Wilfred Kozub, and Will Truchon.
Artist studio panel discussion on June 28th from 2:30 to 4pm in the Ledcor Theatre with artists Marlena Wyman, Chelsea Boos, Jeff Collins and moderated by Brad Goertz.
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An affectionate salute to The Mighty Ortona Armoury Arts Building:
8712 109 St, Thursday June 26th
5:30-6:30pm Metro Gallery Reception
6:30-8:00pm Reel Ortona
Films by:
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
8:15-9pm Trincan Steel Orchestra music performance
9:00-10pm Edmonton Tonight: Late night variety show with host Tom Bernier featuring Trincan
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.
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Solo Art exhibit:
Collins Studio Gallery, 11741-94 St
June 19th to July 19th
Reception Thursday June 19th, 6-9pm with an audiovisual performance by Shawn Pinchbeck at 7pm
Premiere of the solo Jimmy Golden exhibit “Lost Ortona” featuring 26 drawings created during the last days in the Ortona Armoury Arts Building in May 2019. The exhibit reception features live audiovisual performance from local and internationally recognized electro-acoustic composer/performer Shawn Pinchbeck.
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Draw-a-thon
Monday June 30th, 10am to 10pm
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Ortona Diaspora: presented and curated by the
Ortona Armoury Artists’ Reach Society (OARS)
Funding generously provided by the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton
A partner event at the The Works Art and Design Festival 2025
Community partners include: Art Gallery of Alberta, Metro Cinema, the National Film Board, The Paint Spot, Trincan Steel Orchestra, Collins Studio Gallery and Rossdale Community League
