THE GENTRY ESPRESSO AND WINE BAR

Small Town Sundays

Exhibition dates: January 29 - March 31
Gallery hours: Monday to Friday 8:00-18:00, Saturday 9:00-18:00 & Sunday 10:00-15:00

Reception: February 15, 19:00-21:00

Two Alberta-born photographers, Samantha Chrysanthou and Darwin Wiggett, explore dueling narratives of nostalgia and neglect in images of dying small prairie towns.

Sunday traditionally was a day of religion and socializing, of meeting at church and perhaps having a coffee with a neighbour afterwards. The main street would be alive with people going about their day. But with the move to industrialized food systems, many small farms have sold out and left the area with corresponding decreases in school enrollment, hospital visitations, and commerce in small towns. Both from Alberta, the photographers find the towns they visit on Sunday generally quiet and still. The artists wonder: What does this demographic shift reveal about our values as a culture? Are small towns the stuff of nostalgia for the ‘good ‘ole days’ when everything was simple and ‘common sense’ reined? Or is the loss of small communities a reflection of diversifying social structures and technological advancement and viewed as inevitable? The photographers use differences in their personal styles as artists to portray the two narratives of nostalgia and neglect, pairing images together on the wall to suggest these two viewpoints, and encouraging us to think about what kind of story we are attracted to and why.

This exhibition is wheelchair accessible.

312 Fifth Ave #9, Cochrane, AB T4C 2E3