The "Thursday Afternoon Art Collective," a newly-established group of eight female artists, is kicking off the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery season this weekend.

Their show “Between Heaven and Earth” represents what the collective has been focused on since they began meeting last November.

Lisa Gibbons is a long time local artist on Cortes. Due to health reasons, she had to step away for three years from her art practice and the teaching she hosted out of her studio. She hosts the female artist collective, inspired originally by studio teaching she offered before her break from creating.

“I've come back to making art, and this core group of women who really stuck by me and were just waiting for the opportunity to come back into the studio…we decided we would just be in a collaborative, co-creative space together and just hold it and not open it to public drop-ins and stuff like that. And so it just emerged from that.”

The artists work in a variety of mediums, including found objects. While CKTZ News was interviewing Gibbons, her husband Rex Weyler delivered a 6-inch wide moth, likely to be featured in a future work.

A hairy moth was delivered to Lisa Gibbons during the interview, for the intention of use in a future artwork. Photo by Loni Taylor.

 Gibbons shared the artist’s statement for the upcoming show, noting that is is a celebration.

“Our work celebrates our lives: joys, successes, but gives a safe space to share our grief, loss, and our failures revealing the challenges and concerns of our ever-changing lives.”

The collective’s show will open on Friday, June 9 with a reception. The gallery will host an artist talk on the second weekend of the show, June 17. The last day of the show is Sunday June 18th.

To hear more about the Thursday Afternoon Art collective, listen to the CKTZ News Update below: