The Hardy Presents Community Mosaic Project

Canvas by Carol Wuollett Pinkalla.

Canvas by Lois Cermak.

Canvas by Henrie Carter.

Canvas by Sally Everhardus.

Capitalizing on the creative juices flowing through the Door Peninsula, The Hardy Gallery in Ephraim has, for the eighth year, announced the exhibition of its highly anticipated Community Mosaic Project.

During the past several months, individuals of all ages and artistic abilities were invited to pick up one of approximately 300 six-by-six inch canvases generously donated by Artists Guild in Sturgeon Bay and create a work of art using any media they desired.

Once finished and handed in, these canvases will come together to form a giant mosaic on the first wall visitors see entering The Hardy Gallery, where they will remain through Aug. 30.

During the exhibition, guests are invited to purchase a canvas through a random drawing fundraiser, The Hardy Executive Director Sarah Zamecnik explained.

“It’s a lottery so what happens is people come into the gallery and say, ‘I want to buy one.’ They pick a number and then they get randomly assigned a work when the show has been taken down, and then they get mailed to the buyer,” she said.

“I think it’s great that we get all this participation and energy with it,” Zamecnik added. “And I’m very curious to see what the whole mosaic looks like when it’s combined into one body of work.”

Each ticket is $30 with all proceeds benefitting the non-profit Hardy Gallery and its mission to promote and foster local art.

The Community Mosaic Project coincides with the gallery’s popular annual Collection Invitational Exhibition, which highlights more than 40 local and regional artists. Each artist shows two pieces of art, one of which is donated to the Collector’s Choice Benefit, the organization’s largest special event fundraiser.

“We have a silent auction for that where people come in, bid what they want to pay for the work, and the highest bidder wins the work,” Zamecnik said. “…It’s a really good way for artists to get recognized and sell work.”

The Community Mosaic Project will be unveiled during the invitational exhibition’s reception on Friday, July 17 from 5:30 – 7 pm. Both exhibitions are open for viewing through Aug. 30 at The Hardy Gallery, 3083 Anderson Lane in Ephraim. For more information, visit TheHardy.org or call 920.854.2210.