WOWman art exhibit puts spotlight on four Ottawa Valley female artists

By Bruce McIntyre

Four Ottawa Valley women are doing something that is truly the envy of several of their peers in the tight-knit local arts community: Pembroke’s Janos Jaros, Jelly Massee of the Pontiac, Jill Alexander of Renfrew, and Tammy Roggie from Cobden are front and centre of a new art exhibit that is open to the general public at Renfrew’s Art Factory.

The WOWman art show opened on June 25 and will be open for the next two weeks.

Joros said the concept of the all-woman exhibit started more than a year ago.

“It’s a positive experience for the community and now anyone has an opportunity to get out and look at art,” she said. “We were about to go ahead and then the lockdown happened. When we first discussed the exhibit, [Art Factory Owner] Patrick [Mills] said ‘wow man’ and the name stuck. Today, we are here and WOWman is open.”

Although the guidelines outlining the conditions needed for a business to reopen allowed for an earlier opening of the show, three of the artists agreed they would wait until Massee could complete the quartette of exhibitors.

“Living in Quebec I had to abide by different guidelines and curfews, and crossing the bridge to showcase my work really doesn’t fit under the category of essential workers,” Massee said with a smile. “These ladies and Patrick held off so I could be here and that says volumes. I don’t think the average person understands an artist has limited ways to make an income and being part of an exhibit and selling paintings is a huge part of how we make a living and COVID took that away from us for more than a year.”

The women who make up WOWman all come with their own distinctive style. Jill Alexander is inspired by landscapes and nature which she captures from her Ottawa River home. Massee captures intricate detail of her subjects in a realism mode while Jaros describes her paintings as figurative art.

Alexander is a successful artist who moved to the area about 16 years ago, and is now nestled on the Ottawa River in Castleford, a few miles outside of Renfrew. She is well known for her portraits of tulips and creation of tulip vases as part of the annual Ottawa Tulip Festival.

Roggie’s art is best described as abstract and of all the artists and proudly lets everyone know she is a self-taught and has a deep appreciation for the time-honoured expression in abstract art.

Perhaps it is because it is the first time Renfrew and surrounding area has featured an art show with four empowered and independent women, or maybe it is the initial novelty of an art exhibit under the shadow of COVID, but the show has been very popular right out of the gate.

Mills is thrilled with the initial response, and said the Ottawa Valley can look forward to future exhibits in July and August on top of his annual Art Festival in August.  

“They are promoting their art and finally making some money,” Mills said. “The smiles on the faces of the four women only reinforced my commitment to showcasing local art and hosting a large festival in August. We have doubled the number of artists to more than 50 for the festival this year, a big jump from 2020. I suggest if you have guests coming the August 14th weekend, you better book a hotel room early.”

WOWman runs until July 17 at the newly opened Art Factory Gallery at 11 Bridge St. in Renfrew. Hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an artist will be on site each day of the exhibit.

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