Summer is heating up as we welcome our July pop-up artists Ann Eynon and Bonita Ruttkay.

Ann Eynon’s style brings a flavour of traditional Quebecois folk art to her West Coast subject matter. Using broad, impressionistic brush strikes, her paintings are full of movement and have a deep understanding of the interplay of light and colour. She draws inspiration from the buildings and landscapes that surround her from France, to the Gulf Islands and recreates them in acrylic on canvas.

Bonita Ruttkay’s paintings are mainly local Steveston scenes of iconic buildings, gardens and landscapes that were all started during her “en plein air” excursions. “I truly enjoy and am inspired by painting on location. There is something about feeling part of the flow of life around me that carries over into the painting”. Bonita has shown paintings at Richmond City Hall, Minoru Cultural Centre, Gateway Theatre and Richmond Art Gallery.

A percentage of all sales go towards Steveston Historical Society programs and events that support our community.

Our society has been in place since 1976 to preserve and promote the history of Steveston. Become a member for the inside scoop on our upcoming events.

Visit the year-round Pop-up Art Show on display at the Steveston Museum and Post Office. Shop for creations by local artists, with a percentage of all sales going toward the Steveston Historical Society’s programs and events that support our community. For the latest information on featured artists, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If you’re a local artist and would like to be considered for a future date please contact Lori Gelz at postoffice@historicsteveston.ca

Pop-up Art Show Artist for June 2023 – Dona Nabata

If you are walking down Moncton Street in June and see little bright pink heads in the window of the old Bank Managers Office at the Steveston Museum and Post Office, be sure to step inside and see the work of DONA NABATA. NABATA is a Sansei, or third generation Canadian Japanese. She is based on Granville Island and will be featured Pop Up Artist for the month of June inside the Steveston Museum & Post Office.

One room of the exhibition will house a very large, 4’ x 5’ painting based on the Tale of Genji, and also some smaller paintings done in oil on canvas. The main Post Office will feature many works inspired by old photographs found in Dona’s own Grandmother and Grandfather’s photo albums. Please enjoy the 12” x 12” mandalas on wood and portrait paintings of fishermen and Asian women.

The showcases will feature little vignettes on wood using original photographs, origami paper and found objects. These little dioramas celebrate the people in the photographs whose identity has been lost to us with the passage of time. No one who might remember them is still alive.

Dona will also show small works on paper featuring historical people and the Steveston waterfront. A post card titled: “Salmon Woman” which was made from a 4’ x 8’ woodblock print created in Steveston in September 2022 will be available for sale and can be mailed from the Post Office.

This pop-up ties together the historical nature of the Canadian Japanese diaspora in the Museum, with Nabata’s contemporary work in the Post Office, bringing the past into the present.

@donanabata
https://japanesecanadianartists.com/artist/dona-nabata/
Dona’s exhibition at the Richmond City Hall Galleria “Outside of History” ran from April – June 2022 https://www.richmondartgallery.org/outside-of-history