VIEWPOINTS 2026 explores the many dimensions of artistic perspective, inviting artists to express their individual ways of seeing and interpreting the world. The exhibition brings together diverse voices and approaches, each offering a distinct lens through which experience is filtered and transformed. Together, these works create a dynamic dialogue that defines the spirit of the show.
Our Juror
Lee Petrie (BA, MA, MMSt) is a curator and arts program manager based in Toronto. In her 25 year career, Lee has worked with hundreds of artists to bring exhibitions and programs to Toronto Pearson International Airport, the Living Arts Centre, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Varley Art Gallery. Lee is Curator for Archive Hospitality, which operates Gladstone House and The Broadview Hotel in Toronto and The Postmark Hotel in Newmarket. She manages the creation and installation of art in the hotels and the resident artist program at Gladstone House. Lee has served as a juror for exhibitions at Latcham Art Centre, the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, Craft Ontario and many others, and for public art commissions for the San Diego International Airport, Waterfront Toronto and York Region. Lee is also Chair of the Toronto Public Art Commission.
Juror’s Comments
Thank you to the Markham Group of Artists for inviting me to jury the 2026 Viewpoints exhibition. I was impressed with the range of work submitted – everything from abstraction to high realism. I could feel the energy of gestural brushstrokes in some of the works, while others were impressive for their meticulous detail. So many different moods were captured in the works – nostaglia, anxiety, tranquility and humour. Many of the works left me with questions about the story and process behind the work – who is the subject, is the scenery part of the artist’s everyday world, what feeling is the artist trying to capture. Inspiring curiosity and close looking are, in my view, two of the best reactions that art can provoke.
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1st Place
1st Place
Gretchen
Jeens
Gretchen Jeens beautifully renders a moment of conversation amongst four young women. With expressive, gestural brushwork, she captures each woman’s clothing, hair, and expression. The composition is balanced without being symmetrical: the massing of the figures on the left is balanced in the opposite shape of the negative space on the right, which is punctuated and given weight by the black boot. Jeens reserves the detail for the figures but creates interest in the background through a range of close tones and lines that suggest the shape of furniture. The palette is tight: warm golds, peaches and oranges with touches of complimentary blue and moments of black close to each corner.
2nd Place
2nd Place
Rina
Gottesman
This abstract work is eye-catching from a distance and then rewards the viewer who looks more closely. Gottesman uses white to create a focal point that is almost architectural, like a tower rising towards the top of the painting. Varied mark-making – scribbles, stencils, script – convey a sense of energy and of a process of layering. Choosing two dominant colours, blue and white, prevents the painting from becoming chaotic, while small touches of colour create interest across the surface, and black accents ground the composition.
3rd Place
3rd Place
Debra
Wyles
This interior scene shows a masterful sense of restraint: an extremely tight palette of essentially two colours, an uncluttered, highly geometric composition and a flat finish. Other than the finial, the guitar provides the only break from straight lines. There is a sense not only of stillness but also tension, created by the cut off door frame and window, and in the lack of visible furniture or personal touches in the spaces.
Honourable Mention - Pat Wheeler Award for Story Telling -
Honourable Mention - Pat Wheeler Award for Story Telling -
Clennie
Fraser Mangialardi
Fraser Mangialardi’s painting is full of tension. The girl in the white swimsuit reaches for the girl in red, but they aren’t connecting. The left hand of the girl in red is clenched into a fist, and both girls’ faces look uneasy. The grey sky and water are foreboding and this seaside scene is devoid of other beachgoers – the only other sign of life is the freighter in the distance. The viewer is left wondering about the story behind this scene – is it simply cold water or is something else creating the tension?
Honourable Mention - Abstract -
Honourable Mention - Abstract -
Jill
Segal
Energy radiates from this small panel. The black sections frame the composition and also provide tension, giving the effect of pushing in and enveloping the bright colours. Layers of colours give the work depth and complexity. Concentrating the most vibrant colours towards the centre creates a focal point.
Honourable Mention - Landscape
Honourable Mention - Landscape
Kate
Greenway
The combination of painting and collage has resulted in an intriguing and joyful spring landscape. While dense, there are areas with a lighter touch that capture the sense of light cutting through the stand of birch trees, which are beautifully rendered. The collage elements appear to be carefully chosen, with a combination of text, plant forms and music that either reflects or inspired the title.
Honourable Mention - Portrait -
Honourable Mention - Portrait -
Linda
Kalianteris
This is a beautiful, classical portrait. In the slight upward angles of the chair cushion edges, the artist captures a sense of the softness of the cushion and the weight of the subject – a relatively small detail that greatly increases the naturalism of the work. Kalianteris has paid close attention to the details of the woman’s intricate clothing, giving the subject’s cultural clothing equal importance as her face, suggesting that her clothing is crucial to her identity. The generous expanse of black negative space frames the subject and contributes to a feeling of quiet.
Honourable Mention - Still Life -
Honourable Mention - Still Life -
Laurel
Martin
Martin’s charming, peaceful scene uses colour and repetition to create a harmonious, balanced composition. The orange on the blue and white napkin is reflected by the orange and white pattern on the mug; the purple of the flowers is repeated on the roof of the house outside the window; the red of the cherries in the bowl is picked up for the door of the house. These colour connections prevent the composition, with its many elements, from feeling busy.
Show Select
Show Select
Deanne
Wong
