Dianne Lister and Michael Harris selected for Art à la Carte exhibition

Kawartha Art Gallery recently announced that works by Gallery Member artists Dianne Lister and Michael Harris have been selected for inclusion in the Art à la Carte – Celebrating Ontario exhibition at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Art à la Carte provides Ontario artists with the opportunity to display their work to visitors in the In Camera Dining Room in Toronto, Ontario, at the Ontario Legislative Building, Toronto, ON. Selected pieces will be featured in the exhibit for one year.

The selection of Lister and Harris reflects the high calibre of artistic excellence represented by Kawartha Art Gallery’s membership. The gallery congratulates both artists on this significant achievement and is proud to see their work showcased in a prominent provincial venue.

Lister is a practicing art photographer that now resides in Toronto, with strong connections to places and people in the Kawartha’s. Her creative expression has evolved over the last three decades – first as a landscape photographer, then as a storyteller and most recently as a collaborator with mixed media artists. She has explored austere settings, evocative subjects and has pushed the boundaries of printing techniques and mediums. Her work can be viewed on her Instagram @diannelister.

Selected work: The Howling, Kingston
“I’d walked the Kingston lakeshore path many times, and the tree stump often caught my eye. This winter afternoon, the dramatic sky was the backdrop I was waiting for,” said Lister. 

Since he retired as a journalist/media executive, now more than ten years ago, Harris has re-immersed himself in photography, an interest he first picked up in the late 1960’s.  Harris mounted six exhibits at Peterborough’s SPARK Photo Festival, five with Lister and one solo exhibit. His photographs have been selected twice by the Kawartha Art Gallery for its Community Members Juried Exhibition, and in 2019 he won the award for “Best Content”. His works are held in several private collections. Harris splits his time between his home in Toronto and the family cottage in the Kawarthas.

Selected work: Tranquility at Sunrise
“A fitful sleeper, I often see the first light of day. Very rarely, the sunrise over Clear Lake is so startling that I actually get out of bed, find my camera, and go down to the lake to try to catch the image.  On the morning of this photo, on my way to the lake, I disturbed a duck at the water’s edge, and the duck started swimming toward the far shore. The wake of the duck, the mirror-smooth water, the clouds, the sunrise — part serendipity, part commitment — make this a special photograph for me,” said Harris.