Making art out of coastal debris

Tidelines show in Yarmouth’s Killam Brothers building consists of 46 pieces by 13 artists

Kellianne Land, one of the participants in the Tidelines show, checks out a piece by Mike Wedge, another of the local artists whose work is on display in the Killam Brothers building in Yarmouth.

You never know what you might find at the beach or, for that matter, what you might discover by visiting a local art show.

An intersection of the two can be found at the Killam Brothers building on Water Street in Yarmouth, where Tidelines – an exhibition featuring work inspired by and/ or made with coastal debris – is on display until Aug. 27.

Thirteen artists from the Yarmouth County/Clare region are participating in the show, which features 46 pieces.

Kellianne Land, one of the artists taking part, said she got the idea for the exhibit after getting a tour of the Killam Brothers building and being particularly struck by the facility’s third floor.

“I went ‘ wow, what a cool space to do some kind of art installation,’” she said. Land had recently met artist Mike Wedge and thought this would be a great place to display his work.

“And I thought, why not open it up to the community and just create an art installation?” she said. “It’s not a for-sale art installation. If people want the work, “Lobster claw construction” is the title of this piece by artist Dan Earle, one of the participants in the Tidelines show in Yarmouth at the Killam Brothers building on Water Street. they can contact the artists, but it’s more of an educational piece, because this building is about education, so it’s in keeping with that.”

Wedge has some big pieces in the exhibition, which features various art forms. The pieces in the show either were made with stuff found on the seashore or were inspired by it.

Land – artist- in- residence at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Yarmouth – describes the project as “an ecological exhibit, environmentally based, but without blame. It’s not a blame thing. It’s just a matter of (saying): ‘this is the kind of refuse or artistic material that we would like to see maybe doesn’t exist someday.’”

An official opening for the show was held Aug. 4 and there was a good turnout, Land said. This piece (“man eating plastic”) by Ivan Blades is part of the Tidelines art installation in Yarmouth’s Killam Brothers building.

The project has been well received, she said, with people seeming to like “the curiosity of the concept.”

Meanwhile, also as part of the Tidelines project, Land and others have been collecting more coastal debris, with the idea of inviting the public to come in and help create what will end up being a mural type of piece.

“I don’t know how it will turn out,” she said, “but I think if you give people a chance, they might do something really cool.”