Curated by Paula Kenny and Linda Berko 

Whether by necessity or by choice, people today are more frequently finding themselves leaving their familiar surroundings and moving to a new location. It is no longer limited to a particular time in life such as young adults moving from their childhood home for school or job opportunities. Older adults are downsizing and right-sizing or losing their independence; even staying in the same house may not feel like the same home when all the children are gone or a partner is lost. 

The new home may be an exciting and promising development. It could be part of new opportunities, along with new anxieties and challenges. Striking out on one’s own can be quite different than uprooting an entire family, although both can be fulfilling hopes and dreams. Is the new home even that different or is it just the new people, the new friends, or the lack of familiar faces?

 The artist’s practice may have been affected by changes in their contacts or influenced by new neighbours. They may have incorporated local traditional designs or replaced those with elements from new cultures. The shift may be deliberate or subconscious.  

 The work of each artist and artisan in this exhibition signals a change or a new reality, a feeling of comfort or loneliness, or of establishing acceptance or acceptance of loss. A new street, a new town, a new continent … welcomed or shunned … smiling faces or backs turned. 

 What makes a home? How can we represent our concept of home?  

 This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Prince Edward Island Crafts Council.