Floating gardens and abandoned ruins at this museum serving Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon

This fall, big new exhibitions and workshops – including a floating garden – are coming to the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives (PAMA), serving the communities of Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon.

The current theme for the popular art gallery is “from bliss to abyss”, showcasing a unique artistic contrast between vibrant nature and abandoned ruins.

The new exhibitions feature the work of talented young artists from various cities including Toronto, Niagara and Montreal, allowing local residents to experience them without having to travel. If you want to enjoy beautiful modern art right here in your backyard, you’ll find it at PAMA!

Here’s what visitors can expect this fall, including some events that will only be around for a short time:

In Her Garden: Amanda McCavour and Jannick Deslauriers
On now until Feb. 20, 2024

This exhibition brings together the delicate, sculptural installations of Toronto-based artist Amanda McCavour and Montreal-based artist Jannick Deslauriers. Using only thread in her stitched drawings of flowers, McCavour crafts a Floating Garden sprouting from above and suspended in mid-air, resulting in a breathtaking exhibition bursting with colours and romantic charm.

Conversely, Deslauriers has created a world of black and white, devoid of botanical bliss, where colour and life have been sucked out. Her mixed media Phasmes (Phasmids) recall an abandoned amusement park, a nuclear disaster zone of Chernobyl proportions, or a war-torn region – the sad conclusion of an environmental tragedy spurred on by human neglect, error, or explosive aggression. One enters this “contained space” through a plastic curtain at their own risk.

“Amanda and Jannick are two remarkable and successful artists in their own right. Bringing them together for this exhibition highlights the breathtaking installation work that they are making using traditional female-based textile craft,” said Sharona Adamowicz-Clements, Curator of Art at PAMA.

Paradise Lost: Dillon Douglas and Chris Louis
On now until Mar. 10, 2024

Niagara region’s artists Dillon Douglas and Chris Louis combine their painterly imagery in Paradise Lost, a tryptic digital composition across three outdoor banners where a healthy, verdant planet Earth turns into a wasteland. Packed with repeating and overlapping motifs, both comical and strange, Douglas and Louis take us on a humbling journey of human failure (on a monumental scale) to caution us of a bleak future of our own making.

Inspired by these two new exhibitions, a number of fun nature-based workshops are happening soon where visitors of all ages can make their own works of art with the help of local artists, including featured artist Amanda McCavour.

Be sure to register soon, as spaces at these workshops are filling up fast:

Connections Art and Book Club with Brampton Library
Nov. 23, 7 – 8:30 p.m.

Join Brampton Library and PAMA for a discussion of the book Chemical Valley by David Huebert. From city-dwelling preppers to long-term care nurses, dishwashers to professional hockey enforcers to refinery workers, the book’s caring and carefully-wrought stories cultivate a variety of rich, human emotional worlds.

PAMA Kids PA Day Workshop: Soft Sculpture with artist Amanda McCavour (Ages 6-12)
Nov. 24, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

At this workshop with featured artist Amanda McCavour, kids are invited to imagine all kinds of animals, bugs and plants, then develop their own characters and new kinds of creatures. These drawings will then be transformed into soft sculptures. Participants will make a pattern on cloth and will use stitch and drawing to create their own unique plush creatures.

Embroidered Botany Workshop with artist Amanda McCavour
Nov. 25, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

In this brand-new offering, Amanda will share the techniques she developed to create ethereal sculptures. Amanda’s work explores an often overlooked side of embroidery: the structural possibilities versus the inherent fragility of thread. She will translate environmental phenomena like clouds, flowers or ice into embroidery and share this exploration of the natural world through thread in this workshop exploring leaves, flowers and botany.

Watercolour Botanical Cards Workshop
Dec. 2, 2 – 4 p.m.

Bring botanical creations to life on paper as you create nature-inspired cards, and gain inspiration from PAMA exhibitions and collections as the instructor teaches you a variety of techniques.

There’s always something to look forward to at PAMA, Brampton’s premier gallery and historical archive located downtown at 9 Wellington St E.

Learn more about all upcoming exhibitions and programs at PAMA’s website, and follow PAMA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.