Artists, collaborators and friends, Cindy Hoppe and Diane LaRouche Ellard share their explorations of the prairie landscape through their individual mediums in Common Ground, the latest exhibit on the main floor of the Gallery.

Cindy Hoppe is an artist whose work is rooted in long observation of the prairie landscape. She has worked as an artist for many years, with a focused practice in fibre art for the past 30 years. Using recycled and dyed wool and silk, she stitches, appliqués, and quilts to “paint” with her sewing machine. Guided by process, material, and an openness to chance, her work transforms humble remnants into layered interpretations of prairie land and lived experience. Her work, as well as Diane’s, attempts to capture landscape and history at a particular time and place that is fast disappearing as industrial agriculture removes old yards and consumes prairie.

Diane Larouche Ellard is a painter and mixed-media artist based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Working in oil, acrylic, encaustic, and mixed media, her practice is grounded in process and material. In her encaustic work, she uses layers of collage, encaustic, oil paint, and other media fused with heat to create textured, light-filled surfaces that explore prairie landscape, memory, and place. Her work is a response to prairie views and overlooked spaces that hold both beauty and loss.

Join us at the Gallery for an opening reception and an artist talk with Cindy and Diane on Saturday, March 14 at 1:30 p.m.