Art on the Wall back home at Welland Civic Square

For years, visitors coming to the Welland Library were welcomed by a wall covered in works by local artists.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, the space became a barren and cold, red brick wall. But that all changed on Jan. 6.

Art on the Wall is back and no one is happier than the folks behind the initiative.

“It feels fabulous,” said Andrea MacGregor. “People were coming into the library and asking about it. They were wondering why there was no art on the wall anymore.”

But now visitors will be greeted by the works of Tina Clancy, a Welland native now living in Milton.

“She’s the first one since COVID,” MacGregor said.

Clancy, who has shown her work in galleries and spaces in Milton, Hamilton, Toronto and Niagara, works with acrylics on canvas, paper or hardboard, but she has also dabbled in watercolours and other media.

“Lately, I find myself alternating between colourful abstracts and softer, impressionistic scenes,” she said. “I call it non-representational abstract.”

She said that art has always been a big part of her life.

“I would enjoy quiet times, sketching outside, especially while travelling,” Clancy said. “And I would be sure to pack a sketchbook, pens, pencils wherever I went.”

But art became a passion once she retired from her job as a teacher.

“I took some painting classes that opened the door for me into this new world of expression and began to paint every day.”

Visitors to the library will now have a chance to see Clancy’s work. A selection of her paintings will be on display until March 6.

Now that the series is back, MacGregor said there are plenty of artists waiting in line to have their works shown.

“We had all our artists selected for 2020 and then the pandemic came,” she said. “We have a backlog.”

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