The City of Barrie’s Brightening Barriers is back for its fourth year bringing original works by local and regional artists to patios throughout Barrie’s downtown. The exhibition is on display until September 6, 2024.
To celebrate its fourth year, Brightening Barriers is featuring artworks from previous exhibitions on nine restaurant patios in Barrie’s downtown. The participating downtown patios and featured artworks in 2024 are:
- Homestead – Window Watching, Marne Grahlman
- CW Coop’s – Downtown Disco, Vivian Heliotis
- McReilly’s – Ultra Pose, Neil Smith
- Mexhico – Fishbowl, Michael Ciesielski
- North Country – FREE!, MacLaren Youth (Jonas Bowser, Claire Coulter, Dilara Kaur, Koen Lewis, Sabrina Mamedov, Ally Strachan, Audrey Terrio, and Charlotte Wylie), mentored by Clandestinos through the BRIGHT project, 2023
- Flying Monkeys – Sweet Moves, Katie Green
- Michael & Marion’s – Peace, Neda Mazhab Jafari
- Dunlop Street Diner – Compliment Clouds, Petra Victoria
- Bohemia – Why We Knit, Tracey Anne Martin
The Brightening Barriers exhibition has been recognized with awards from the International Economic Development Council for Excellence in Neighbourhood Development and an Honourable Mention from the Economic Development Council of Ontario.
A self-guided tour and a family scavenger hunt will be available at the Barrie Public Library, Downtown Barrie BIA, Sandbox Centre, MacLaren Art Centre, City Hall, and the restaurants participating in the exhibition.
Brightening Barriers is organized by the Barrie Public Art Committee. To learn more about works on display, visit barrie.ca/PublicArt.