A new exhibition at the historic Mahon Hall in Ganges, Salt Spring Island, explores how legal, medical, and religious systems have shaped the lives of queer and trans people through 12 large-scale portrait drawings.
“At the Table: The Architecture of Control” by Salt Spring-based artist Jeannette Sirois opens Friday, July 3, 2026, with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition runs through July 27, and an artist talk will be held on July 5 from 2 to 3 p.m.
The portraits, each 40 by 60 inches and rendered in layered coloured pencil on paper mounted to aluminum panels, depict community members positioned as witnesses confronting an empty institutional table. The works draw from extensive conversations with each sitter, with Sirois spending hundreds of hours on each piece.
The exhibition is part of Artcraft, British Columbia’s largest and longest-running exhibition and retail gallery of fine art and craft, organized by the Salt Spring Arts Council. The 2026 summer season runs through September 20, showcasing works from over 100 local talents across the Southern Gulf Islands.
Sirois received two Catalyst Artist Grants from the Wilding Foundation, a Salt Spring-based charity that supports visual artists in the region. The project also earned the Matt Steffich Jurors’ Choice Award at The Parallel Show, presented alongside the Salt Spring National Art Prize.
The “At the Table” project is currently touring British Columbia through 2029, with past stops at the Cowichan Public Art Gallery and the Gibsons Public Art Gallery. Mahon Hall is located at 114 Rainbow Road in Ganges.
