White Water Gallery is bringing back its artist-created canoe paddle exhibition and fundraiser on Saturday, March 28, 2026, turning the North Bay Museum into a one-night contemporary art show, sale and auction. Artists from Northern Ontario and beyond have transformed functional paddles into original works that explore form, surface and meaning.
Part sculpture, part painting and part northern storytelling, the Paddle Project invites artists to turn an everyday object into an expressive canvas.
White Water Gallery says proceeds from the March 28 auction at the North Bay Museum will help fund its commitment to risk-taking and innovation in contemporary art practice.
The gallery is announcing the return of its artist-created canoe paddle exhibition and fundraiser: a one-night contemporary art exhibition, sale, and auction taking place tomorrow (Saturday), March 28, at the North Bay Museum
“The event brings together artists from our region and beyond, each transforming canoe paddles into original works of art; part sculpture, part painting, part northern storytelling,” says a release. “The result is the transformation of canoe paddles, objects designed to explore water, into works that explore form, surface, and meaning. Each piece reflects northern Ontario’s relationship to place, movement, and making.”
Proceeds from the auction support White Water Gallery’s artistic programming and its ongoing commitment to risk and innovation in contemporary art practice.
Why paddles?
An object made to explore water is re-imagined as a platform for artistic exploration. Canoe paddles are transformed by artists into tactile, sculptural works, each one navigating the space between function and art, utility and expression.
Attendees at the gala fundraiser will see, and have the chance to own, 100 unique artworks by renowned artists such as Keith Campbell, Donald Chretien, Kim Kitchen, Jurgen Mohr, Beth Jackson, James Fowler, Jane Agnew, Fran Hanover, and many more, including an exciting number of beautiful offerings by local new generation artists, as well as by North Bay City Councillor Justine Mallah who also generously designed a paddle for the event.
Tickets and information are available here.
White Water Gallery is a not-for-profit Artist-Run Centre committed to supporting artistic practices that prioritize risk and innovation. Understanding the need to advance the public’s threshold for viewing contemporary art, the gallery encourages outreach programming that promotes accessibility and shared knowledge.