Artisans of the Village of Elbow are attempting to transform the community into another Emma Lake, said the curator of the village’s new art gallery.

Linda Kennedy, owner of Gallery 148, said the new space that features works created in the disciplines of sculpture, painting and photography would be a compliment to the two current galleries in the village. She said Gallery 148 is separate from the Water Colour Society group and Carmen Heinrichs’ space, but taken together the three should bring Elbow to the forefront for art tourism in Saskatchewan.

“We are trying to become a hub where people looking for art can make day trips and come and see us,” said Kennedy. “We’re destination art.”

Gallery 148, which staged its grand opening this past weekend, would feature “multi-medium” works by contemporary artists including photography by artist Anna May Shrimpton, landscape and still life acrylic and oil paintings by Carl Schlademan, acrylic paintings by Elbow’s Anne Falconer Paulsen and industrial sculpture by David MacTavish.

Kennedy said she decided to open up the gallery because a space was needed in Elbow to showcase the many works of artists from “Saskatchewan and beyond” that otherwise would be sitting somewhere not being appreciated. She said the gallery that is located on Saskatchewan Street would be open from the May long weekend to the September long weekend when the tourist season in Elbow is at its peak.

“The art community (in Elbow) is pretty strong and I’m very much into the fine arts,” she said. “I’m anxious to represent some of these artists and offer them up for the tourists.”