Celestial Synchronicity and Community Ritual: The “Being Seen” Opening Ceremony | Kingston Artist Portia “Po” Chapman

Celestial Alignment and a Warm Welcome

Running from July 27 to September 18, 2026, at the Kingston Arts Council (KAC) Pocket Gallery in the Kingston’s Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, the immersive exhibition Being Seen: when Being Seen… we glow established a welcoming space for tactile connection. The official opening ceremony was intentionally scheduled for the evening of July 30, 2026, during the summer’s full Buck Moon phase. This timing aligned the organic voice of nature with a striking celestial backdrop, coinciding with the peak of the Southern delta Aquarid meteor shower and a bright morning planetary alignment of Saturn, Mars, and Venus.

Outside the Tett Centre entrance, artist Portia “Po” Chapman welcomed arriving visitors alongside custom directional signage. Wearing a custom black t-shirt printed with gold lettering matching the exhibition’s branding, Chapman stood against the backdrop of the Kingston waterfront as sunset cast soft pink and lavender hues across the sky. Inside the main foyer, an additional directional sign guided guests toward Room 115.

A Living Room Setting and On-Brand Refreshments

Once guests and KAC staff gathered in the transformed KAC space configured as a “Living Room” seating area, Felicia Holmes, KAC Program Administrator, opened the evening. Marking Holmes’s first visual art gallery exhibition setup in the Pocket Gallery, she welcomed attendees, shared biographical details, and introduced Chapman.

The refreshment table mirrored the exhibition’s industrial and tactile motifs, featuring a galvanized metal wash tub filled with ice and SanPellegrino—reminiscent of the tubs used to soak rawhides—alongside spring water and homemade treats baked by Chapman’s mother. The spread included family-recipe “Aunt-Ethel” brown sugar cookies and miniature taffy tarts echoing the aesthetic of the gallery’s backlit rawhide wall drums. In the background, KAC Executive Director Nicole Daniels, volunteers, and staff conversed warmly with guests.

Sharing the Inspiration: Sunlight on Rawhide

Stepping forward in front of the refreshment table, Chapman delivered an engaging artist talk while her drummer—who had welcomed visitors outside with drumming—joined the room.

Chapman shared the deeply personal inspiration behind the exhibition. Reflecting on the isolation of 2020–2021 within her high-rise studio overlooking the Bay of Quinte, she described an afternoon when sunlight streamed through an elk rawhide frame drum, casting a heavenly golden glow across her space. That singular moment of warmth dissolved her loneliness and made her feel truly seen, inspiring the creation of the Glow Chamber so others could experience that same profound feeling.

Diverse Community Engagement and Interactive Displays

The opening drew a diverse community spanning all ages, from children to elderly participants, with visitors traveling from the local Kingston region as well as Texas and Newfoundland. The audience included art students, teachers, a professor from Africa, a nurse, a mechanic, a police officer, actors, multidisciplinary artists, caregivers, and home gardeners. Following the talk, guests eagerly lined up to step inside the Glow Chamber and take selfie photos.

A key interactive element was the glowing selfie photo post-it board, where visitors pinned their instant portraits and used a provided pen to write a descriptive word about their experience. By the time the exhibition closed on September 18, 2026, 70 community members had contributed their photos to the living archive.

Visitors also explored the tactile elements, with a young guest trying her hand at playing the custom bison rawhide on red oak frame drum brought by the drummer and made by Po.

Impromptu Storytelling and Full Moon Drumming

Demonstrating the organic nature of the evening, a second group of visitors arrived after spotting directional signs posted throughout the Tett Centre. This sparked an impromptu storytelling session and Q&A where Chapman discussed her frame-drum making practice.

At the request of these late-arriving guests, the drummer performed a special vocal and drum piece reserved exclusively for the full moon phase, a composition at once uplifting, sorrowful, and serene that filled the room with warmth, love, and a positive glow. Chapman sat nearby alongside her chief volunteer, who wore a matching custom black-and-gold exhibition shirt, taking in the tranquil beauty of the performance.

A Heartfelt Presentation and Closing Celebration

To conclude the formal proceedings, Chapman presented a profound token of appreciation to her chief volunteer and media consultant, her sister, Jazz. Overwhelmed and surprised by the unexpected gesture, Jazz was gifted the very same bespoke bison rawhide on red oak frame drum that had just been played during the ceremony, a piece she had long admired.

Surrounded by warm applause, the emotional presentation marked a celebratory milestone before the evening wrapped up with final souvenir photos inside the Glow Chamber. The opening ceremony was a meaningful, positive commencement and set the tone for the duration of the exhibition. Just as Chapman planned for her immersive, interactive glowing rawhide art installation, the common sentiment expressed by guests was that they truly felt the positive glowing feeling of Being Seen.

About the Artist

Portia “Po” Chapman is a Kingston-based multidisciplinary visual artist, muralist, and certified educator (BFAH, B.Ed, OCT) celebrated for her site-specific Storytelling Art. Awarded the Queen’s University Medal in Visual Art, Po combines university-honed studio sculpture discipline with specialized craftsmanship—integrating structural fine craft, bespoke frame drum making, and natural rawhide art. In bringing the Being Seen exhibition to life, she designed not only the interactive Glow Chamber and glowing rawhide vessels, but also curated an opening ceremony aligned with celestial cycles to foster cross-generational community connection, shared storytelling, and mutual admiration. Discover her public murals, gallery exhibitions, and creative practice at loveartbypo.ca .

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Portia “Po” Chapman, Kingston Artist

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