Thief steals painting from art gallery

Dean Morrison Photo

Have you seen this painting?

A painting, by Stacey Edgar, identical to this one, was stolen from the Courthouse Art Gallery January 28.

An art thief has marred the opening of Merritt's community art show.

The Art Gallery was recently remodeled with new paint colours and ceiling tiles, just in time for its most recent show.

Unfortunately, like the Olympics the show opened under a dark cloud, with the theft of an artist's framed painting before the show was hung.

The Courthouse Art Gallery's Fourth Annual Community Art Show opened on Feb. 5 with 2010 Olympics theme.

“We were gone only a few minutes but we hadn't put the sensor alarms on yet,” says gallery curator Kathi Dahlquist.

“This is the first time an artwork has ever been stolen from the gallery.”

A thief went through a stack of paintings waiting to be hung, making off with a painting entitled, “Olympic Pods,” by Stacey Edgar.

“When the artist was informed of the loss, she went home and created another painting identical to the stolen one, entitled Olympic Pods 2,” says Dahlquist.

Dahlquist hopes that anyone who sees the missing painting will contact the gallery or the police.

The show features sculptures, collages, prints and paintings, many with an Olympic theme and will run until Feb. 27.

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