Paris’ newest pop-up art gallery invited visitors to explore the space and discover a variety of Brant-based artists on Saturday, July 11, 2026.
The Grand Gallery, located within Rebel and Royal, opened on Wednesday, July 1 and will be open for the rest of the month.
Rubyyy Jones of Big Cityyy Arts explained that the decision to transform the alterations business into an art gallery, came after operations at Rebel and Royal, owned by designer and tailor Prinx Lydia, temporarily relocated because of ongoing downtown construction.
“My partner Prinx Lydia owns Rebel and Royal. It’s an alterations business that specializes in bridal and unfortunately, with the nature of the construction, they had to temporarily move their business, leaving this space open,” Jones explained. “We’re still paying full rent here, so we weren’t going to just leave it empty. To be honest, we’ve been talking about opening a gallery and how we could make it work, so we decided to use this time to make it happen and see what the people want and what the people think.”
After putting out a call for artists, Jones quickly attracted a sufficient number of participants to fill the space, including 16 professional artists and eight kids from the Brant 4-H Photography Club.
The exhibition not only highlights a range of local talent, but also removes one of the barriers to showcasing work in a traditional gallery space.
“Some people may not know, but it’s standard for artists to pay exhibition fees to showcase their work in galleries, and that fee often ranges in price. What’s great about this is that, because Prinx Lydia is paying the rent this month, everyone is able to exhibit for free,” said Jones. “Because we were able to open it up to people, it’s just an incredible showcase of local artists and their talent, skills and expertise. Some work is just for enjoyment and to look at, and some of it is for sale which is really exciting.”
From pen and watercolour to digital art, sculpture, oil and acrylic paint, fibre art, photography and other forms of mixed-media, the Grand Gallery features a variety of mediums. With prints and cards, bookmarks, magnets, and even hand-painted journals, there are plenty of ways patrons can support the artists.
“I’m just blown away by the range of work we got,” said Jones. “I was worried for a second that it was going to be just paintings on the walls, but it’s so much more than that; it’s been really, really awesome.”
As far as the response from the public, the gallery has drawn positive feedback from visitors.
“The response has been so good, it’s been totally immense,” they said. “Paris typically always has some sort of gallery going on, but we haven’t had one for a little while now. I think everyone’s been feeling that lack, and there’s obviously so many artists in Brant, so the response has been so good that we’re trying to look at all our options for continuing past July.”
While nothing has been confirmed as far as extending beyond July just yet, the Grand Gallery is hosting upcoming events.
“On Saturday, July 18, we’ll be doing gallery tours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. People can sign up for an hour time slot, and will get a free 20 minute tour where we share more information about the artists and their practices, and some private time to explore,” said Jones. “Then on Friday, July 24, we’re having an event from 5 to 10 p.m. called Paris Lates where people can meet the artists, have a little nibble and buy some art.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
