One of the great things about The Freeway Coffee House is the artistic characters that you meet. One such Hamilton character is  Larry Strung, an amazing photographer and cycling enthusiast who in 2008 took on an ambitious project called Hamilton 365. The idea behind Hamilton 365 was that for an entire year the artist would create a photographic portrait of a different person in Hamilton every day. The photos were then posted nightly on the Hamilton 365 blog. At first glance this seems a simple task until you realize that for one year this man immersed himself in the city streets and people of Hamilton. No summer vacation up north, no weekend getaway to Toronto. At some point Mr. Strung needed to be in Hamilton taking a snap shot of a Hamiltonian.

2008 has long come and gone, but the project lives on in a new and exciting way. The Art Gallery of Hamilton has all 366 portraits (turns out that 2008 was a leap year) from the Hamilton 365 project on display until November 8th in the Jean & Ross Fischer Room.

A couple weeks ago my wife and I took our kids to see the exhibit. I loved the way it was organized, the photos were displayed in grids organized by the month they were shot in. The result was delightfully reminiscent of a calender. My kids turned 365 into a game, they would run ahead and see how many people they could find that they knew. Since they spend a lot of time at The Freeway, and we love to explore Hamilton ourselves, they recognized a number of familiar faces.

If you haven’t already done so, you should check out this wonderful (and free) exhibit at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. The AGH is just a 5 minute walk from The Freeway, and is located at 123 King Street West. Play the game, see how many people you know, or better yet, the next time you see a stranger on the street that you recognize from Hamilton 365, say hello and say you saw their wonderful portrait.

Just a suggestion for those of you who come to our worship gatherings on Sunday evenings: try to come a little early next Sunday and walk over to the gallery and check out the exhibit (the AGH is open until 5pm on Sundays). You’ll still have plenty of time to get back to The Freeway and enjoy your coffee before the worship gathering.