June 2012 - AOE Arts Council

ARTSOE.CA
JUNE 2012
Creative
Spirit
page 5
Passion for
Coloured Pencil
page 9
A Lifetime of
Craftwork
page 12
Cover: Photo of Creative Spirit by Chris Kiez. See page 5.
www.chriskiezphotography.com
Design and layout: Michael Rhodes, RGD
Printing: So-Tek Graphics
ISSN 1195-2229
|
Volume 25, No. 2
ARTnews is published by AOE Arts Council four times a year. The arts
magazine provides upcoming event information, highlights opportunities
for professional development, addresses current issues in the arts sector,
recognizes the achievements of artists and arts groups in the community,
and profiles AOE members.
The deadline for the next issue is July 17, 2012.
Contact us: [email protected]
AOE ARTS COUNCIL | Shenkman Arts Centre
245 Centrum Blvd., Suite 260
Ottawa, ON K1E 0A1 | 613.580.2767
ARTNEWS EDITORIAL TEAM:
Cristiane Doherty, Publisher and Contributor
Heather Jamieson, Editor and Contributor
Denis St-Jules, French Editor and Contributor
Lindsay Mann, Contributor | Cassandra Olsthoorn, Contributor
AOE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Heather Jamieson, President | Michael Curran, Vice-President /
Director, Business Outreach | Micheline Joanisse, Vice-President,
Public Affairs | Eric Robineau, Treasurer | Kathy MacLellan, Secretary
Marlene Hoff, Director, Membership | Francis Kenny, Director, Human
Resources | Denis St-Jules, Director | Marc Ouimet-McPherson, Director,
Legal Affairs | Don Roy, Director, Outreach
AOE ADMINISTRATION:
Christine Tremblay, Executive Director
Chantal Rodier, Director, ARTicipate Endowment Fund
Cassandra Olsthoorn, ARTicipate Coordinator
Cristiane Doherty, Director of Communications
Louise Michaud, Program Director
Jocelyne Garbutt, Membership Administrator
Rachel Crossan, Office Administrator and Development Coordinator
Jacquie Embleton, Bookkeeper
AOE SPONSORS:
MEMBERSHIP:
AOE Arts Council (AOE), incorporated in 1987, serves a bilingual
membership of more than 85 arts organizations and over 300 individual
artists and businesses. Its mission is to support, promote and develop
the practice and appreciation of the arts in Ottawa. Join AOE today at
www.artsoe.ca or by phone at 613.580.2767.
Organizations:
9th Hour Theatre Company • 632 Phoenix Royal Air Cadet Squadron • a
Company of Fools • Arbor Gallery • Arteast • ARTour Prescott-Russell •
Bytown Beat Chorus • Canadian Centennnial Choir Inc • Cantata Singers of
Ottawa • Capital Chordettes • Carivibe Ltd • Cercle des conteurs de l’Est
de l’Ontario (CCEO) • Les Chansonniers d’Ottawa • Club Photo Orléans
Photo Club • Coalition of New Canadians for Arts & Culture • Coro Vivo
Ottawa • Crichton Cultural Community Centre • Cross Town Youth Chorus
• Cultural Careers Council Ontario (CCCO) • Cumberland Arts & Crafts
Guild • Cumberland Community Singers • Danzas Venezolanas Araguaney
• Discovery Tour/Tour d’Horizon-North Gower/Kars • Do More Canada •
École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges • École secondaire catholique
Garneau • Foreign Service Community Association • Foyer Gallery Artists’
Association • Gloucester Community Concert Band • Gloucester Historical
Society • Gloucester Music Club • Gloucester Music Teachers’ Association
• Gloucester Pottery School • Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC)
• Harmonia Choir of Ottawa • Healthcare Food Services • Heaven • La
Nouvelle Scène • Loch Murray Dancers • MacKay United Church • MASC
• MIFO • Music and Beyond Performing Arts • National Capital Network of
Sculptors • National Capital Suzuki School of Music • Navan Arts & Crafts
Guild • OMMA (Ottawa Mixed Media Artists) • Ontario Registered Music
Teachers’ Association (ORMTA) • Orléans Art Studios Tour/Tournée des
ateliers d’art d’Orléans • Orléans Festival d’Orléans • Orpheus Musical
Theatre Society • OYP-Orléans Young Players Theatre School • Ottawa Art
Gallery • Ottawa Artisans Guild • Ottawa Chamber Music Society • Ottawa
Choral Society • Ottawa Guild of Potters • Ottawa International Children’s
Festival • Ottawa Jazz Festival • Ottawa Little Theatre • Ottawa School of
Art • Ottawa School of Speech & Drama • The Ottawa StoryTellers • Ottawa
Symphony Orchestra • Ottawa West Arts Association (OWAA) • Propeller
Dance • Rag & Bone Puppet Theatre • Royal Scottish Country Dance Society
– Ottawa Branch • SAW Video • The School of Dance • Sing House Studios
• SPAO-School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa • Strings of St. John’s
Chamber Orchestra • Tale Wagging Theatre • Tara Luz Danse • Théâtre du
Village Orléans • Thirteen Strings Baroque Ensemble of Ottawa • Vintage
Stock Theatre • West Carleton Arts Society
Business members:
ConceptArt Studio • DanceR Studio • Irene’s Pub and Restaurant •
Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration • Orléans Chamber of Commerce
• OR DESIGN Glassworks • Ottawa Business Journal/Ottawa at Home
NEW MEMBERS FROM FEB 1 TO MAY 4, 2012:
Maurice Aubut • Wasim Baobaid • Brenda Chapman • Willy Decade •
Brett Dalmage • Gregory Evanik • Lauren Foster-MacLeod • Alejandro Gay •
Catherine Gutsche • Diane Keevil Harrold • Céline G. Lapointe •
Denis Larouche • Christina Moore • Sir Wilfrid Laurier S.S. • Susan Ukkola •
Donikna Wimalaratne
DONATIONS WELCOME:
FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
MEDIA SPONSORS:
AOE Arts Council is a Registered Charitable Organization and welcomes
tax deductible donations from its supporters. Donors to the United
Way Campaign are encouraged to designate AOE Arts Council as the
recipient of their charitable payroll deduction. Charitable Registration
Number: 12177 7023 RR001
PROUD RESIDENT ARTS PARTNER:
FOLLOW US:
@AOEOttawa
Arts Ottawa Council
Sign up for AOE e-news at www.artsoe.ca
Executive Director’s Message – Christine Tremblay
ARTicipate Endowment Fund
a success on many levels
I
can’t believe how fast time has flown
and that it’s been three years since we
unpacked our bags and moved into the
beautiful Shenkman Arts Centre
Together with the Centre’s resident arts
partners and the City, we have carried
out our collective vision of supporting and
promoting artists and making this a creative
hub in the suburbs.
Reflecting upon past years and dreams,
I realize we set ourselves ambitious
goals. The establishment of a $5 million
endowment fund and granting program is
quite an undertaking. In an economy where
raising money for the arts is never easy,
the results of AOE’s ongoing campaign are
impressive. But, the ARTicipate Endowment
Fund’s success is not just about money.
Under the leadership of Chantal Rodier,
Director of the ARTicipate Endowment
Fund, much has been accomplished of
which we are proud. A structure is now in
place at AOE to support ARTicipate in the
years to come: sustainable revenue streams
have been established to ensure ongoing
annual growth of the fund; guidelines for
giving and donor stewardship are in place; a
supportive relationship has been developed
with the Centre’s resident arts partners and
the local business community; an annual
granting program has been established
and more than $117,200 has been
awarded over the past two years to support
artistic activity and cultural diversity at the
Shenkman Arts Centre.
Chantal will be finishing her contract with
AOE at the end of June. She
has contributed in many
ways to this organization and
leaves us in a much stronger
position to build on the
successes of the past. With
her considerable experience,
she has mentored AOE’s
ARTicipate Coordinator
Chantal Rodier and Cassandra Olsthoorn
Cassandra Olsthoorn and prepared her to
administer the Fund and granting program.
Chantal will continue to support and
promote the arts in her role as arts
administration coordinator and professor at
the University of Ottawa. Thank you Chantal
for making things happen and for helping us
reach our goals!
If you haven’t yet made your
2012 contribution to ARTicipate,
please give us a call or go to
articipate.ca and make a
donation today!
Editor’s Note – Heather Jamieson
A
discovery
Greek proverb, “Wonder is the
Beginning of Wisdom”, is the title of
the Tim desClouds sculpture that
encircles the tower of the Orléans Branch of
the Ottawa Public Library.
Representing the human desire to seek
knowledge, the painted steel and Galvalume
pipe sculpture was commissioned by the
former City of Gloucester for its new library
on Orléans Boulevard which opened in
October 1995.
The opening of the library was one of the
first assignments I had as a staff reporter for
the community newspaper The Star and I
was impressed that 17 years later, I could
still find the clipping of my story.
Découvrir. They particularly resonate with
me as I work on this issue of ARTnews and
take my journey into the world of Aboriginal
art. I have learnt much from the First
Nation’s artists who have been my guides;
most significantly that the motivation for the
outreach they do, is that too many
Aboriginal youth are living without valuing
their cultural identity
Youth from all cultural backgrounds,
including the Indo-Canadian culture also
featured in this issue, must be given
opportunities and be encouraged to
embrace their own cultural heritage and,
from their personal sense of wonder, share
their wisdom.
Photo: City of Ottawa
My journey of
The detail of this striking three-dimensional
artwork includes the words The Journey:
ARTNEWS JUNE 2012
3
Photo: David Kearn
Upcoming in the AOE Gallery: Works by David Kearn
and collaborative portraits by students from the
Ottawa School of Art, June 12 to August 23, 2012.
Expressive Portraits: Portraiture by the foot
Using pastels, art student Jennifer Garland has painstakingly reproduced a portion of
Margaret Atwood’s forehead; she just didn’t know it at the time.
Jennifer was a student in an Expressive Portraits class at the Ottawa School of Art, Orléans
Campus, taught by David Kearn. She enjoyed the experience so much she took the course
a second time and, in acrylics, painted an ear and side of Roméo Dallaire’s face.
On the last class of the 10-week portraiture classes, each student was given a two-inch
square portion of a public figure’s face, which David had cropped so the identity was
indiscernible. Students had about an hour to reproduce the image on a 12-inch square
canvas, using any medium they preferred. At the end of the process, nine squares were
combined to create a final portrait.
A collaborative portrait of Canadian author
Margaret Atwood created as part of an
Expressive Portraits class at the
Ottawa School of Art, Orléans Campus.
Three of the resulting composite portraits will be on display in the AOE Gallery and their
creation was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for both students and teacher.
“I notice features differently,” says Jennifer. “Each artist was able to express themselves
individually, yet come up with a unique and artistic portrait in the end. We had no
preconceptions or biases with our portrayals.”
Jennifer has high praise for David as a teacher, who she describes as an amazing artist.
As for Kearn, he is quick to acknowledge that his own art has been inspired by the
collaborative images created by his students. He has reinterpreted some of his portraits in a
similar style and format. “I have embraced the idea of taking an image apart and changing
the scale of it,” he says. The result of incorporating the class work has been to create new
images whose “component parts have a different feel.”
The exhibit will include a wide range of Kearn’s work, as well as the students’ composite
portraits. The British-born artist has lived in the Ottawa area since 2000. He trained as an
aerospace engineer and then moved into a business career before returning to his art fulltime in 2006.
www.davidkearn.com
Photo: David Kearn
“He is supportive and non-judgemental,” she says. “I think David’s artistic style is also
expressed in how he teaches. Of the pieces that I have seen, his paintings are very free and
genuine.”
Eighteen Pieces of Me: Inspired by composite
portraits created as part of his Expressive
Portrait classes, artist and teacher David Kearns
re-interpreted a 10 by 13-inch self-portrait
watercolour into a six by three foot canvas
in acrylic, comprised of 18, one foot square
individual pieces.
AOE Penny Drive
Retiring volunteers at AGM
RoseMarie Morris, left, and her
husband of 43 years, George Martin,
are joined by AOE’s development
co-ordinator Rachel Crossan at AOE’s
March Annual General Meeting. After
serving for eight seasons, the couple
have stepped down as business
managers for the Strings of St. John’s
Chamber Orchestra. Before retiring,
they worked closely with AOE staff
to prepare marketing, promotion and
audience-building templates for their
successor.
4
ARTSOE.CA
As predicted, the federal government
announced in March 2012 that the Canadian
penny will become a thing of the past.
This puts renewed impetus behind the
Penny Drive launched by AOE in March
2011 that has raised close to $120. While
the penny – at a cost of 1.6 cents each to
produce – will no longer be produced, it will
retain its value indefinitely.
AOE asks its members to continue to bring
their pennies (or any other loose change) to
the office to support AOE’s programming.
Feature Story – Heather Jamieson
Empowering Aboriginal youth
is to give
A
them hope
rtists Brad Henry and Christina
Moore believe they can empower
and give hope to Aboriginal youth by
connecting them with their culture.
Fine Arts degree at the University of Ottawa.
They made an immediate connection and
share a common sense of purpose in the
value of mentorship.
“Kids need hope, which is part of what
Christina and I do together, says Brad, of
the Teslin Tlingit First Nation. He collaborates
with Christina, who is of Huron-Wendat
descent. As artists and facilitators, they strive
to promote empathy and cultural pride.
Christina was born in Wainwright, Alberta,
while her father was stationed there with the
RCMP. After several other Alberta postings, the
family eventually moved to Ottawa. She now
lives in Wakefield with her husband. As she
grew up, she was increasingly drawn to her
mother’s First Nation’s roots. As well as her arts
degree, she also has a bachelor of education
and is deeply committed to education as an
instrument for positive change.
Collaboration is inherent in First Nations’
culture, says Brad. “We are part of the
community and everything that is creative
is included,” he says. “Our culture is an
extension of ourselves.”
Christina and Brad offer workshops and
collaborations to provide artistic and cultural
opportunities for Aboriginal youth.
“The participative nature of the arts can
counter the passive observation habits that
television and computers can develop,”
says Christina. “Art is an important means of
understanding and expressing culture.”
Indeed, the importance of culture to
physical and spiritual well-being is of such
significance to First Nations, Inuit and
Métis peoples that “the reclamation of
culture as a pillar of healing” is one of the
guiding principles of the Wabano Centre for
Aboriginal Health.
While the First Nations may have recognized
their culture as being essential to the health
of their society, their wisdom has not always
been recognized by European settlers.
“The Aboriginal People who gave us the
keys to Canada found the door closed
to them at Confederation,” said former
governor general Roméo LeBlanc in 1996
when he proclaimed June 21 as National
Aboriginal Day.
“To (the First Nations) greatness came not
from taking, but from giving. And those
values remain with you today,” LeBlanc said
in a 1998 speech.
Christina has experienced first-hand that
spirit of generousity. “Brad has taught me
that the more we give, the richer we are,”
she says. They met at the 2004 Odawa Pow
Wow, while she was in her final year of her
Christina Moore and Brad Henry
“We are now speaking for ourselves, instead
of others speaking for us. This not only
affects the way others see us, but also the
way we see ourselves.”
www.peoplesofthelonghouse.com
Brad came to his art through a more
circuitous route. Born in Whitehorse, Yukon,
in the 1960s, he moved to Vancouver when
he was six. His father, an Inland Tlingit of
the Teslin band, died when Brad was only
15. His mother, a Vun Tut Gwitch’in woman
from Old Crow, Yukon, continued to raise
her seven children with the support of her
extended family.
While in awe of his relatives’ musical and
artistic talent, he was drawn to the more
lucrative and prestigious field of firefighting.
He credits his mother’s brother Charles Tizya,
an artist, with pushing him to find his creative
side. In his 30s, he admits he “fell in love” with
his culture and he has gone on to become an
accomplished artist and musician.
He recognizes the influence of his family
in inspiring his art and acknowledges that
many messages instilled in his paintings
often speak “of the wisdom passed on to
him by his relatives and spiritual leaders.”
It is this legacy he strives to emulate.
“We are a communal people expressing
generousity on canvas,” he says of his work
with Christina. It isn’t enough for art to be
“pretty,” he says. It must have “cultural,
humanistic value.”
As artists and educators, Brad and
Christina are attuned to signs of positive
change in attitudes towards both aboriginal
and non-aboriginal people. “There are
more educational efforts to dispel hurtful
stereotypes and focus on positive role
models and authentic voices,” she says.
The inspiring symbolism of
the Creative Spirit
The striking cover image Creative Spirit
was created for ARTnews by First Nation’s
artists Christina Moore and Brad Henry.
The Raven is, among other things, a
creative and adaptive teacher, explains
Christina. “This image, with a frog as its
body and seals in its wings, represents
the interconnectedness of all things and is
symbolic of the traditional Tlingit creation
story in which raven, seal and frog work
together to create land,” she adds.
“Acknowledging the importance of working
together and acting as a facilitator, Raven
introduces new ideas, while respecting and
valuing traditional culture and teachings,”
she says. As artists and educators,
Christina and Brad “strive to embody
Raven’s creative spirit through working
together to find a middle ground between
traditional ways and the modern world.”
ARTNEWS JUNE 2012
5
Arts Community
Wabano Mamawi
Centre: A new beginning
If First Nations’ artists Christina Moore and
Brad Henry are agents of cultural renewal,
the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health on
Montreal Road is its heart.
Brad Henry and Christina Moore
facilitated a community artwork project
with youth in the I Am Connected
program at the Wabano Centre in the fall
of 2010. Over the course of six weeks,
the artists worked with the group to plan,
design and create a work of art aimed at
promoting healthy relationships.
The final outcome is a symbolic, mixed
media artwork featuring an inclusive circle
of all nations and the Medicine Wheel on
the back of a turtle. The image will be
made into a four by six foot digital mural
for the Youth Space in the expanded
Wabano Mamawi Centre. “The Medicine
Wheel teaches that we have four aspects
to our nature – the physical, the mental,
the emotional and the spiritual and
each of these aspects must be equally
developed in a healthy, well-balanced
individual,” explains Christina.
“We owe the Aboriginal
peoples a debt that is four
centuries old. It is their turn
to become full partners
in developing an even
greater Canada. And the
reconciliation required may
be less a matter of legal
texts than of attitudes of
the heart.
”
Former governor general
Roméo LeBlanc in February 1996
6
ARTSOE.CA
Established in 1998, its mandate is to
provide services to prevent ill health, treat
illness and provide support and aftercare
programming for the National Capital
Region’s population of more than 30,000
First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
It prides itself as being a leader in providing
culturally sensitive, community-based, holistic
health care and “in bridging native cultural
practices with western medicine to combat
poverty and illness in Canada’s First Peoples.”
The Wabano Mamawi Expansion project,
designed by architect Douglas Cardinal, was
announced in December 2009. The $14.2
million project is being funded by the federal
and provincial governments, and through
a $9.6 million fundraising campaign. The
campaign has raised just over $5 million
since it was launched in the summer of 2010.
The community can support the campaign
through buying a floor tile, pillar or attending a
Wabano Gala scheduled for June 21, the annual
date of Canada’s National Aboriginal Day.
Opening of the expanded facility is
scheduled for fall 2012.
www.wabano.com
A cultural Gathering Space will be a focal point
of the expanded Wabano Centre for Aboriginal
Health. Wabano is Ojibwe for “new beginnings”
and Mamawi is Cree for “together.” The centre’s
director of initiatives Carlie Chase explains
the space’s symbolism: “The circular space
honours the indigenous teachings of the circle:
inclusivity, belonging and community. Thirteen
pillars surround the space to represent the 13
grandmother moons, while the star on the floor
represents the morning star, reminding us that
each day is a new beginning.”
“It was prophesized that the
time would come when the
voice of indigenous peoples
would rise again after five
hundred years of silence and
oppression, to light a path to
an eternal fire of peace, love,
brotherhood and sisterhood
amongst all nations.
”
Algonquin elder William Commanda
(1913-2011)
A Circle of All Nations:
A Culture of Peace
Milestones
On June 21, 2012, the Ontario
Arts Council will announce
the first winner of the Ontario
Arts Council Aboriginal Arts Award. The laureate will receive $7,500 and will
nominate an emerging Aboriginal artist who will receive $2,500. www.arts.on.ca
In January 2006, Anishnaabe artist Norval
Morrisseau, became the first First Nation artist
in the then 126-year history of the gallery, to be
granted a solo show at the National Gallery of
Canada. According to the Ottawa Citizen, the show
“officially ends a long history of apartheid at the
country’s leading art institution.”
Self-Portrait, 2005, Norval Morrisseau - The Coghlan Art Gallery.
Arts Community
Attracting francophone youth to careers in arts and culture
Carrières en arts is the name of an
Alliance culturelle de l’Ontario initiative that
aims to raise awareness among the FrancoOntarian high school students about the
many careers in the domain of arts and
culture.
The Alliance and its partners – the
Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne
(FEFSO), l’Association française des
municipalités de l’Ontario (AFMO) and the
Fondation ConceptArt Multimédia – hope
to provide youth, their parents, the schools,
and the Franco-Ontarian community as
a whole with all of the possible career
opportunities in arts and culture.
To do so, the Alliance first organized
career discovery days in March and April
in some of the province’s high schools;
three in the north-east and three in the
east, namely Hawkesbury, Plantagenet and
Casselman. Throughout these meetings,
the students had the chance to discover
all the possibilities offered to them in the
seven sectors: visual arts, cinema and
Insurance for artists:
television, dance, broadcasting, literature
and publishing, music, and theatre.
According to the Communications and
Operations Coordinator at the Alliance,
Julie Marais, the roughly 300 students
who participated were thrilled with their
experience; particularly with the contact
with people working in their domain: “They
realize that people working in the arts live
for their work; they are passionate and hard
working, and all or most of the students
who attended dream of the same, so it is
exciting for them to see people who have
achieved this.”
But the project’s originality lies in the
participation of the municipalities, which are
in the process of developing their cultural
policy. The mayors or representatives from
Casselman, Prescott-Russell, Hawkesbury,
and Plantagenet benefitted from the
occasion, according to Julie Marais: “For
them, it was a chance to get a feeling for
the youth, for what they want for their town,
a sort of public consultation to learn what
youth want in
terms of arts
and culture. The
municipalities
were very
pleased to have
the chance
to talk to the
students, to
better understand their needs.”
The second phase of Carrières en arts will
take place over the summer; it will include
the creation of an online resource centre
for youth, the artists and the community. In
addition, an area of the Alliance’s website
will serve to “gather information to help
youth with their career choice and help
the municipalities better understand local
artists.”
The Alliance hopes that, in the future, other
municipalities will show interest in organizing
career discovery days.
Denis St-Jules
Are you covered?
For artists who earn income from their work,
insurance makes good business sense.
There are many reasons for artists who
create, teach or exhibit to secure adequate
insurance, not the least of which is the
peace of mind that coverage can bring.
Protection from liabilities and coverage
for loss of income due to damage, theft
or personal injury are areas artists should
consider, says artist Valerie Hoffmann, who
has more than 15 years of experience in the
insurance industry.
“It is important that we, as artists, see the
need to insure our works and livelihood,”
she says. “If we gather compensation for
our works, then we need to recognize its
value and take the necessary steps to
protect ourselves and our business.”
Generally speaking, completed artwork is
insured based on the monetary value at
the point of sale and not for creative hours
alone.
“The value of insuring art through its
stages from raw materials to completed
sale, delivered and paid for, is a personal
assessment as to whether the risks of loss
and damage justify the costs and whether
the costs can be recovered from the sales,”
says Patrick Imai, full time sculptor and vicepresident of the National Capital Network
of Sculptors. “As I expand beyond having a
couple of pieces in a local show, I recognize
the need to review my coverage and to seek
expert advice on making any changes to my
insurance.”
could potentially compromise a property
insurance policy.
Although most galleries and exhibitions carry
liability insurance for all artwork while it is in
their possession, it’s good to double check
their policy before signing any paperwork,
adds Hoffmann. When exhibiting in shows
with a dedicated booth space, exhibitors
may be required to show proof of liability
insurance. All instructors under contract
with the City of Ottawa are required to have
liability insurance, explains Mike Taylor, arts
centre programmer for the Shenkman Arts
Centre.
Hoffman advises non-insured artists to
contact their property insurance carrier
to inquire about insuring their works and
business. “Some of the basic insurance
coverages are for theft, damage, loss of
income and works in transit or while off-site.”
For protection while shipping, artists can
purchase insurance from most shipping
companies for works in transit, explains
Hoffmann. She also emphasizes that having
a studio located in one’s residence and
receiving prospective clients in the home
This is the case for Sing House Studio’s
owner and vocal coach, Chantal Hackett,
who uses part of her home to teaching
singing. “I understood that my home was
now a commercial space - so if someone
got hurt, I wanted to be covered,” says
Hackett.
Art + Law Conference, June 8-10
Organized by CARFAC National, Lord
Elgin Hotel
Where visual artists, arts organizations and
arts lawyers from across Canada will come
together to discuss everything from copyright
to contract disputes and tax issues.
www.carfac.ca
ARTNEWS JUNE 2012
7
AOE Member News
For actor Kathi Langston, it was love at first
read.
As artistic director of OYP Theatre School,
in June 2011 she was interviewing recent
Concordia graduate Megan Piercey Monafu
for a teaching position. They discussed
that Megan had written a one-woman play,
which Kathi offered to review.
After reading the manuscript of Mabel’s Last
Performance, “I loved the play immediately
and wanted to BE Mabel,” says the Kathi,
The two have formed Abalone Theatre and
are now collaborating as co-directors, with
Kathi playing Mabel, to debut the play at the
2012 Ottawa Fringe Festival in June.
The play explores the inner turmoil of Mabel,
a spirited 60-year-old former actress – in
her mind very much still an actress – who
has been forced by Alzheimer’s to live in a
retirement home. To Mabel, the home “smells
like old people” and as her mind drifts in and
out of reality, she is determined to escape.
The seeds of the play were nurtured the
summer Megan worked in her native Nova
Scotia as a sitter for aggressive dementia
patients. The experience was intense.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of
Alzheimer’s disease
“I couldn’t help but imagine what it must be
like to have dementia and to be constantly
confused,” she says. After doing more
research on the disease and developing
the script during a playwriting class at
Concordia, the Fringe debut is Megan’s first
production as a playwright.
Kathi, a veteran Ottawa actor, teacher,
director and winner with Susan Flemming
of the People’s Choice Award winner at the
2002 Ottawa Fringe Festival, relates to the
play on a highly personal level.
“My very much loved mother-in-law had
dementia (before her death). It was so awful
to go through it with her; so frightening and
lonely, yet at the same time fascinating,” Kathi
recalls. “Mabel is a very human story about
making connections and loneliness. She could
be anyone of us or anyone we know.”
The first Fringe performance of the hourlong play starts at 7:30 p.m., June 14, at
St. Paul’s Eastern United Church in Sandy
Hill, where risers are being brought in to
improve sight-lines. The full schedule for the
remaining nine performances can be found
at www.ottawafringe.com
Heather Jamieson
and hours qualify as community involvement
hours for Ontario high school students, she
adds.
The lottery-based, 11-day festival is held in
and around Arts Court in downtown Ottawa,
presenting a huge variety of performances,
both professional and amateur, ranging from
dance to improv to Shakespeare. The festival
depends largely on volunteers to bring the
festival to life.
The Fringe Festival has joined AOE in hopes
of recruiting new volunteers, to promote itself
to AOE’s large membership and because it
shares the vision of the Council.
“Volunteers are an important part of the
success of all Ottawa’s festivals, but even
more so for the Fringe because 100 per
cent of the income from ticket sales goes
directly to the performers,” says the Fringe’s
volunteer co-ordinator Louisa Haché.
Last year, volunteers put in more than 4,000
hours supporting the Festival. As well as
funky Fringe T-shirts, volunteers get a free
performance pass for every shift worked
ARTSOE.CA
“Death is a dance. A slow,
flowing dance; the steps
come naturally. A dance of
freedom as the shackles of
circumstance dissolve and
only essence is left.”
Mabel Isaacson
Mabel’s Last Performance
eclectic festival
The Ottawa Fringe Festival has been
celebrating the performing arts every summer
since 1997.
8
Photo: Julie Laurin
One-woman Fringe play tackles
“Like AOE, an important part of the Fringe’s
philosophy is to cultivate and support artists
at all levels of their development,” she says,
“In addition to our work with performers on
a national and international level, we want to
foster and develop relationships with local
artists, art enthusiasts and organizations,
and strengthen our ties to the Ottawa
community.”
Last year the Fringe set a record, selling
more than 12,000 tickets and earning over
$80,000 for the artists involved.
Adding to the wide variety of performances
is the unique experience of where Fringe
takes place. Aside from four main venues at
Arts Court and the University of Ottawa, the
festival accepts applications to their Bring
Your Own Venue (BYOV) program. Anyone
with access to a suitable space can apply
and successful applicants are also chosen
by lottery. This year, among the eight BYOV
venues are St. Paul’s Eastern United Church
in Sandy Hill, the Royal Oak Pub on Laurier
and the Mercury Lounge in the ByWard
Market.
The 2012 Fringe Festival runs from June 14
to 24. The schedule of performances, venues
and ticket information are available on their
website, or you can follow them on twitter @
ottawafringe and @volottfringe
www.ottawafringe.com
Lindsay P. Mann
AOE Member News
Passion for coloured pencil
sparked by practicality
A broken down boat engine and a newborn
were instrumental in making Gordon
Webster the passionate coloured pencil
artist he is today.
Realizing he could actually draw was
an epiphany in the spring of 1987 when
engine repairs needed for his 33-foot
board stranded him in the Bahamas for a
month. With little else to do, he pulled Betty
Edward’s Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain off his boat’s bookshelf.
The ground-breaking book, published
in 1979, had revolutionized methods of
drawing and teaching art based on her
understanding of the two ways the brain
perceives and processes reality – one
verbal and analytic, the other visual and
perceptual.
For the weeks Gordon was stranded in
the Bahamian port of Marsh Harbour, he
did every lesson and exercise in the book
and discovered he could draw; something
he’d always wanted to do, but believing
he couldn’t, he had taken up photography
instead.
Choosing coloured pencil as his preferred
medium came with the birth of a daughter in
February 1988 when he had
to find a way to combine his
newly-discovered drawing
skill with the demands of
child-caring.
“I needed a medium that
was non-toxic . . . that
I could drop when she
Yellow Boat by coloured pencil artist Gordon Webster, president of the
woke up from her nap,
Coloured Pencil Society of Canada.
something that wouldn’t
dry in a brush and
2010, with members from across Canada
something that had no fumes,” he says.
and Gordon serving as president.
“That eliminates virtually everything except
The second goal will be accomplished with
coloured pencil.”
the July 3, 2012 opening of the society’s
Gordon has continued to create, in a selffirst national exhibit in the LaLande + Doyle
described “magic realism” style, and has
Exhibition Space in the Shenkman Arts
become an advocate for an art form whose
Centre. The exhibit received 81 submissions
growth world-wide is being fuelled by its
from 30 coloured pencil artists from across
accessibility.
Canada. The juried show will exhibit 42
works by Canada’s best coloured pencil
In the late 90s, he began working towards
artists until July 31, 2012, with its vernissage
the creation of a “Canadian venue”
on July 7th. The exhibit will move to Galerie
for coloured pencil artists. “I wanted a
d’Art 249, St. Sauveur, Québec from August
Canadian Society to promote Canadian
4 to 19.
artists and I wanted an annual exhibition to
showcase what is being done here.” The
Canadian Coloured Pencil Society debuted
with the launch of its website in December
www.colouredpencilcanada.ca
www.gawebster.com
Wall Space Gallery joins artists on the Orléans Art Studios Tour map
Building on the success of hosting last
year’s vernissage, Wall Space Gallery is
now an official stop on the 2012 Orléans
Art Studios Tour.
from 7 to 9 p.m. The gallery will be open
on Saturday, June 9, from 9:30 a.m. to
5 p.m. and on Sunday, June 10, from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“Having Wall Space Gallery onboard for
a second year is a win-win for both the
community and for the 19 artists who will
exhibit at the gallery,” says Joyce Buckley,
participating artist and chair of the Orléans
Art Studios Tour. “This year most stops
have two to three artists at each studio
to give visitors a more condensed route.
We encourage all to take the tour and
discover what is happening in their local
arts scene.”
“We are really excited to be one of the
tour locations,” says Edward Barr, coowner of Wall Space Orléans Gallery. “We
will be open that weekend to give people
a chance to come in and get a sense of
what awaits them before they embark on
the route.” A piece of work from each artist
on the tour will be on display at the gallery.
Members of the public can meet the artists
at Wall Space Gallery, 2316 St. Joseph
Blvd., Orléans, on Wednesday, June 6,
The Orléans Art Studios Tour, now in its
sixth edition, is an annual showcase of
Ottawa East-End artists and was founded
by Orléans artist Marielle Dubois in 2007.
Cristiane Doherty
Linda Dyson, entitled ‘Kiss Me’
www.oast.ca
www.wallspacegallery.ca
ARTNEWS JUNE 2012
9
Arts Community News
The Odyssey Project: Epic event to tell an epic tale
Donald Trump has famously advised “if you
are going to think anyway, think big” and the
Ottawa StoryTellers have taken him at his
word.
On June 16, 2012, in collaboration with
2 women productions, the organization
dedicated to the art of oral storytelling,
will bring to life Odysseus’ journey, from
beginning to end, in a 12-hour epic
performance of Homer’s Odyssey.
To make it happen, Ottawa StoryTellers has
launched a fundraising campaign through
IndieGoGo.
“OST is embarking on a fundraising
campaign of a scale far and beyond
anything it has attempted in the past,”
explains managing artistic director Caitlyn
Paxson. The Odyssey Project had been
planned with the expectation of renewed
funding from an ongoing source, which
didn’t come through for this year, leaving
OST with a substantial shortfall.
The storytellers are having fun with their
publicity campaign, with a comic video
on the IndieGoGo site, complete with
an ancient Greek soldier. OST’s publicity
coordinator Pat Holloway says to “stay
Savvy group of artists use the Internet to
More and more artists are turning to online
tools to market their creativity.
Instead of simply creating a visual diary or
repository of work, tech-savvy artists of
today are using social media, websites,
blogs and e-commerce as part of their
Internet palette of success.
Eight Ottawa artists have formed a collective
to sell six inch by six inch paintings through
a subscription service called Art Delivered.
For an annual subscription of $200, which
includes Canadian shipping, every three
months subscribers receive home delivery
of an original work of art. Pieces are created
in a variety of mediums, using a range of
techniques.
tuned” as they unveil other unique ways to
promote the event.
Homer’s tales will be told by 18 storytellers,
including Jan Andrews and Jennifer Cayley
of 2 women productions and will unfold at
the National Art Centre’s Fourth Stage from
10 a.m. to 10 p.m., June 16.
The fundraising campaign, with associated
perks, can be found at:
www.indiegogo.com/ottawastorytellers
For more information about the event visit:
www.ottawastorytellers.ca
www.2wp.ca
create art collectors
The artists are both emerging and
professional and pieces selected for
shipping are based on the subscriber’s
preferences as outlined in a short survey
sent by the curator.
“The project is all about artists helping
artists to promote the work they create,”
says Catherine Gutsche, web designer,
visual artist and curator of Art Delivered. The
group’s goal is “to create art collectors from
art lovers, one small painting at a time.”
ART Delivered also uses Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube to promote its service and
wants to expand nationally by buying a
full colour ad in Canadian Art magazine.
“Support for the project has been
established in the Ottawa area and now we
want to go national,” says Gutsche.
To raise the $3,300 needed, the group has
launched an online fundraising campaign
through IndieGoGo, which includes perks
for donors, such as signed art cards and
prints.
Art Delivered online:
www.art-delivered.ca
https://twitter.com/#!/ArtDelivered
http://www.facebook.com/art.delivered
http://www.indiegogo.com/ArtDelivered
Kate Ryckman, Catherine Gutsche, Chéryl Poulin, Jo-ann Zorzi, Rosy Somerville, Ann Moore, Heather Assaf and Bina Mirza.
10
ARTSOE.CA
AOE News
Canadian Gharana Festival: Classical Indian arts in a Canadian context
A truly Canadian tradition of classical Indian
arts has emerged over the many years
that Indian immigrants have practiced their
culture in Canada, say organizers of the
Canadian Gharana Festival.
“Indian artists have been in Canada, some
for several generations, and are practicing
traditional Indian art forms influenced by
their Canadian backgrounds,” says Ravi
Singh, one of the festival’s organizers and
co-founder of Gharana Arts.
The Canadian Gharana Festival runs from
June 22 to 24, 2012 and will feature many
talented Canadian artists who have melded
their practice of classical Indian arts with
Canadian influences to create their own
Canadian tradition. The festival, which will
include performances, exhibits and lectures,
will take place in the Shenkman Arts Centre
and at Centrepointe Theatre.
City to proclaim June 24
Indian Classical Arts Day
The City of Ottawa is recognizing June
24 as Indian Classical Arts Day in Ottawa
and Mayor Jim Watson will make a formal
presentation of the proclamation on June 24
at 6 p.m. in the Harold Shenkman Hall.
Through its two-fold mandate, Gharana Arts
seeks to create an awareness of the value and
beauty of Indian classical arts within a modern
Canadian context. Through performance,
members then demonstrate the innovation
that has developed, adds Singh.
While other festivals in Canada promote
classical Indian arts, their focus is usually
limited to specific disciplines from select
regions in India and tends to feature
internationally-performing Indian artists.
The Canadian Gharana Festival is the first
of its kind to showcase a wide spectrum
of classical Indian arts, from all regions
of the Indian sub-continent, and across
many disciplines and to include a uniquely
Canadian approach. The three-day event
will showcase Canadian artists from across
the country, including Vancouver, Winnipeg,
Toronto and Montreal.
The educational components of the festival
add depth and different points of interaction
between audiences and artists, says Singh.
Through its varied programming, organizers
hope to highlight the huge history and
diversity of classical Indian arts to nonIndo-Canadians and encourage the Ottawa
community to learn more about Indian
culture and its practitioners here in Canada.
Their goal is to minimize the barriers to
Indian arts: both to encourage Canadian
practitioners to share their Canadianinspired practice and to make the art
accessible to Canadians.
Gharana Arts was founded by Indian
performers Singh and Kasturi Mishra in
2005 to create a platform for Indo-Canadian
artists to perform and exhibit.
www.gharanaarts.com
Cassandra Olsthoorn
Ravi S. K. Singh on tabla and Udit Bhide on sitar.
Moving forward: AOE member survey reveals Council on the right path
Strengthening the Council’s commitment
to city-wide leadership initiatives and
enhancing its capacity to support the local
arts community were ranked as the top
two priorities for AOE over the next three
years, according to respondents of a survey
conducted by the Council in February and
March 2012.
“The survey was carried out as part of the
Council’s strategic review and responses
were extremely encouraging,” says
executive director Christine Tremblay. “The
majority of survey respondents gave high
marks to AOE for how well it is fulfilling its
mission to support, develop and promote
the arts and artists of all disciplines in
Ottawa.”
An e-mail invitation to participate in the
survey was sent to AOE’s 502 individual,
business and organization members. Over
an eight-week period, 134 responses were
received, yielding a 27 per cent response
rate.
Overall, respondents (74% English,
82 % French) were either completely or
very satisfied with their AOE membership.
The survey revealed a 64 per cent level
Survey comments from AOE members:
“I highly value the advice I’ve had from AOE on a number of issues, such as marketing
and grant writing - personal, one on one advice”
“AOE needs to focus more on the performing arts sector, as well as attracting
younger members and artists, and make efforts to reach more expanded
multicultural communities.”
of satisfaction with the Council’s bilingual
service delivery.
“As a member-based organization, it is
important for AOE to gauge member
fulfillment on a regular basis to ensure
we are meeting members’ needs and to
improve where necessary,” Tremblay adds.
The findings of the survey will be used by
AOE to evaluate its methods of sharing arts
information and offering opportunities to its
members.
AOE members identified marketing, access
to spaces (performing, studio, exhibiting),
securing funding and audience building as
being their greatest challenges for the next
three years.
Cristiane Doherty
ARTNEWS JUNE 2012
11
Photo: Marc Dhavernas
Gharana Arts and Kasturi Mishra have
received ARTicipate project grants for
the festival’s programming.
Artist Profile
A lifetime of craftwork,
fueled by compassion
Photo: Lindsay P. Mann
David Murray has been exercising his
creativity since he was a boy.
Growing up in a large, artistic family, his
parents encouraged him to explore different
mediums. A family project sparked an
interest in quilting: “As one of nine children,
we worked on a [quilt] for our parents. I liked
working with my hands and enjoyed cloth
and wood as a youth.”
David continued quilting into adulthood, but
his passion didn’t truly start until he became
a parent. He began his first big quilting
project, memory quilts for his five children,
in 1991 and they took him five years to
complete. David continues to work with
wood and cloth, driven “by a desire to make
a difference using natural materials to make
useful items.”
By participating in Victoria Quilts Canada,
David makes a difference in the panCanadian community. Victoria Quilts is a
non-profit organization that through task
sharing creates quilts for cancer patients.
The initiative started in the United States
and was brought to Canada by Betty
Griffin of Ottawa. In 2004, David made a
in honour of a friend who had
o - 25th Festivecontribution
with stars and confetti
scale - Black
passed away from cancer. “We could not
attend the memorial service. [My wife and I]
felt
70%
%
100% of our time was more appropriate
80% giving
than giving money.” David has been working
with Victoria Quilts ever since.
David loves that he is able to participate in a
charitable endeavour as a way to continue
sewing box which he made by following
directions in a magazine.
David Murray
his quilt work. He enjoys recycling scrap
pieces of flannel from Victoria Quilts projects
to create some less-conventional quilts.
“As I have practiced, I have become more
comfortable with the various techniques and
have looked for new ways to be creative.
The more I complete the higher standard I
expect of myself.”
David is currently the marketing coordinator
for the Ottawa Artisans Guild, where he
oversees the guild’s annual spring and fall
markets. Its next show is November 10-11,
2012 at Lester B. Pearson High School. He
has been qualified by the guild to showcase
both his quilts and his wood work.
Also a member of the Ottawa Valley
Woodturners, David first dabbled in wood
working in a high school shop class, but
was inspired by his father who would restore
old furniture and create items for his family.
David’s first unsupervised project was a
Now retired, David spent 13 years in
developing reclamation techniques for mine
wastes in Elliot Lake and another 14 years
in computer network management for
Agriculture Canada. Retirement has afforded
him the opportunity to really focus on his
art. He currently dedicates approximately
one week a month to his wood working and
another week to his quilting. Over time he has
managed to expand his workshop, allowing
him to take on commissioned projects and to
design and build custom tools.
“I have a need to be active and do not like
to sit still.” David’s work is for sale during the
Artisans Guild shows and on his website.
Lindsay P. Mann
www.customcrafts.ca
www.valleywoodturners.userworld.com
www.victoriasquiltscanada.com
www.ottawaartisansguild.ca
25 years
Come celebrate AOE Arts Council’s
supporting the arts in Ottawa. Join us in raising funds
to create opportunities for artists and to support the
ARTicipate Endowment Fund.
November 8, 2012 – 6:30 p.m.
Shenkman Arts Centre
Early Bird Tickets on sale until September 14, 2012.
$65 individual
$325 group (6 tickets)
For tickets and information, to donate to the auction or to become a sponsor:
[email protected]
613.580.2767
www.artsoe.ca
SILENT AUCTION ∙ CATERERED FOOD STATIONS ∙ ENTERTAINMENT ∙ ARTISTIC DEMONSTRATIONS
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ARTSOE.CA