contents
Does art nurture a community?
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art out there . . .
TREX: Taking Art Beyond the Gallery
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Joint Library & Gallery Expansion
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Fire & Ash
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Prairie North Creative Residency Seeing, Feeling
Three Peace River Artists
where its all at . . .
Gallery Directory
Art, Integrity and Linear Thought
Tim Heimdal
grow, ART, grow the artbox exhibits & events education & opportunities artists directory FreeFall with Skygenie
Editor: Jody Farrell Associate Editor: Dymphny Dronyk Design, Layout & Advertising: Image Design Professionals Inc. Contributors: Jody Farrell, Dymphny Dronyk, Karen Bass, Susan Thompson Publisher: Art of the Peace Visual Arts Group, c/o The Prairie Art Gallery, 10209-99 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2H3; Ph. (780) 532-8111; art@artofthepeace.ca Printing: Menzies Printers
10 12 14 17 18 19 20 21 26 ŠAll rights reserved Art of the Peace 2004 Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Art of the Peace makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or ommissions.
Jobs, housing, schools, a decent infrastructure - no one argues that these are essential ingredients to a community. But art as economic development? The topic can open up a heated debate. By serendipity, the common thread that runs through the articles in our second issue gives this question much food for thought. Is it possible the little town of Chemainus, BC, would still be struggling to exist if it had not been for someone who believed in art. Now it thrives, its 33 murals drawing over 400,000 visitors a year. Dawson Creek may have lost its historic grain elevator had it not been converted to a vibrant art gallery. The new phase of the Grande Prairie Museum at Centre 2000 is brought to life, thanks to the talent of Tim Heimdal. Repeated studies show that teaching art and music in schools creates more diverse and successful learners. Noone working at the Prairie Art Gallery would doubt that. The children who visit on the many school tours embrace art and become its best ambassadors. Partnerships of diversity are the key to growth - whether artistic, or economic. Taking primary colours and creating rainbows; turning a flat, square building into a glorious waterfall; evolving rage into beauty; making a vision become a reality. This is the power of art. Dymphny Dronyk Associate Editor Art of the Peace Magazine
art out there . . . P
eace River area artists were wonderfully visible throughout the February Alberta Winter Games. The town was dotted with snow sculptures, and its landmark building Athabasca Hall featured works of over 20 artists, including Tammy Fischer, Rhonda Warren, Pat Coulter, Ruth Doyen, Trudy Plaizier and Doug Thompson.
Athabasca Hall basement into a proper gallery for the event. Unfortunately, the space has many interested groups vying for occupation; its transformation was not a permanent move.
Over 70 mosaic pictures (left bottom) representing the work of 3,538 students from 27 of the region's schools were assembled and shown throughout town as well. The Peace River Riverdrive Mall featured more multi-media works and installation pieces by Vivian St. Andre, Miriam Gair and Geri France, as well as a number of large and luminous paintings by Larissa Doll. An on-site installation by visitor Peter von Tiesenhausen literally came together over the course of four days in a then-empty downtown store. Peace River artists have long been looking for a permanent space to exhibit their work. Artist W e n d y Stefansson coordinated the exhibitions, and with the help of volunteers, turned the once dowdy
4 art of the Peace
Clay tile mural created by Dawson Creek Seniors.
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awson Creek's "Time Out For Seniors" group has made and assembled a work of clay tiles (above) currently on display at The Dawson Creek Gallery. Area clayworks teacher Inez Demuynck says the group donates a work to a local facility every second year. Some buildings already carrying the tile works include Dawson Creek's Chamber of Commerce; the local hospital, and the Dawson Creek Gallery courtyard. This latest clay artwork will eventually be housed in the new Northern Lights College.
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hen Art of the Peace magazine invited the Beaverlodge Art Society to talk about its history and current resurgence, its president, an area artist, Vicki Hotte was typically humble.
She spoke about how the Society had always been an extension of Euphemia (Betty) McNaught's enthusiasm for the arts. McNaught was teaching weekly art at the local school as early as 1934. More formal instruction, including colour harmony and charcoal lessons took place in her home from 1964 onward. Over the decades, people continued to meet, with and without Euphemia, to share their love of art and learning. Hotte says all classes ended with tea and cookies. This was always an important part of the process, Hotte says, adding that for her, it was perhaps as crucial as the instruction. The actual Beaverlodge Art Society was officially registered in 1987. While today's group is not as cohesive or regular in its meetings, it does get together for on-location painting and welcomes any interested visitors to join in. For more information call Vicki, at 538-1947.
Intimate Violence
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his year marks the second annual Euphemia McNaught Arts Festival, July 23-25, the same weekend as the ever-popular Street Performers Festival. The Prairie Art Gallery, in conjunction with the Centre for Creative Arts, will host an entire weekend of art and fun for the whole family,
including children's activities and a community "Paint a Picket" project. There will be an artists' market that runs from 100 avenue south on 99 Street, where you'll meet with some of the most creative people of the Peace! It is first come, first served for a place to sell your art - (we're looking for all manner of wearable and visual pieces, the funkier, the better!)
Bring your own table or blanket and claim your spot on the promenade. There, you can sell your art while enjoying the festival.
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rt of the Peace, a project which to date includes a magazine, website, and loosely-knit association of Peace area artists looking to advance the development and promotion of this region's arts component, is hosting its second annual Arts Symposium on Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004. The last symposium, a sold out event hosted by The Prairie Art Gallery with funding from Peace Region Economic-Development Alliance (PREDA), featured three artist-speakers who shared their work and views with like-minded arts enthusiasts from throughout the area. Ted Godwin, whose work with the Regina Five was the talk of the country in the early sixties; figurative painter Tessa Nunn, and GPRC fine arts instructor and artist Tina Martel spoke of what keeps them producing in
a sometimes less than receptive environment. This year, the symposium aims to create a similar forum for sharing and learning. Friday night, October 22, The Prairie Art Gallery will host an exhibition opening and wine reception for participants. Last year, artists exchanged original ‘art cards’ as an icebreaker. Saturday morning starts off with a continental brunch and later, a lunch at Jeffrey’s in the Centre for Creative Arts. For more information or an application, visit
www.artofthepeace.ca or call Jody Farrell at The Prairie Art Gallery at 532-8111. You may also e-mail us at art@artofthepeace.ca
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o you have some art news? Let us know at art@artofthepeace.ca or Jody at 780-532-8111.
Auctions art us . . . Artists and art collectors love them.
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pril art auctions continue to be a major fundraiser for art galleries around the Peace. They usually happen around an evening of dinner and dance, with art lovers and artists coming together to bid on or just admire some of the area's latest works. The auction generally begins with a call to area artists for donations. In return, the artist may be offered a tax deductible receipt, and, or a ticket or two to the event. The function also gives good exposure to artists looking for wider audiences and potential clients.
GPRC Arts Students Take Message to the Streets
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rande Prairie Regional College fine arts instructor Tina Martel was intent on increasing student-community relations with the mounting of a recent mixed media exhibition "Intimate Violence." Over 30 student, faculty and community artists explored the all-too common theme of violence in relationships for the two day show, which ran April 2 and 3 in downtown Grande Prairie. With the help of local arts philanthropist Murray Quinn, Martel met and worked with several city residents to make the project happen. Martel wanted a content-based exhibition that was relevant to the community. "I was not looking for shock value" Martel explained. "I was looking for thoughtful commentary on an issue that has affected each of us at some level.” She sees the need for the College to mingle with and have a voice in the community. Martel also chose the off-campus location to encourage arts students effective communication to a wider audience.
The (Dawson Creek) South Peace Art Society’s recent 23rd annual auction, ARTI-GRAS, was a theme-based event celebrating arts with a New Orleans street festival mardi-gras twist. It's the major fundraiser for the society, which operates the Dawson Creek Art Gallery, a unique facility located in a restored grain elevator. The Prairie Art Gallery (Grande Prairie) celebrated its 24th annual art auction on April 24, with more than 300 people in attendance. The dinner and dance has long been a favourite fundraiser for arts enthusiasts. This year, the event was held in the city's new Holiday Inn. The Centre for Creative Arts has opted for a new kind of auction. The Centre, located in the historic courthouse building in Grande Prairie, is offering to name each of its renovated rooms after a winning bidder in its auction, which happens next fall. It's a unique way to raise funds while helping keep one of the city's oldest public facilities operating and open to the public.
Painting at left by Debbie Sparrow
art of the Peace 5
TREX
Taking Art Beyond the Gallery
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t a recent information f i r s t - e v e r - c o l l a b o r a t i o n kiosk at the Mighty between The Prairie Art Peace Teachers Convention, Gallery and The Grande Prairie the most popular brochure was Public Library. Winning poems the one outlining the Alberta published in the library's 2003 Foundation for "Musical the Arts TREX “Exhibits... are small, ready to Endeavors" ( T r a v e l l i n g - hang, and come with an eduaccompany E x h i b i t i o n cation package.� 18 Alberta Program) a Foundation project that sees original art for the Arts Collection artexhibitions tour all corners of works in a touring exhibit Alberta to reach even the developed by the Prairie Art remotest outlets. Servicing the Gallery. whole province requires the cooperation of the three regional galleries and one arts institute that coordinate the AFA-funded shows. The Prairie Art Gallery handles Northwest Alberta, but works with those who cover the other three areas. "We value our role in getting art out to areas that may not otherwise experience original art," says Sue Cloake Millar, TREX program coordinator for Northwest Alberta. "Exhibits on loan through the program are small, ready to hang and come complete with an educational resource package."
Susan Bixby Viola Player, 1986 Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
The fee is minimal, $50, with no shipping cost. Active participants may include rural schools, libraries, community centres, arts facilities, museums, tourism and health care facilities.
Both the pictures and poems celebrate the music in our lives, from the frustrating but ultimately rewarding piano lesson to the beat of a mother's heart.
The 2004-2005 season will feature all new touring exhibitions, including one called Musical Endeavors: A Centennial Celebration of Music as Poetry and Art. This exhibition, in honour of Alberta's 100th anniversary, marks a
For a catalogue of the other exhibits available for 20042005, call Sue Cloake Millar, AFA TREX Director at The Prairie Art Gallery, 780-5328111, or write to her at TREX, The Prairie Art Gallery, 1020999 Street, Grande Prairie, T8V 2H3 or pag@telusplanet.net.
6 art of the Peace
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renton Perrott, executive director of The Prairie Art Gallery must have been pleased at last fall's Tempt Your Palette fundraiser when, one by one, the entire lineup of the city and region's politicians waxed poetic on the merit of the arts in Grande Prairie and, indeed, the entire Peace region. Later, having sated appetites with a tasteful combination of decorum and chi-chi finger food, he ushered everyone into the Gallery's main
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Joint Library
Gallery Expansion
foyer. There, with speakers blaring "God Save The Queen", a fairly adequate vision of the old gal Herself rose through the throngs to thunderous applause. Lizzy made short work of letting the various lords know that she was fully behind the arts herself, and that she'd be keeping track of promises made. It's a dream kicked around since the seventies that is finally turning into a reality. The project includes a new library plus an addition to the existing Prairie Art Gallery. The 55,000 square foot space, renamed The Montrose Centennial Centre, aims to house what will become the cultural centre for the city. Its central feature, the "Grande Hall" will be an open, airy space between the gallery and library that will be available for public gatherings. Sculptures, art, a gift shop and café will give onto a winter garden. Marjorie Taylor, president of The Prairie Art Gallery board and member of the joint Gallery-Library building committee, says the expansion is a good example of how partnering facilities is the way of the future. “The Prairie Art Gallery strives to add to the quality of life in the north, and is constantly taking steps to increase awareness of the visual arts and develop partnerships in the community." The City of Grande Prairie made clear it was behind the project shortly after the kickoff with a $4 million pledge. The Grande Prairie Public Library and The Prairie Art Gallery hope to fundraise $700,000 for furnishings, equipment, and permanent artworks, which leaves over $10 million looking for backers. To say the project – which Perrott hopes to see started this summer and completed in late 2005 in time for a visit by Her Real Self, Queen Elizabethhinges on provincial and federal funding, is an understatement. Still, with no less than the monarchy's word regarding support, proponents are hopeful.
art of the Peace 7
Fire & Ash by Dymphny Dronyk
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he Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Prairie Art Gallery and BICWA Society invite visual artists to participate in "FIRE & ASH" a juried travelling exhibition opportunity. Created WITH clay in 15 x 15 square inch slabs and fired in the Bishogama kiln in July 2004, the finished pieces will become part of an exhibition that will circulate throughout Alberta. "We present this workshop as a way for artists to bring their work and share in the firing process." says Artistic Director Bibi Clement. "It is magical. Our kilns and residency exist because we believe so passionately in nurturing the arts. Not everyone is able to travel to gain artistic experience. We are bringing the mountain to Mohammed." An unparalled wood firing experience awaits interested artists. The BICWA Society of Hythe, Alberta's unique international Artist Residency boasts diverse studio and glazing space, as well as a variety of kilns including anagama, wood fire, salt, and raku. Established in 1999 with guest artist Yasuo Terada from Japan, the BICWA (Bishogama International Ceramic Workshop Alberta) Society hosted an intense workshop on traditional and contemporary Japanese ceramic techniques. It was such a success that workshops followed each consecutive summer, eventually culminating in the building of the anagama kiln. Anagama wood fired kilns have been used for centuries in Japan, and can be found throughout that country. In North America, however, only a handful are in existence. The anagama kiln is a multi-chambered, natural ash kiln. The artwork can be glazed or unglazed as the ash resulting from the firing process creates unique glazes and surface textures, ranging in colour from soft yellow to dark green. The anagama kiln's huge size requires many willing hands to gather and chop the wood and stoke the fire that burns for at least six days and six nights. It holds 1500 to 2000 pots. "In Japan, kilns such as our Bishogama have traditionally belonged to a family or community of potters. We want it to benefit the artistic community of Alberta." Clement continues. "The FIRE & ASH Travelling Exhibition will be a wonderful way to bring artists together, and to bring their artwork to Alberta." For more information call Bibi Clement, (780)356-2424 8 art of the Peace
by Tina Martel
Prairie North Creative Residency
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he Fine Arts Department of Grande Prairie Regional College will host the sixth Prairie North Creative Residency from May 14 to May 27, 2004.
"Consider Prairie North as an open piece of broadcloth, fourteen days and nights, 20 creative peers, two residency leaders - anything is possible! We create the format, the rest is collaboration, creativity and art!" says Housego.
Prairie North started several years ago with a variety of artists participating over the years. The residency promotes professional growth, mentorship and the opportunity for artists to associate, learn and share with peers in an intensive open studio environment. The artists work on their own approaches and content. There is no formal instruction, but two guest artists are featured.
The two-week workshop includes catered suppers, nights in the college residences and full days of studio time free from daily distractions. The suppers provide a common gathering time for camaraderie. The evenings are filled with slide presentations, individual performances, and open critiques.
Last year's residency was led by Peter von Tiesenhausen and Lyndal Osborne, both internationally known artists. During the course of the 2003 workshops, von Tiesenhausen collaborated with Newfoundland dancer/filmmaker Anne Troake to create a sculpture/dance performance scheduled for completion during the 2004 residency. It will be performed at the Canadian Dance Festival in Ottawa in June. This is a classic example of what Prairie North organizer, Ken Housego, is trying to promote. "It is about breaking boundaries," says Housego, a Grande Prairie Regional College Visual Arts instructor, "Applications in combined visual studio disciplines are encouraged. We also welcome and encourage applications in other creative fields such as writing, poetry, voice, dance and music."
Past participants enthuse: the "lack of pressure and outside concerns," the "refreshing, informal creative environment," and the "opportunity to engage with fellow artists of various disciplines in a relaxing, yet exciting atmosphere."
2004 guest artists are Aganetha Dyck and Walter May. Both are internationally recognized as dynamic and exciting contemporary artists. Each explores a wide variety of mixed media and installation based works. they were chosen for their willingness to give of their own experiences and openness to facilitating within a workshop environment.
This event is attended by artists from across Canada and is a wonderful opportunity to promote the community of Grande Prairie as a cultural centre and an environment for artistic creativity.
art of the Peace 9
Seeing, Feeling: Art as a window on the world and the soul by Susan Thompson Interviews with three members of the Peace River Art Club
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he town of Peace River seems blessed with a disproportionate amount of natural beauty. Every road in or out leads to a sweeping view of the valley's high, tree-lined hills, which explode into colour in the fall. Meandering creeks cut through forest and farmland and provide gathering places for a variety of wildlife. The wide, glittering river itself flows directly through the heart of the town, which lies nestled along opposite banks and is held together by the graceful arches of a large bridge. In winter, the sky often shines with the dancing colours of the northern lights. It seems only natural that living in such a landscape would inspire art, and Peace River is indeed at the heart of a small but talented community of local artists.
Little Creatures of the Forest Judy Woods
10 art of the Peace
Valerie Palmer is known locally as the "mushroom lady" because of her complex, earthtoned abstracts made from mushroom spore prints. Born and educated in England, Palmer emigrated to Canada in 1958. After living in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and B.C., Palmer settled on an acreage a few kilometers outside of Peace River in the mid 70s with her husband Don. Although Palmer says she has been inter ested in art since she as a little girl, the abundant nature of the Peace Valley led her to develop her interest in art to its full potential. "I've always loved nature and the country, so I find this particular place with the valley and the river and the
nature that goes with it very attractive." Palmer says she was surprised at the numbers and varieties of mushrooms on her property when she first moved to the area and began to use them to make prints by laying the mushrooms on paper and leaving them to drop their spores. Over time she learned which mushrooms had spores of certain colours, and began to incorporate negative spaces into the prints by using natural materials such as grasses and leaves as a sort of stencil. "I think to do any kind of artwork you have to have good powers of observation," says Palmer. “With the computers and all these types of gadgets...kids are probably not in tune enough with the natural things that are going on around them and that bothers me. They need to learn to observe, to see, to hear. " Palmer also does charcoal drawings, etchings, and photography. Her work has been shown and sold at exhibitions around the province, including a joint show with Geri France at the Oppertshauser Gallery in Stony Plain and a solo show at the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton. Most recently Palmer's spore prints were displayed at a juried group show in Peace River during the Alberta Winter Games. For Judy Woods art is more a kind of therapy, both for herself and the children she teaches. Although she has gained sig-
nificant local recognition for her sensitive and detailed charcoal drawings focusing mainly on wildlife, she says it was struggling with the emotional effects of a difficult life that set her on the artist's path. "I started out as a little kid," Woods remembers. "We lived in Rocky Mountain house where all the wildlife was and that's what kind of inspired me." Woods says that living in the Peace lets her stay close to the nature that she loves, and she enjoys going camping and taking walks outdoors on her acreage near Dixonville. But external observation isn't the only thing that drives her to create. "It's very calming. And I think that's what really drove me to it, the harsher life that we had when we were growing up. It was a way of calming myself instead of being angry." Woods has shown her work at a number of local exhibitions including the recent shows at the Alberta Winter Games, and has also contributed a number of pieces to silent auctions. "I've also sold a few pieces. Quite a few pieces actually in this area," Woods says. Woods currently instructs art classes for students in grade one to nine at Dixonville school. Through the classes, she is also able to help students with behavioural problems or difficult home situations
express themselves, just as she has learned to do. "The students that don't achieve well in the regular curriculum will achieve well in this area, because it's a way of letting their feelings be expressed," she explains. While both Valerie Palmer and Judy Woods take landscape and living things as their main inspiration, Ruth Doyon's work is more purely introspective. A native of Quebec, Doyon originally studied with
have the pressure to make commercial pieces that will sell. I know that in the next few years I'm going to go probably in directions that I haven't been before and that's great." Her work has been shown as part of a number of exhibitions and several travelling shows, including "Traces et Territoires" which toured Moncton, Winnipeg, and Regina; "Vision albertaine," and the Alberta Society of Artists' travelling exhibition on "9/11." Her work has appeared annually at the Centre d'arts visuels de l'Alberta in Edmonton since 1998, and she also exhibited in Peace River during the Winter Games. Doyon says that her cultural heritage is only part of what informs her work. "I don't have the feeling that what I do is specifically French. Of course it's part of who I am but . . . I'm certainly not too much in the traditional way. If you go to Quebec and look at the art there, traditionally you will see lots of old houses. Here in western Canada you will see
Valerie Palmer printmaker, author and Grande Prairie College instructor Keith Howard in the early 90s and later worked with him as a master printer using non-toxic printmaking techniques. She is currently only a course away from finishing her fine arts diploma. Doyon says it has been a personal choice to maintain a fulltime job while doing her art, since she feels it gives her the ability to experiment.
Ruth Doyon lots of animals." Her work represents personal pursuits. “More recently, it has become the expression of my inner world, a window for my soul.�
"Although I'd like to make a living at art, I don't want to art of the Peace 11
where it’s all at . . . galleries of the Peace
Outdoor Images Custom Picture Framing & Gallery 104, 10814-100 St. Grande Prairie, AB (780) 532-3701; fax (780) 532-7301 Framing, original artwork & reproductions.
BEAVERLODGE, ALBERTA Beaverlodge Cultural Centre 512-5 Ave. Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 (780) 354-3600 (phone & fax) Hours: Tues. - Fri.1 pm - 5 pm Sat. & Sun. 1 pm - 4 pm Gallery, gift shop and tea room.
Picture Perfect Frame & Gallery 9934-100 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB (780) 439-4091; fax (780) 539-4554 picperf@telusplanet.net www.pictureperfectfineart.com Robert Guest Gallery, main floor gallery, original art, reproductions, framing & art supplies.
The Small Gallery 917-2 Ave. Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 (780) 354-8117 Pottery, fine art, framing & wood turnings.
Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, The Courtyard Gallery Lower Level, QEII Hospital 10409-98 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2E8 (780) 538-7585 melanie@qeiifoundation.ab.ca Original works by local artists. In affiliation with the QEII Foundation.
DAWSON CREEK, B.C. Dawson Creek Art Gallery 101-816 Alaska Avenue Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4T6 (250) 782-8801 www.pris.bc.ca/artgallery dcagchin@pris.bc.ca Hours: May - Aug. 9 am - 5 pm daily Sept. - May: Tues. - Fri. 10 am - 5 pm Sat. & Sun. 12 pm - 4 pm Mon. closed Year round, artist run centre; gift shop; 13 exhibits per year; art rental; education programs.
FAIRVIEW, ALBERTA Fairview Fine Arts Centre 10801-103 Ave. Fairview, AB T0H 1L0 (780) 835-2697; fax (780) 835-5561 Hours: Tues.-Sat. 12 pm - 5 pm Gallery, education programs.
GRANDE CACHE, ALBERTA Grande Cache Tourism & Interpretive Centre Home of the Palette Pals Art Club Highway 40 South Box 300 Grande Cache, AB T0E 0Y0 (780) 827-3300 tourism@grandecache.ca www.grandecache.ca Hours: 9 am - 6 pm, 7 days/week Wildlife and historical displays, art gallery and gift shop.
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The Prairie Art Gallery 10209-99 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2H3 (780) 532-8111; fax (780) 539-9522 tjppag@telus.net www.prairiegallery.com Class A gallery, education programs, art rental, gift shop.
GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA Art in the Park Log Cabin, South of Centre 2000 Grande Prairie, AB Hours: Thurs. - Sun. 1 pm - 5 pm Local artist run gallery. Originals, prints, cards, postcards, bookmarks, etc. Guest artists every two weeks. Centre for Creative Arts 9904-101 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0X8 (780) 814-6080 Education programs, Gem Setters, Heather Forbes Fine Art Jewellery, A Piece of the Peace Gift Shop Grande Prairie Museum 10329-101 Ave. (Muskoseepi Park) Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3A8 (780) 532-5482; fax (780) 831-7371 gpmuseum@telusplanet.net www.grandeprairiemuseum.org The Rodacker-Campbell Gallery features rotating exhibitons.
Grande Prairie Regional College, The Glass Gallery Main campus, main floor 10726-106 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB (780)539-2909 Gallery of student and faculty artwork. Heritage Discovery Centre 11330-106 St. (Centre 2000) Grande Prairie, AB T8V 7X9 (780) 532-5790; fax (780) 532-8039 gpmuseum@telusplanet.net www.grandeprairiemuseum.org The Heritage Discovery Centre features new and exciting interactive exhibits and changing exhibits in the Kin Gallery.
Unique Gallery 9929-100 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB (780) 538-2771; fax (780) 538-2790 Original artwork, pottery, jewellery, glassware, giftware.
PEACE RIVER, ALBERTA Frameworks Custom Framing & Gallery 9903-100 Ave. Peace River, AB T8S 1S4 (780) 624-1984; fax (780) 624-1984 Custom framing and ready-made framing supplies. Original artwork, prints, posters, photographs, pottery, moose-hair tuftings and other local handicrafts.
art of the Peace 13
Art, Integrity and Linear Thought Tim Heimdal, a Peace Country Icon by Dymphny Dronyk
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Photo By Image Design Professionals Inc.
have been involved in the arts community of the Peace Country for 10 years now, but had rarely run into local painter Tim Heimdal. I
deserted. The staff knew to respect his quiet perusal. To a newcomer like me, he was a kind of urban myth. He was the guy who had painted all those murals in Grande Prairie: the horses that fly down from the sky on the Beer Box, and the Homesteaders that resolutely stare down traffic at the main intersection. The removal of his thirty-six hundred square foot "Kakwa Falls" mural on one of the city's few tall buildings had caused controversy in 2002. The building's owner had covered it up during the insulating and renovating of its property. To this day when I drive by I look up, expecting to get the emotional lift the azure majesty
Tim Heimdal’s mural on the Beer Box, 101 Avenue, Grande Prairie (above), Mural on Picture Perfect, 100 St., Grande Prairie (right)
Photo by Dymphny Dronyk
Cover Photos: Tim Heimdal Photo by Dymphny Dronyk, Kakwa Falls Mural Photo by Mel Ebelhauser
14 art of the Peace
knew who he was - enough to recognize his pea coat and preoccupied gait as he strode through downtown Grande Prairie. As a gallery owner, I seldom saw him at any Openings. He preferred to soak up the art when the gallery was
of the Falls used to deliver and flinch instead at the blank wall. Consensus was that Heimdal had amazing talent, but was very shy, reclusive almost. People spoke of him with something close to reverence.
If only he had a bigger ego and knew how to promote himself more, the myth went, he'd be famous. I had worked with him a few years ago as a set decorator for the play "When the Reaper Calls." Again, I hardly saw him - instead I saw the stage transformed from a black shell to a spooky cabin tucked back in the woods. His idiosyncratic design and absorption with each minute detail challenged and inspired me. In some unspoken way, it was clear that I was expected to make a forest to match. We proceeded to haul in a few truckloads of willows, annex most of the stairwells backstage and with a token nod to fire codes the "cabin in the forest" lived. Recently I worked with Heimdal on the set of "Barefoot in the Park". I hoped it would be a serendipitous opportunity to try to understand the enigma of this Peace Country icon a little better. His reaction when I informed him that our magazine would like to do a feature story on him seemed to epitomize the myth. "Oh, thank you," he said, followed by a long, awkward pause. "It just seems that there are far more newsworthy topics than me." Maybe not: giving boundless time and energy to your community and doing it so quietly that it is scarcely noticed is newsworthy. Bringing art to the public in the form of a
mural that beautifies our everyday surroundings may in fact be the kind of act that should receive more attention. These are no small gifts. Take the time required to build a set as an example - multiply it by the long list of plays Heimdal has worked on. A set designer starts by reading the play to get a sense of the structure and ambience that must be created. Then he comes up with a design that can be adapted for the various scenes. The design must reflect the shoestring budget reality of community theatre. The sets are built by a group of volunteers who scrounge materials from past productions and anywhere else they can scavenge the particular doors, or windows or banisters envisioned in the design. This motley collection of wounded parts is slowly puzzled together, with the original design continually evolving based on what materials are found. Finally it is painted over by Heimdal and the paint weaves the magic, creates depth where there is none, tricks the eyes. The hollow black space of the stage is transformed. Wooden planks appear on floors. The bricks of a New York brownstone peek into the fifth floor skylight. The warm green of
the front door seems to reflect the trees outside. The collective effort that has gone into creating the set is one of many elements, along with stage production, props and costumes, etc, that theatre patrons hardly notice when it is good. Yet without the often-unsung efforts that happen before the play's first night, the best efforts of cast and director would lack a dimension.
Photo by Dymphny Dronyk
Heimdal’s set for the Neil Simon comedy, ‘Barefoot in the Park’.
range of plays in the Peace Country. He has been a mainstay of Second Street Theatre, "Theatre-goers might not the Downtown Clowns, the notice it consciously if the set Royal Oak Players and Grande was flat, or something was Prairie Regional College promissing," Heimdal muses. "But ductions. He has also designed sets in they may walk Edmonton, away from the When talking with him one Calgary and play with a never gets a sense of spin, Nova Scotia. feeling that that there is a public persomething sona being cultivated to "Partly the isn't quite mask the real guy. sets were right. And the about worksame could happen when it is right. They ing on a larger canvas, about walk away knowing it was experimenting with three space," he good, but not aware that the set dimensional explains. "I'm not always very was part of that." linear, and so it has been interFor over twenty years Heimdal esting to learn from the carpenhas devoted his talent to a wide ters who actually build the set
Tim Heimdal’s dinosaur mural at the Heritage Discovery Centre, Centre 2000 in Grande Prairie. Photo by Dymphny Dronyk
and who understand scale and proportion. What may look flat and dull in a drawing may be spectacular and larger than life in reality. One time we had to cut a foot off the bottom of a wall because the window was too high, especially next to one of the shorter actors whose head disappeared!" This is the kind of anecdote that Heimdal will share in his earnest way. When talking with him one never gets a sense of spin, that there is a public persona being cultivated to mask the real guy. He may take time to answer a question, with thoughtful pauses that punctuate the conversation, but the answers are guileless when they finally come. This deliberation takes a quiet kind of confidence, and again underlines the enigma. For all the self-deprecating remarks he may make, an undercurrent of conviction also flows through. It suggests that Heimdal is an artist who paints what he feels, who lives life without artifice, mindful of the wounds that can be unwittingly inflicted upon our world. "The original purpose of painting the Kakwa Falls mural was to "do it", to take the challenge art of the Peace 15
Photo by Image Design Professionals Inc.
Tim Heimdal’s mural on Shark’s Billiards & Sports Lounge, 101 Street, Grande Prairie
of a canvas that size and use it to make a big statement about what I could do, and about what was happening to our environment, the wilderness that we could lose," Heimdal reflects. "But it developed into something much bigger. It became part of the community. It belonged to them, it wasn't mine anymore in a way. People came from elsewhere just to see the mural."
"The 8 x 8 concrete panels on the building created a natural grid, so I made a small painting, and then made a "map" of it. It took many trips up and down the scaffolding to get the right perspective or the right shadow. Up that close you just can't see it the same way."
In the fall of 2001, Heimdal was informed that the mural would be covered up by the next spring. It was inevitable, The Kakwa Falls mural was for practical purposes. No painted in 1986, sponsored mention was made of either jointly by saving or AGT (now resurrecting “What if Michelangelo was Telus) and the painting still alive and it involved the City of after the rencovering up the ceiling of G r a n d e ovation projthe Sistine Chapel? Every Prairie. ect was comeffort would be made to plete. Efforts preserve the integrity of the While it waswere made art and the artist.” n't Heimdal's in the comfirst mural, it munity to was certainly have it prethe largest project he had served instead of covered up, undertaken. In the end it was a but this was not possible. Telus labour of love. made the building ready for a potential new mural with "I knew the Herculean task was $20,000 worth of speciallydoable," he says. "I wasn't out designed "paint-able panels". to get rich, though it did lead to more jobs. The budget was The blank panels now wait for $6500, for my time and all the community's next move. materials. The scaffolding was Making the building beautiful donated, and so was the time it again will take a concerted took the crew to set it up. I effort by a focused group of ended up working for about $2 people. an hour that summer!” (continued on page 24)
16 art of the Peace
grow, ART, grow . . .
A
nd you thought shovelling dirt didn't require an artist's mentality… This summer, explore just how creative the gardener gets with the variety of garden-related projects in arts centres throughout the Peace Region. The Centre for Creative Arts (Grande Prairie) spring program includes horticultural classes for kids, with herb planting and container gardening. In May, it offers wooden lawn furniture courses. In Fort St John, the Communities in Bloom sent pots to local artists which, once painted, will be filled with blossoms and hung about town. Fairview Fine Arts Centre has an exhibition of sculptures and paintings created in conjunction with Earth Day, April 22. The exhibition will hang in the Fairview Centre until Dunvegan Park's May Day Fest, on Sunday, May 2. This celebration of Mama Nature, as organizer Christine Cedar calls it, celebrates all the aspects of the Earth, with a particular slant toward the feminine. Drummers and dancers will perform onstage, and artists and artisans from near and far will be there selling their wares. Banners painted by area artists will be on display for the volunteer-run event, which runs from 11 am - 4:30 pm Sunday, May 2. On Saturday, May 1, The Prairie Art Gallery (Grande Prairie) opens its third annual interactive children's exhibit, “Garden Treasures: The Seeds of Inspiration.” This hands-on exhibit, designed as a self-guided, family-oriented experience, looks at all the elements that play into the making of a garden. Our senses are challenged here, where in the Zen, Botanical, Imaginary, and Eclectic Gardens we see, feel, smell and hear all that is associated with these wonderful, arts-meets-science plots of land. The Dawson Creek Art Gallery is also exploring the notion of backyard delights in its Summer School of the Arts. Its courses, which run throughout July and August, include willow furniture. Also in July, watch for the Dawson Creek Horticultural Society Tea and Tour. Looking for something creative for kids this summer? The Prairie Art Gallery and The Centre for Creative Arts have joined forces to provide “Grow Art Grow!”, an all-day arts camps for children ages 6 to 12. Camps will focus on drawing, sculpture, and multimedia creations, and will happen inside and out about town. Finally, The Prairie Art Gallery's House and Garden Tour and Tea, which runs this year, June 19 and 20. The event, which offers a visit to several Grande Prairie area homes and gardens, gets more popular with each passing year, offering lots of decorating and gardening tips for every size of house and yard. Please refer to the Gallery Directory for contact information about these events and courses.
the artbox Twice Framed
by Karen Bass
A
rtists want their work presented in the best possible light; framing is critical to that end.
Think archive quality. Paper-based artwork (including photographs) requires a mat and glass. The glass protects the art from the elements; the mat protects the art from the glass, creating an air pocket that prevents moisture build-up or other problems. The mat should be acid free, of museum or archival quality. Acid from paper mats can burn the artwork, discolouring it. Use 100% cotton (rag) mats. Remember the back. Cardboard backing also contains acid. To preserve the integrity of the artwork, use backing of archival quality. Common choices are rag, foam core and barrier paper. Consider colour. The standard mat is neutral, reflecting the overall tone of the piece (cool or warm), and at least 2 1/2 inches wide. If a double mat is used, the smaller inner mat usually mirrors a colour in the picture and is repeated in the frame colour. Be bold if you want, so long as the eye is still drawn to the artwork. When framing something to sell, staying neutral is recommended. Regard the frame. Colour choice might be a personal preference, but always look to compliment the tone or highlight a colour in the artwork. Metal versus wood is another matter of preference, though if cost is an issue, metal frames are usually less expensive. No glass required. With oil and acrylic paintings, the linen liner assumes the role of the mat, separating the picture and the frame, creating a window effect. The same colour guidelines apply. Remembering two basic elements – preservation and enhancement – will ensure your artwork always looks its best.
18 art of the Peace
BEAVERLODGE, ALBERTA
Beaverlodge Cultural Centre 11th Annual Quilt Show Beaverlodge and area March 28 - April 30, 2004
“Elevated Quilts” Piecemakers Quilters Guild October 18 - November 14, 2004
FAIRVIEW, ALBERTA Fairview Fine Arts
“Little Memories” Miniature Show & Sale Beaverlodge Art Society May 2 - May 28, 2004 Student’s Art Exhibit Beaverlodge High School May 30 - June 11, 2004 “Trees of My Life” Show & Sale Vicki Hotte June 13 - June 25, 2004
Earth Day Show & Sale April 22 - May 15, 2004 6th Annual Artists at School Show Grade 4, 5 and 6 students May 22 - May 29, 2004 Gala opening - May 22, 2004 Artists North Show & Sale June 5 - June 26, 2004
Ruth Lewkowicz Show & Sale June 27 - July 30, 2004
25th Anniversary Show & Sale Fairview Fine Arts Society Euphemia McNaught Festival July 3 - August 7, 2004
Retrospect Show Rose Willsey August 1 - August 27, 2004
Fairview Agricultural Society Annual Flower Show & Tea August 14, 2004
Peace Watercolour Society Show & Sale August 29 - September 24, 2004
Geometric MO Whitney Lee Hayes Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition August 21 - August 28, 2004
Darlene Dautel & Vivian Farnsworth, Show & Sale September 26 - October 29, 2004 All shows & sales open at 2 pm on the 1st day of the exhibition.
DAWSON CREEK, B.C.
Dawson Creek Art Gallery "Mixed Media" Middle & Secondary Students, School District #59 "Mixed Media" is developed in conjunction with the South Peace Festival of the Arts April 19 - May 7, 2004 20th Anniversary Show & Sale Grande Prairie Guild of Artists May 8 to May 30, 2004 “In the Summertime” South Peace Art Society June 1 - July 25, 2004 Darcy Jackson and Amanda Wiebe July 26 - August 22, 2004 “The Boat” Invited Artists August 23 - September 12, 2004 “A Family Affair II” Phyllis Ljuden-Elderkin and Carol Ljuden September 13 - October 17, 2004
Annual Quilt & Fibre Show September 4 - September 25, 2004 Peace River Art Club October 1 - October 13, 2004
Courtyard Gallery, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital GALLERY “Prints & Process” Jim Stokes April & May 2004 SHOWCASES Ukrainian Heritage Collection Janet Lougheed April & May, 2004
GALLERY “Visions of Wellness” Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition June & July 2004 SHOWCASES “Works of Clay” Marjorie Taylor June & July 2004 GALLERY “Passions of the Soul” Carrie Klukas August 2004 Carmen’s Images Carmen Haakstad September & October, 2004
GRANDE CACHE, ALBERTA
“Capture the Beauty of the Peace” Art Contest People’s Choice voting begins April 17, 2004. Winner announced at a gala reception May 5, 2004, everyone welcome.
Northern Zone Art Show & Sale Alberta Community Art Clubs Assoc. - Juried art show for members throughout Northern Alberta. Opening - May 15, 2004, 10 am Show & Sale May 15 - 16, 2004
GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA Art in the Park
Grande Prairie Guild of Artists Show & Sale May 21 - September 2, 2004
Centre for Creative Arts “Old Court House” Auction Fall 2004
Gloria Mok: Works from the Symbiosis Series June 12 - July 18 Selections from the Gallery's Permanent Collection June 12 - June 20
exhibits & events
Hat Trick Paula Fiorini and Erin Stelmaschuk October 16 - October 30, 2004
Grande Cache Tourism & Interpretive Centre
Franco Alberta Visions: Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program. May 1 - 23
Robert Guest Gallery, Picture Perfect Frame & Gallery
Artists North 23rd Annual Spring Show & Sale Opening reception April 17, noon Show continues to May 12, 2004 Peace Watercolour Society Spring Show & Sale Opening Reception May 15, noon Show continues to June 5, 2004
The Prairie Art Gallery Junior/Senior High Exhibit May 1- May 30 Garden Treasures: Children's Interactive Exhibit May 1- Aug 29
Grounded: Artists Interpret the Land Contemporary art installations by Peace Region Artists June 24 - August 29, 2004 Ann Clarke: Recent Non-representational Painting Fire and Ash: An Exhibition of the Bishogama Ceramic Workshop Alberta Society Recent Landscape Works by P. Wilman, D. Millar, A. Rockett, S. Podryhuia Shaw September 4 - October 17, 2004 The Photography of Jack Burman Phillis Elderkin and Carol Ljuden: Joint Exhibition Suzanne Sandboe: Journey October 28 - November 23, 2004
“Artmart” Yard Sale Overstock gift shop items and used gallery supplies. May 15, 2004 10 am - 2 pm
PEACE RIVER, ALBERTA Frameworks Peace River Art Club Show & Sale April 27 - May 1, 2004 Opening Reception April 30 at 7pm.
SPIRIT RIVER, ALBERTA Spirit River Municipal Library Art Show & Sale April 25, 2004 Please check Gallery Directory for gallery locations, hours and contact information.
art of the Peace 19
BEAVERLODGE, ALBERTA
Grande Prairie Regional College
Beaverlodge Cultural Centre
Prairie North Creative Residency A 2 week non-instructional workshop from May 14 to May 27, 2004, led by Aganetha Dyck and Walter May, includes catered suppers, nights in the college residences and full days of studio time.
Ongoing programs in pottery, stained glass , batik, weaving, acrylic, oil and watercolour painting classes for a variety of ages. Please call Sue at 354-3600 for dates and details. Gallery exhibition and gift shop sales opportunities are available. Please call Sue at (780) 354-3600 for further information.
The Fine Arts Department offers students a wide range of career and learning opportunities in the Fine Arts. These include Diploma, University Transfer programs, and courses in Music, Art, and Drama. Students in all GPRC programs may also fulfill their Fine Arts option requirements with FAD credit courses.
education & opportunities McNaught Homestead A week-long event, July 19 to 23, 2004, with artists painting "en pleine air" on the McNaught Homestead. The workshop will feature a prominent landscape artist/instructor. Also, artists will go out to work uninstructed on their own, either creating paintings or installations, some of which will be for sale and display at the Euphemia McNaught Arts Festival the weekend following the Homestead event.
DAWSON CREEK, B.C.
Dawson Creek Art Gallery Ongoing programs for all ages in a variety of media. Phone for dates & details for the current month. Opportunities for exhibition in the gallery are available. Guidelines for exhibitions can be viewed at www.pris.bc.ca/artgallery.
Northern Lights College The College offers a one-year program, leading to a graduation certificate in the Visual and Graphic Arts, to prepare the student for a wide variety of career and employment opportunities. In addition, a two-year program is also offered leading toward an Associate of Arts Diploma for students wishing to transfer to other post-secondary institutions or those wanting a more intensive study program. The primary focus is to build a portfolio for job preparedness or to continue education in another institution.
GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA Centre for Creative Arts
Many new changes are taking place at the Art Centre in Grande Prairie. - Landscaping classes - Cooking classes - Rustic lawn & house furniture - Willow chair making. Also, new to the Centre is the Creative Kids Program that is being offered as a morning or an afternoon session for children ages 3 - 6. Watch for our open house this fall with a new look, new programs and an evening filled with fun as the “Old Court House” rooms will be auctioned off. This will be incorporated with the historical component of the Court House to the Centre for Creative Arts. We will also be running a contest for the best picture and the best story of the time when it was the old courthouse. For more information and updated class information, check out our new web site at www.gparts.org or contact us at info@gparts.org.
Courtyard Gallery, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital For information about showing contact Karen at the QEII Foundation office (780) 538-7583. Display cubes (showcases) are available for collections or 3-dimensional art.
20 art of the Peace
The Fine Arts Conservatory offers non-credit instruction in music, dance, and the visual arts, to students of all ages and abilities. Visual arts courses include drawing, painting, digital arts, and photography.
Educational Part-time Learner Credit Opportunities. (Winter 2004) AR 1010 Introduction to Art History I AR 2810 Twentieth Century Art History I AR 1120 Painting I - Evenings AR 1610 Sculpture I - Evenings DD 1082 Introduction to Video Production DD 1180 Digital Imagery 2D I - Evenings Upcoming Fine Arts Events Prairie North Prairie North 04, Creative Residency for Artists, Dancers, Writers, Poets. May 14 to May 27, 2004. VISITOR IN THE ARTS 2004/05 Lectures normally take place on alternate Wednesdays, 11:45 - 1:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall. November 17th, 2004: David Janzen February , 2005: Laura Vickerson
Robert Guest Gallery, Picture Perfect Frame & Gallery Robert Guest Gallery is available for exhibitions - call Dan Kameka at (780) 539-4091 for information and available dates.
The Prairie Art Gallery Painting on Location Saturday, May 8 10:00 am - 4:00 pm (Bring own lunch) at the Wapiti Nordic Ski trails Swan Festival Watch area artists painting on location, and participate in art activities for the family. Children can make their own swan stencil card. Sunday, April 25 1:00 - 3:00 pm Saskatoon Island Lake - outdoor tents The Prairie Art Gallery produces three new shows each year to tour, and is looking for proposals from its regional artists to keep on file. Please submit your artist cv, proposal, and four images of your artwork to: The Prairie Art Gallery, AFA Travelling Exhibition Coordinator, 10209 - 99 Street, Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2H3.
Calling all arts market vendors: The Prairie Art Gallery and The Centre for Creative Arts host the Second Annual Euphemia McNaught Festival July 23-25. We’re inviting all artist/vendors to participate in a two-block promenade market along the front of the Gallery and Centre. Bring your own table or blanket from where you can enjoy the festival while selling your artistic wares! For more information call Jody at The Prairie Art Gallery, 532-8111, or visit www.prairiegallery.com.
ART CLUBS BEAVERLODGE ARTS SOCIETY Box 569 Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 780-538-1947 Vicki Meet the 1st Tuesday of the month at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre. Exhibition, education and marketing support for artists. (see ad page 18) DAWSON CREEK POTTERS GUILD c/o Northern Lights College 11401 - 8 St. Dawson Creek, B.C. V1G 4G2 250-782-6428 ariedever@telus.net PEACE RIVER ART CLUB Peace River, AB 780-624-1778 Tammy; 780-624-3067 Christine Shows and sales for member artists. Variety of mediums. Meet quarterly. PEACE WATERCOLOUR SOCIETY c/o 7601-102 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8W 1Y7 780-539-4046 Dale; 780-568-4124 Suzanne Peace Country artists focusing on transparent watercolours. Semiannual shows throughout the Peace Country. PRAIRIE FIGURE DRAWING GROUP c/o 10209-99 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2H3 780-532-8446 Karen 780-532-2573 Jim Non-instructional, informal group meets weekly at The Prairie Art Gallery, Sept.-May, Thursdays 710pm. Drop-in or monthly fee.
ARTISTS ADRIAN-CLARK, Carol 9338 69 A Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 6T3 780-532-0846 Realistic renderings of florals, landscapes and still life, in coloured pencil and oil painting. (see ad page 17)
ASHTON, Ed 7806 - Mission Heights Dr. Grande Prairie, AB T8W 1Y2 780-532-6803 eashton@telusplanet.net www.edashton.com Original artwork in watercolour; Alberta grain elevators, rustic scenes, barns. BARRETT (nee White), Donna 9632-91 B Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0H2 780-538-2151 djbarrett@telus.net Artist and curator, using a contemporary approach to traditional mediums. BIBI POTTERY (Bibi Clement) P.O. Box 144 Hythe, AB TOH 2CO 780-356-2424 bibipot@telusplanet.net www.bibipottery.com Studio Potter/Sculptor specializing in wood fire and raku techniques. Artistic Director of BICWA Society, International Residency Program (see ad page 8) BRASETH, Lynne 12124-98 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 7J2 780-539-3822 Acrylic paintings of landscapes, rustic buildings and beautiful skies. Commissions welcome. BROWN, Cheryl 9725-75 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 4X1 780-538-1248 cbrown1@telusplanet.net Wide range of functional pottery and raku. BROWN, Judy Box 825 Spirit River, AB T0H 3G0 780-864-3608 judybrown@robbtech.com My paintings reflect the peacefulness and serenity of our landscape. CLOAKE, Sue 9927-86 Park Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0C9 780-539-7405
CLOAKE, Sue (cont.) Mixed media collage - a combination of mediums creates an intricate abstract textural surface. COCHRANE, Leona 12105-95 A St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 5C4 780-538-1208 lkc@hotmail.com Architectural, botanical and human forms inspire mixed media and oil painting.
DALE, Tina 9409-Wedgewood Dr. N Grande Prairie, AB T8W 2G5 780-532-3211 I enjoy the challenge of painting a variety of subjects in watercolour. DAUTEL, Darlene Box 111 Goodfare, AB T0H 1T0 780-356-2128 Variety of mediums including batik on rice paper, oils and watercolours. Studio visits by appointment.
artists directory COWAN, Corinne RR3, Site 2, Box 6 Grande Prairie, AB T8V 5N3 780-532-6643 den_cor@telusplanet.net Because watercolour lends itself to a wide range of values and freedom of movement on paper, it is my choice of medium. CRAIPLEY, Sheila Box 569 Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0 780-568-3754 Landscape, acrylic and oils in local landscapes and historic sites. CRICHTON, Holly General Delivery Grovedale, AB T0H 1X0 780-538-9264 holly_crichton@hotmail.com www.nightofartists.com Watercolours, graphite. Varied subject matter. Commissions welcome. CURRIE, Gordon 1512-113 Ave. Dawson Creek, BC V1G 2Z5 250-782-6388 gcurrie@eldoren.com www.watercolorpainting.info Watercolour and mixed media artist - scenic nature works of art.
DICKSON, Yvonne 10015-89 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0E2 780-532-1629 Watercolours with a Peace Country theme. DITCH, Valerie Box 882 Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3Y1 780-538-9238 serendipiditygirl9@yahoo.ca Primarily working in watercolour with attention to light and detail. Originals and giclĂŠe prints and cards available. DRONYK Dymphny 11306 102 B St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2Y2 780-402-3280 dymphny@telus.net www.dynamicdatagp.com Photography, writing, grants, proposals, screenwriting and video production. ENFIELD, Janet Box 815 Wembley, AB T0H 3S0 780-766-2795 Oils/acrylics. Commissions welcome. Perfect gifts for family and friends.
art of the Peace 21
FARRELL, Jody 8508-100 A St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3C3 780-538-1499 jaf1234@telus.net Paintings, oil, acrylic - mostly landscapes, flowers.
HIVES, Geri RR2, Site 7, Box 11 Sexsmith, AB 780-568-3019 dkequine@telus.net Pastel horses, all animal commissions.
FISCHER, Tammy Peace River, AB 780-624-1778 f1scher5@telus.net Watercolour and acrylic visions in landscape and still life.
HOLLER, Colleen Box 363 Wembley, AB T0H 3S0 780-766-2567 choller@telusplanet.net A variety of watercolour subjects with a view to contrast, light, colour and form.
GREENTREE, Barb Box 41 Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3A1 780-532-6658 barbgreentree@telus.net Artworks emphasizing the Wild Kakwa and Peace Country in acrylics and watercolour. GUEST, Bob Box 1784 Grande Cache, AB T0E 0Y0 780-827-2346 Painter in the Symbolist Landscape tradition preferring wilderness and nocturnal subject matter. HAAKSTAD, Carmen 8214-102 A St. Grande Prairie, AB T8W 1Z4 780-539-4483 chaakstad@gprc.ab.ca Spiritual and unique hockey images, chalk pastel and coloured pencil. (see ad page 13) HEIMDAL, Tim 9804-102 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2V2 780-532-1995 indigo@cablerocket.com Murals (interior and exterior) commissions, portraits. Acrylic on canvas. Impressionistic. HENN, K. Marjorie Box 262 Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 780-354-2165 ghenn@telusplanet.net Countryside and wilderness themes are my inspiration, watercolour is my main medium. (see ad page 13)
HOMMY, Barry Box 298 Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 780-354-8117 (w) 780-356-3741 (h) Artist in watercolour - local landscapes. HOTTE, Vicki 11405-97 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 4K9 780-538-1947 svhotte@telusplanet.net www.vickihotte.com Acrylic paintings and drawings rural subject matter. HUETTE, Arthur 8608-100 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2K1 780-539-5907 a_huette@cablerocket.com Large airbrushed art work. Will consider commissions. (see ad page 13) ISAACS, Vi Box 563 Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 780-354-2085 msilvan@telus.net www.nightofartists.com Primarily landscapes and flowers in watercolour or acrylics. (see ad page 13) JONASEN, Zo (Pots from Pouce) Box 6 Pouce Coupe, BC V0C 2C0 250-786-5052 helenzo@pris.ca Pottery, specializing in sun faces and functional pottery. .
KAUT, Donna Box 675 Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3A7 780-532-6468 ddakaut@telus.net www.nightofartists.com “I focus on oil paintings of wildflowers and berries of Alberta.” LAURIN, Ray 9637-113 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 1W4 780-532-5232 With acrylics, I can capture what nature has to offer us. LE CORRE, Lynn 11110-95 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 1Z7 780-538-4046 skyrock@telusplanet.net Painting in miniature simplifies the landscape to colour and painterly forms. MACKEY, Gordon Box 9, Site 1, RR2 Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0 780-568-3334 780-568-2926 People and nature in oil and acrylic. Sculpture in clay and wood. MACKEY, Megan Box 9, Site 1, RR2 Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0 780-568-3334 lambwood@telusplanet.net Watercolour landscapes and florals. MAGNETIC NORTH IMAGES (Brian Don Hohner) Box 104 North Star, AB T0H 2T0 780-836-0021 info@magneticnorthimages.com www.magneticnorthimages.com Landscapes and skyscapes of the North. Pastels. Commissions welcome. MARTEL, Tina Grande Prairie, AB 780-539-2814 tmmartel@hotmail.com Mixed media paintings.
MCGUINTY, Kristine 12813-92 St. Peace River, AB T8S 1R9 780-624-2605 mcguinty@telusplanet.net Harvest Moon Studio: Contemporary photographic images, polaroid emulsion transfers, acrylic paintings and drawings. MCKENZIE, Cheryl 9102-105 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8X 1H7 780-532-7433 cheryl@imagedesignpros.com www.imagedesignpros.com Digital design and graphic artist. MCNEIL, Michele J. RR2 Site 13, Box 41 Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2Z9 780-538-4760 rpmcneil@telusplanet.net Stained glass with a contemporary twist “Yours is to dream it. Mine is to create it.” MULLIGAN, Helena 8709-98 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2C7 780-538-2009 Insights, expressions of everyday life in sculptures, drawings and paintings. Commissions welcomed. NEKO GOLDWORKS (Neil Kolacz) Grande Prairie, AB 780-532-7030 nekogold@telusplanet.net Custom Designed gold and silver jewellery, and original watercolours. (see ad page 11) NELSON, Pat 9421-113 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 1W3 780-539-4481 neamhaid03@tahoo.ca Pen and ink, watercolour, mixed media, commissions considered, tea leaf readings. NEW LEAF POTTERY (Heather McNair) Box 276 Pouce Coupe, BC V0C 2C0 250-786-0058 Fax 250-786-0057 anewleafpottery@hotmail.com
NEW LEAF POTTERY (cont.) Functional, one-of-a kind medium fire pottery. Commissions welcome. Home shows and instruction available. Pottery can be purchased at Peace Gallery North and Triebel Jewellers in Ft. St. John; Dawson Creek Art Gallery and Schrader’s Flowers, Dawson Creek. PALMER, Valerie J. “Spores n’ More” Box 6512 Peace River, AB T8S 1S3 780-624-8589 donval@agt.net Mushroom spore prints: images created from natural spores of fungi.
SANDBOE, Suzanne ASA, PWS Box 28, Site 9, RR1 Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0 780-568-4124 ssandboe@telusplanet.net Realistic landscapes, portraits and scenes from everyday life. Original work and commissions in a variety of mediums. (see ad page 16) SMITH, Len 9110-100 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2K5 780-539-4608 Relief wood carving, 3D carving, intarsia, woodburning. Custom artwork and instruction.
STROM, Brenda 10205 - 76 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8W 1Y6 780-532-8930 strombrenda@hotmail.com Watercolors, oil, monoprints of florals, intimate landscapes and hockey players. (see ad page 13) SWANSTON, Nan RR3, Site 4, Box 6 Grande Prairie, AB T8V 5N3 780-532-6745 nan@imagedesignpros.com www.imagedesignpros.com Close-up views of nature, buildings. people - watercolour and pastel.
PATRICK, Anne RR1 Wembley, AB T0H 3S0 780-766-2445 “My landscapes, florals and berries are done in realism in watercolour, acrylic and oils.” PERRET, Gordon & Holly 9306-71 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 6E3 780-532-9507 perretgp@cablerocket.com Oil and acrylic paintings; ceramic and mixed media sculptures. (see ad page 8) PRIDDLE, Claire 7-105 9818-94 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3R6 780-402-3747 clairepriddle@telus.net www3.telus.net/SpectralStudio/home.html
ROY, Janet Box 279 Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0 780-568-3961 Acrylics in various subjects - landscapes, flowers, birds and animals.
UGUR, Rika #202, 10230-106 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 5G8 780-814-7430 rugur@telusplanet.net Oil paintings; impressionistic landscapes. WILLIAMS, Susan 9005-102 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2S8 780-532-6991 susanew@telusplanet.net Functional pottery. Teaches beginner and intermediate pottery at the Centre for Creative Arts, Grande Prairie WILLS, Doug Grande Prairie, AB 780-402-7077 define@telus.net Graphic design, illustration, on-site software instruction.
PHOTOGRAPHY STEFANNSON, Wendy 10509-81 St. Peace River, AB T8S 1M7 780-624-8522 wstef@telus.net Working conceptually, employing photography, acrylic paints and sculptural techniques.
SYROTA, Dale 7601-102 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8W 1Y7 780-539-4046 hsyrota@cablerocket.com Traditional transparent watercolour painting rendered in a true and unique style. (see ad page 13)
STEINKE, Vi Box 10 Silver Valley, AB T0H 3E0 780-351-2174 “My paintings of scenery and florals are done in oils, acrylics or watercolour.”
TAYLOR, Marjorie 9506-77 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 4T3 780-532-0355 mataylor@telusplanet.net Acrylic on canvas/mixed media, abstract paintings, clay sculpture. (see ad page 16)
Acrylic colourscapes. REDWOOD, Lonnie 9505-63 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8W 2G1 780-532-3510 redfl@cablerocket.com “I enjoy painting landscapes and related subject matter in watercolours.”
THOMPSON, Doug (cont.) tery of metalworking techniques allows me to work with steel as if it were clay. Specifically interested in human forms/emotions. Commissions welcome.
STOKES, Jim 10417-110 Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 1S8 780-532-2573 Quality, original paintings, drawings and prints. Contemporary representational work.. (see ad page 10)
THOMPSON, Doug PO Box 5127 Peace River, AB T8S 1R8 780-624-5229 780-618-5319 (cell) beezoo@telusplanet.net Steel sculpture using welding and blacksmithing techniques. My mas
CRAWFORD, Barbara 9711-101 St. Peace River, AB 780-624-5101 Outdoor photography, rural landscape, nature and old buildings. Colour and black and white. MCLAUGHLIN, Catherine Grande Prairie, AB 780-402-6211 cmclaughlin@telusplanet.net Photography - informal portraits of people and their pets, landscape. Freelance writing, poetry readings. PETTIT, Don Box 823 Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4H8 250-782-1063 or 250-782-6068 1-866-373-8488 dpetit@pris.ca www.pris.ca/photographics Peace Region nature photography, graphic design, publishing, marketing, product development.
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"It raised a lot of questions for me," Heimdal admits. "About Intellectual Property, about where does respect for an artist or art begin and end. There were other questions of integrity. What if Michelangelo was still alive and it involved covering up the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Every effort would be made to preserve the integrity of the art and the artist. "Last year, there was a similar controversy in Stony Plain when they tore down the Town Hall that had one of my murals “Working on a larger scale like murals makes art more accessible to a broader audience. You don’t have to see a mural between 9 and 5, or have to be a gallery-goer.� on it. In that case, after the building came down, a commitment was made by the town of Stony Plain to the community to redo the mural at a different location. But Stony Plain recognizes that their mural project is an asset to the town, part of their economic development, perhaps modeled on the success of Chemainus in B.C." And then in his typically shy way he adds, "Not that I am comparing myself to Michelangelo. I just know that the improvements in my skill and technique would allow for an even better image than it was. The depth and colour that had been lost over time could also be restored." The "Kakwa Falls" mural did lead to more murals, just as he had hoped. Heimdal makes a living painting murals. His art enhances communities all over Alberta, from Hythe to High River, Redwater to Calgary. His paintings and murals adorn 24 art of the Peace
hospitals, schools, homes and airports.
nursing
Perhaps there is some truth to his minimalist marketing. His reluctance to be photographed for this magazine or the fact that we had to cajole him to get images of his work to accompany the article, run counter to the artists who provide a weighty sales package of their work. But then again, if the projects come to you, why would you need to swim too much in the shark infested waters of marketing? "Working on a larger scale like murals makes art more accessible to a broader audience. You don't have to see a mural between 9 and 5, or have to be a gallery-goer. It is public art that still has a personal and introspective nature," Heimdal states. "And the work in the private context of the studio may make a different statement." Book jackets, illustrations, film and video work and graphic design summarize all the diverse ways Heimdal's art flows into the community. A conversation that begins with a simple question about set design meanders along like a quiet creek and ends up posing philosophical questions about the purity of visual representation. Should an artist paint what he sees, or should what he feels also influence the image? One is left feeling that Heimdal's questions will never really leave him alone, that there is an haunted undercurrent that will continue to carry him to new and deeper quests. "What are you working on next?" I ask him. "Well, I'm not sure," he replies in that measured, soulful way, as if maybe there are so many answers to
that question that he has to really consider which is the safest one. "I have to do a mural in Hythe, on the Town Hall. It was written into the estate
as yards of gravel, motor oil and cases of pickled beets, they auctioned off Olive's legendary collection of flamboyant hats. If that doesn't prove you've
A conversation that begins with a simple question about set design meanders along like a quiet creek and ends up posing philosophical questions about the purity of visual representation. Should an artist paint what he sees, or should what he feels also influence the image? directive of Olive Stickney, who was sort of the Queen Pin of town." And this is another one of those bizarre stories of serendipity that sound almost too colourful to be true. A woman tiny in stature and enormous in will, who spent most of her 90 odd years championing a dying rural town, commissions a painting by an artist who in his way, echoes her volunteerism. Arta Juneau organized an auction last year to raise money for the mural. Among such things
arrived as an artist, I'm not sure what does. Many shared cups of coffee and long and interrupted phone calls with Heimdal have gone into the research of this article. In the end, the enigma endures: the reticent artist whose bold murals are in demand - the shy guy, who is also a clown. I realize that perhaps the most powerful thing of all about Heimdal is that he is an icon for authenticity. Being a success for being yourself - now that is something to aspire to.
Murals as Economic Resource The town of Chemainus (pop. 4000) on Vancouver Island may be the perfect example of art as economic development for a community. For years forestry was the driving force of the area's economy. Then in 1983, 700 people lost their jobs when the sawmill closed down after 120 years of operation. Residents rallied and became even more determined to beautify the downtown core promoting the logging theme, under the downtown revitalization project which had been initiated the previous year. Businessman and Chemainus resident, Karl Schultz, came up with the concept of painting the town's history on its walls. An organization known as the Festival of Murals Society was established to oversee and preserve the murals project. Today, there are 33 murals, depicting real people and vignettes from the town's history, painted in the downtown core. Chemainus is internationally renowned as the world's largest outdoor art gallery and draws approximately 400,000 visitors a year to its small and flourishing community. To take a virtual tour go to: www.northcowichan.bc.ca/murals.htm
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I've always been fascinated by flight and flying things. A bird, a plane, a dragonfly, a helicopter are equally wonderful and are all worthy subjects for my art to investigate and envy. As a child, I often had flying and floating dreams, and to wake up from them was the greatest cheat - try as I might, I could never get back to sleep and recover that blessed state of being airborne. I believe that is what informs my desire to somehow convey the euphoria of flight If we acknowledge a fear of heights in some people then it would be fair to say that some others have a love of heights - possibly an addiction. Many of that latter group find their way to jobs in Forest Protection, whether as a Fire Lookout, Aerial Observer or, in this case, as a member of a Provincial Rappel Crew. I know it's what snared me. Although I've never done the helicopter rope trick, I've experienced all the other aspects of hanging out over the treetops and I like the way the world looks from that privileged viewpoint. Each painting must reflect that to some extent - to provide an impossible vantage from which to examine the world anew. I take an actual bird or aircraft and place them in a fictional scene to try and achieve this, but in the end, painting the forest and meadow, the flames and smoke or the helicopter is really just the context. I am trying to paint the air – paint the flying – paint the freefall. Brian Don Hohner "FreeFall With SkyGenie" Pastel on Watercolour 58.5 x 71 Cm. ©2000 www.MagneticNorthImages.com
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