by Carole Epp | Nov 6, 2012 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday
The Burlington Art Centre Foundation invites applications for Art Auction 2013
from visual artists working in all media. Entries will be selected by a
jury of peers to ensure quality and an offering of unique and original
pieces
CALL FOR ENTRY CRITERIA
- Open to all artists who are residents of Canada
- Members of the BACF Art Auction Committee are not eligible
- Works submitted must be original works of art or fine craft, created within the past two years
- New
Media/Digital & Photographic artwork must be signed, limited
editions, with a maximum of 10 prints of that image, in any size
- Two dimensional artwork must be mounted or framed, wired and ready for hanging
- Archival quality materials must be used
The deadline for applications is Friday November 23, 5pm.
Visit our
website for more information, and to download the submission form.
1333 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, Ontario, L7S 1A9
Phone (905) 632-7796
Fax (905) 632-0278
by Carole Epp | Nov 5, 2012 | Uncategorized
Winston Churchill spoke of architecture – ‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us’. The sophisticated interdependence of design elements required to create an aesthetically pleasing set of functional pieces are often completely ignored by the user because of the commonplace nature of the object. This exhibition looks at how function and aesthetics drive some of the most everyday objects that surround us. Works included in this exhibition are by Harlan House, Shane Norrie, Judi, Dyelle, Goyer-Bonneau, Peter Jensen and others.
Nov 3rd – Jan 20th, 2013
Location:
Permanent Collection Corridor
Curator:
Jonathan Smith
Reception:
November 25, 2012 2 – 4pm
Burlington Art Centre
1333 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, Ontario, L7S 1A9
Phone (905) 632-7796
Fax (905) 632-0278
by Carole Epp | Nov 4, 2012 | Uncategorized
It’s been a
while now that I’ve been intending to fill you in on a pretty amazing event I
was involved with late this summer. I’m sure I mentioned Forage {a gathering of ideas & makers} at some point, but my
intention all along was to actually share some of the knowledge and experience
that I gained at the symposium with you all.
But where to
begin?
Forage itself was an
interesting project to be involved with from it’s infantile stages. I believe
it was Kari Woo and Mariko McCrae that got the ball rolling in the beginning
inspired by the
ALT Design Summit that brought together a range of bloggers and cultural producers
for a get together to share knowledge and build community. I basically was a tag along in the brainstorming process of how, what, and
where we could create a similar event. Ideas with those two incredible women
don’t take long to turn into reality and soon enough there were lists of
possible participants, locations, topics to be covered and the like floating
back and forth through emails and google docs. A few other great minds like Cathy Terepocki, Lia Tajcnar and Bianca Gignac joined the brainstorm and once the excitement started to
build there was no turning back in our minds. This had to happen.
What was it
exactly? Well the idea was to bring together a group of cultural producers,
artists, designers, photographers, small business owners, bloggers, writers, art
historians and the like for three days worth of keynote speeches, panel
discussions and show and tell all related to basically anything to do with
independent artistic production and small business. There was a lot to cover,
but with the invite list of participants and attendees growing steadily there
was plenty of talent to pool from to cover such topics as:
Growing our Brands
The Professional Practice of Blogging
Seeking the Love; How to find your Audience.
A Curious Cocktail: Mixing Art, Life and Business.
Opening and Running a shop. Brick & Mortar versus Online.
Show me the money: Grants and Other Creative Sources of Funding.
Does
Diversifying = Diversion?
Building a Team:
In Partnership we Trust.
There was a
lot of meat to sink out teeth into; a range of topics that would appeal to many
was the idea. And in the end I think that the symposium was incredibly
successful as a inaugural event that was pulled together online and mainly
thanks to the tireless work of Mariko and Brian McCrae from
Feedlot Studios.
FeedlotStudios, the home and workspace of ceramic artist extraordinaire -Mariko MacCrae, on
Gabriola Island just off of Vancouver Island,
was an idyllic getaway location that served as a perfect environment of quiet
and focus for the event. This also meant that the attendees were part of a
small intimate group of about forty due to space restraints. This in the end
encouraged a more relaxed environment for exchange. Panel discussions had the
feel of a cup of tea between friends as attendees as well presenters all had relevant
contributions to the discourses.
But okay,
enough of that right? Your wondering what it was that we actually talked about.
Well that will be hard to sum up without being verbose. But allow me an
attempt.
Bianca
Gignac really set the tone for the three days with her Keynote on Growing your
brand by walking us through how she went from an idea to a sustainable income
generating online travel based business. She was motivational in her
discussions of the challenges and process. Business from this point on seemed
to be a focus for most of the presenters.
Myself I was
there to speak to social media initiatives and how to balance life, art and
family. The space I’m at currently in my career being a bit of a staled work in
progress since the birth of my second son meant that I was there less to talk
about a successful business plan but rather how to stay creative, motivated,
visible and engaged in a community even when daily life takes over.
I gleaned a
lot from the business practices of others. I marveled at the dedication and perseverance needed to get the job done. Independent artists are some of the
hardest working people I know. They are creative minds, object producers,
accountants, researchers, marketing agents, international shippers, bloggers,
critics, teachers, volunteers, parents and good friends all in the course of a
day. For me I realized that I needed to walk away from the expectation I had on
myself that while my children were young I could realistically make sculptural
work, design functional objects, blog, teach, get my work out there and still
have time for dinner and bedtime stories at the end of the day. Same as there
are a million models of how to run your business, there are also an equal
amount of consideration that needs to go into all the decisions and
realistically sometimes you are not in the right time and place in your life to
do the things you want or need to do. I walked away with insight for building a
five and ten year plan. I now have a better sense of what I can do in the
meantime while my children grow that will still nurture my creative projects long
term.
But are
these tangible things I could write out in a list for you to follow? I wish.
Some of the presenters had built their business to the point where they were at capacity; where for further growth dramatic shifts towards industry, partnerships, and employees has to be considered. Would my artistic practice ever get to that stage? Would I want it to? Not sure if I’m the type to hand over any sort of control. And I questioned for me if that would inherently change the mandate and philosophy of my work. Mandates and philosophies can shift over the years, grow and be edited. So I guess I have to think about what the core values I (and subsequently) my work stand for.
One of the key ideas that was tossed about was about the creation of a personal story. The idea of building and selling a brand makes what we do seem very commercial, but it is a relevant discourse. To put the tone of a personal story behind the creation of a brand; the idea that you’re selling yourself, your story, a humanity and connection through the objects you make, can be beneficial to success. How do we convey through images, text, artist statements, blogs, and social media marketing tools the nature of our work, the values that are instilled, a desire for the consumer to covet our work, our story, our desire for the creation of handmade objects?
I was really inspired to hear personal stories of how different artists have gone about this. There were many examples of crafters that I’ve long admired and to gain insight into the inter-workings of their success was inspiring. I think the general feeling most of us left with was that anything truly is possible and that community could play a big part of our individual success. Mariko ended the event with a great talk about the different collaborations and initiatives that Feedlot Studios has taken on in the past few years. She was notably gracious in her thanks to that many members of the community that have been a part of her story. I think we all felt very similar that we owed a great deal of thanks to others, that collaborations small and large (with individuals and industry) could be of benefit, and that none of us work in a void.
There were inspiring people everywhere, a serene environment to relax, inspirational work to surround ourselves with. I doubt there was anyone not in agreement that a similar event would have to be organized for next year and each subsequent year after. There are simply too many topics to cover, too many ideas to share, to many stories to tell. I personally will be active in my interest and involvement for this type of event in some way shape or form to happen again. Canada is a wealth of creative minds and this should be celebrated and showcased.
One other treat of the symposium was to hear Julia Krueger speak of her own studio practice as well as her tireless work in areas of curating, research and writing. She is a craft historian extraordinaire and we as crafters are so lucky to have such passionate people around. She will be instrumental in the writing of a Canadian Craft History, I’m sure of it. She is already well on her way. Just check out the
guest post she contributed on musing shortly after the symposium.
So I am entirely grateful to all the wonderful people that contributed to this event. I’m sure this is only a base from which to grow and build community. A sincere thanks must also be given to the
Saskatchewan Arts Board. Without their financial support I wouldn’t have been able to attend this event. They have been amazing in their support of my practice over the years and I am thankful yet again for their support of my practice and the arts and crafts in Saskatchewan and Canada.
