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Top works shown in Flin Flon, sent to provincial show

Only two months ago, A Northern Juried Art Exhibition wasn’t even a hazy idea. Last week, it was held at the NorVA Centre, after a logistical and organizational rush.
art show
Various pieces entered into A Northern Juried Art Exhibition took top places. Some of the award-winning pieces will be entered in the Manitoba Rural and Northern Juried Art Show. - SUBMITTED PHOTO

Only two months ago, A Northern Juried Art Exhibition wasn’t even a hazy idea. Last week, it was held at the NorVA Centre, after a logistical and organizational rush.

About 40 art pieces, a fraction of the number received by the usual Northern Juried Art Show, were entered in the exhibition, but according to a Flin Flon-based judge, each had artistic merit.

“I thought the quality was great. I thought there was less of it than usual, but I think that’s to be expected with the weirdness that all happened with organizing it this year,” said show adjudicator Mike Spencer.

That “weirdness” caused the show to be held in Flin Flon in the first place. Instead of the Northern Juried Art Show being hosted in Thompson in May as initially scheduled, the event was cancelled.

“The main reason for this is lack of artist participation in the last few years.  It has reached a point where it is not viable to hold the show this year; we only hope that next year it can continue with renewed interest of the artists north of the 53rd,” said Leigh Hall, art show organizing committee president, in a press release in April.

However, that didn’t spell the end of a northern Manitoba art show. When the cancellation was announced, Flin Flon artists opted instead to host a similar show at the NorVA Centre.

A Northern Juried Art Exhibition – not to be confused with its similarly named counterpart – was born.

Some interested artists were unable to take part in the Flin Flon show, due in part to the short timeframe between the announcement and the show itself.

“I think people who had originally wanted to take part from The Pas and Thompson and Churchill didn’t go. They shipped some stuff from Churchill, then had to ship it back to Churchill and didn’t want to ship it again,” said Spencer.

Out of 19 total awards given out at the exhibition, artists from the Flin Flon area earned 14 of the honours, including the best in show honour. Karen Clark received the best in show ribbon for her painting “Kayak Scenes: Schist Lake Island,” which also took top spot in the painting category.

A selection of top works will be sent to Winnipeg for the Manitoba Rural & Northern Juried Art Show in September. Spencer said one of the main reasons that the Flin Flon exhibition was created was to make sure northern art would still be showcased down south.

“That was really one of the main reasons why the organizing committee here wanted to salvage it. They didn’t want to have a northern and rural show with no northern representation,” he said.

“It’s just the rural show at that point, and makes people assume there are no artists in the north, which is totally untrue.”

Next year’s Northern Juried Art Show is slated to be held in The Pas and is tentatively scheduled for spring 2019.

 

Award winners

Best in Show

Karen Clark, Flin Flon: “Kayak Scenes: Schist Lake Island”

 

Fibre Art

1 - Mabel Glaicar, Thompson: “Aurora Polar Bear”

2 - Kim Smedegaard, Flin Flon: “Hiding in the Wood”

3 - Mabel Glaicar, Thompson: “North of 55 - Thompson”

 

Photography

1 - Keith Derksen, Thompson: “Wide Format”

2 - Brandy Bloxom, Denare Beach: “A Century Lost”

3 - Veronica Buda, Thompson: “Solstice Gathering”

 

Watercolour

1 - Matthew Enns, Flin Flon: “Imaginescape VI”

2 - Patti Banks, The Pas: “Fishing for Minnows”

3 - Megan Dupas, Flin Flon: “Layne”

 

Print/draw/mixed

1 - Rosimeire Anjos, Flin Flon: “Untitled”

2 - Matthew Enns, Flin Flon: “The Architect”

3 - Megan Dupas, Flin Flon: “Anthony”

 

Painting

1 - Karen Clark, Flin Flon: “Kayak Scenes: Schist Lake Island”

2 - Monique Rainville, Flin Flon: “Saturday Night Live”

3 - Ron Watt, Flin Flon: “Forest Treasure”

 

3-D

1 - Elaine Angelski, Flin Flon: “Canister Set”

2 - Elaine Angelski, Flin Flon: “Call to Fruition”

3 - Linda Sonnenburg Jackson, Flin Flon: “Guitar”

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