The Flin Flon Arts Council is in planning mode for Culture Days 2016, which will be Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 and 2.
It is always the biggest event of the year here in the Flin Flon area, and this year will be particularly spectacular with 85 events and counting. There will be some brand new events and some tried and true that we just can’t live without. Stay tuned for details.
Last column talked about the performance season for the Arts Council and this week we will discuss the NorVA Centre’s upcoming season.
On Sept. 3, 16 and 17, gallery manager Mike Spencer will be providing a Raku pottery workshop. Raku is an ancient form of pottery from Japan that relies on fire to create the final decoration on the product.
In the initial session, on Saturday, Sept. 3 from 12-3 pm, Mike will teach and demonstrate building techniques. Participants will create their pots (or other decorative items) with the clay provided.
Mike will also provide some history of the art form of hand-built pottery. He will allow the pottery to dry for several days then begin the initial, or slip firing, process, so that all the participants’ pottery is ready for stage two.
The second session, to be held on Friday, Sept.16 from 7-8:30 pm, will focus on glazing. The different types of glaze (mostly poisonous, which is why the pieces are strictly decorative) will be discussed and artists will be able to apply glazes that will make their pieces incredible.
The final session begins at 10 am on Saturday, Sept. 17 and goes until all the pieces have been fired in the raku kiln and reduced by fire in a wide variety of media.
Mike will again work the long-handled tongs to get the works of art in and out of the kiln so the magic can happen in the fire.
NorVA has another very exciting opportunity for northern artists beginning at Culture Days. The Northern Emerging Artist Mentorship program will provide an amazing opportunity for six to eight artists to work with internationally renowned artist Dianna Thornycroft over the winter months, to hone their art practice.
Artists can apply at NorVA or find the application online. They need to provide a letter of intent describing their artistic influences, challenges and goals for the program.
They must also provide a resume or curriculum vitae and should submit photographed examples of their work (maximum 20 images).
All participants in the mentorship program must be NorVA members; however, they may join the NorVA Centre for the duration of the mentorship.
There are some spaces left at this time, but Dianna Thornycroft will be here in Flin Flon on Sept. 30 and the mentorship begins on Oct. 3, 4 and 5. The later sessions will be worked out between the mentor artist and the participants.
Dianna is a Winnipeg artist who has exhibited across Canada, the United States and Europe, and in Moscow, Sydney and Tokyo.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba in 1975 and with a Master of Arts in Art from the University of Wisconsin in 1980.
Dianna taught art at the University of Manitoba for many years. She was named Most Outstanding Teacher, School of Art, at the U of M in 2002.
She won the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Making a Mark Award in 2009 and has received the Fleck Scholarship at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Dianna has created and toured many shows and exhibitions, most recently “Black Forest” at the Tom Thompson Memorial Gallery in Owen Sound, ON. She has also toured with “Canadians and Americans (Best Friends Forever...It’s Complicated)”; “Group of Seven Awkward Moments” and the show she will present here at NorVA during Culture Days, “A Peoples’ History.”
Her work is edgy and sometimes challenging but always detailed and incredibly rich. It will be worth seeing, so do plan to visit our local gallery while the Thornycroft show is here.
