For the NorVA Centre’s latest event, everything is big – except the canvases.
The centre is kicking off one of its biggest gallery events of the year, the One Square Foot Exhibition and Auction. As the name suggests, each piece is made on a square canvas exactly one square foot in size.
“This is the third year we’ve had it, and it’s been a great success here,” said NorVA co-founder and artist Ron Watt.
Over 100 pieces are included in this year’s showing, produced by artists from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Several of the pieces are available for sale in a silent auction; others will be sold at a live auction in October.
“There’s over a hundred pieces. We can’t sell them all in a live auction,” said NorVA artist Karen Clark.
Some entrants have thought outside the box with their art: instead of the standard paint-on-canvas approach, other mediums, such as reclaimed wood and batik, are being shown. One piece, simply advertising “one square foot of homemade pies” for an auction winner, is attracting high bids.
“There was a couple of quilted pieces, but people hadn’t really stretched the definition before,” said Clark.
The idea for the auction came from a family member of a NorVA volunteer. The event is a major fundraiser for NorVA, which receives its funds mostly from government grants, artist fees and community support.
“We didn’t want to overdo it – you can saturate the market with something like this,” said Clark.
“It’s sort of like a gift to the community, it’s something that was never here before.”
Several local artists are featured in the exhibition, as well as former residents and others with ties to the area. Each artist pays a small entry fee for their first canvas, and can submit more pieces afterward.
One Square Foot continues through Culture Days this weekend and ends on Oct. 16.
Canada’s dark side
A new exhibit at the NorVA Centre is making visitors face harsh truths about Canada.
The exhibit, created by Manitoba artist Diana Thorneycroft, is called “A People’s History.” In her words, the exhibit aims to show “horrific events in Canada against our most vulnerable citizens; the disadvantaged, the uneducated and the young.”
The exhibit shows several photographs with toy models recreating various lowlights of Canada’s history.
One work covers Neil Stonechild, a Saskatoon man who was found dead after police allegedly abandoned him on a cold winter night.
Other works deal with subjects such as the destruction of Africville, a community near Halifax that was once Canada’s largest black community, and residential school abuse.
