The Halloween Art Battle will take place at The Art Gallery of Hamilton, connecting artists and their community
Featuring an array of Hamilton artists in one place competing in timed tests of artistic skill, Art Battle is coming to Hamilton once again this Halloween at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. and the show starts at 8:00 p.m.
This year's event will include a costume contest so the audience can compete alongside the artists. The energetic environment is also fueled by curated music from a DJ.
Art Battle was founded in New York City in 2001 and has hosted over 3,000 speed painting competitions for local artists across the world. Art Battle Hamilton held their first live painting tournament in 2018.
Artists can register on the Art Battle website and apply to compete at events in their local area. Artists across mediums from any background are welcome to compete.
Each tournament consists of three rounds of speed painting. In the first two rounds, artists have twenty minutes to put their vision onto a canvas while the crowd observes the artistic process. The crowd then votes on the two best artists who compete in a 30-minute, high stakes final round as the DJ turns up the pressure to determine the Art Battle champion.
Hamilton artist Becka James highlighted Art Battle as a reason to stay active with the local art scene, as it has taken her across Ontario to compete with other artists.
“I became a really big supporter and participant of Art Battle. I really believe in it and it's a fun experience [because] it's also interactive, right? So it's not just you sitting in your room or studio painting something, you have the crowd involved ... Having that feedback of people with you while you're doing this timed painting, it's a whole inclusive experience … even if you aren't an artist and you're there watching it, you get to have that experience of being involved and seeing the process of the art,”
said James.
I really believe in it and it's a fun experience [because] it's also interactive, right? So it's not just you sitting in your room or studio painting something, you have the crowd involved.
Becka James, local artist
James highlighted the positivity she has gained after being a participant for seven years and the lessons she has learned as an artist since. This is partly due to the contrast of working as an artist alone versus in a public setting such as Art Battle.
James mentioned that young artists tend to second guess themselves when working alone, getting too attached to the work and becoming hypercritical. "They'll work on something for hours and then it just doesn't turn out the way they want and they're crushed, right? With Art Battle and speed painting you can't get attached to it .... so it almost humbles you in a way. It doesn't matter what your own opinion is, if somebody else is connecting with the artwork that you've done that's what matters," said James.
With Art Battle and speed painting you can't get attached to it .... so it almost humbles you in a way. It doesn't matter what your own opinion is, if somebody else is connecting with the artwork that you've done that's what matters.
Becka James, local artist
Art Battle is a celebration of art, especially the artistic process, that gives a meta-performance of sorts that showcases this process to everyone. More information about the event and Art Battle can be found at the Art Battle website. Be sure not to miss this great Halloween event this Thursday night!
The Art Gallery of Hamilton is now offering a lower sensory experience for those with dementia and other accessibility needs
The Art Gallery of Hamilton is now hosting Dementia-Friendly Days so that those affected by dementia or other sensory-sensitivity issues can enjoy the exhibits in a quiet, calmer environment during non-public hours.
The AGH is located downtown on King St. West. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month, the gallery reduces sound levels and sensory stimulation for drop-in, free, self-directed exhibition tours.
Laurie Kilgour-Walsh, head of Programs and Learning at AGH, explained this initiative's origin. Specialized programs for people living with dementia have already been implemented at the gallery for over 10 years, so the AGH has experience creating a safe and supportive environment. Due to this success, the gallery has wanted to expand to general access for people living with dementia, for more casual opportunities to explore the exhibitions.
Beyond lowering sensory stimulation, the AGH also offers other supports on their dementia-friendly days, with staff available to help attendees navigate the building or to chat about the exhibits. This gives visitors the freedom to choose their level of interaction with others, for a more controlled experience.
The building will also have extra signage and directions, as well as a security team, to ensure that visitors are as comfortable as possible.
As a dementia-friendly initiative, this program is unique because it is not a choreographed and facilitated experience. Rather, it is experienced however the visitor chooses.
Kilgour-Walsh has explained that reception has been slow to begin, especially with the winter weather that discourages people from coming out. However, she anticipates that once the warmer weather arrives and more people are aware of Dementia-Friendly Days, regular participants will come in more often.
Kilgour-Walsh hopes that people will feel comfortable regularly coming to the gallery after this experience.
"What I hope is that people will feel that the gallery is a place [where] they can come as they are. [Visitors] can function as they need to...we don't expect our participants necessarily to be quiet as an example. However, their experiences are welcome, so hopefully we'll see them come back [often]," said Kilgour-Walsh.
This initiative is great for any students who have sensory sensitivity issues or have loved ones with dementia, explained Kilgour-Walsh.
"By offering a safe space like this, it also allows caregivers and friends and family members a chance to get out and to have those experiences and to really share them with the person that they love as well. So there's a lot of relationship building that goes on in this," said Kilgour-Walsh.
By offering a safe space like this, it also allows caregivers and friends and family members a chance to get out and to have those experiences and to really share them with the person that they love as well. So there's a lot of relationship building that goes on in this.
Laurie Kilgour-Walsh, Head of Programs and Learning, Art Gallery of Hamilton
Kilgour-Walsh also added that the program has been funded by a grant from the province of Ontario and for students to keep an eye out for other opportunities the AGH has to offer, such as other programming or educational initiatives that might be of interest.
For more information on the schedule when Dementia Friendly Days are held, or to optionally pre-register for tours, visit here.
The new Art Gallery of Hamilton exhibit, This is Our Space Too, celebrates the creative perspectives of artists who have experienced homelessness and substance use
Keeping Six Hamilton Harm Reduction Action League is a community-based organization that defends the rights, dignity, and humanity of people with lived experiences of homelessness and substance use. Established in 2018 as a response to the opioid epidemic, this organization provides programming to amplify the voices of those who use drugs.
This is Our Space Too is a new exhibit at the Art Gallery of Hamilton presented by members of the Keeping Six Hamilton Harm Reduction Action League and the Keeping Six Arts Collective.
The exhibit features work from artists with lived experience with substance use and homelessness. The title, This is Our Space Too, emphasizes the importance of feeling seen and welcome in creative, public, and city spaces.
This initiative aims to challenge the common perception of community and encourage visitors to build compassion for individuals with different perspectives. This is Our Space Too is a powerful reminder that artists can come from many different walks of life.
Keeping Six Arts Collective promotes harm reduction through art by hosting weekly drop-ins and workshops for writing, painting and ceramics. The collective also organizes open mic nights and contributes to the K6 Zine, Keeping Six’s quarterly magazine.
This is Our Space Too is on exhibition from Dec 9, 2023 to Mar 16, 2024 in The Jean & Ross Fischer Gallery. For those interested, Gallery Level 2 and the Jean and Ross Fischer Gallery are always free admission. In addition, admission to the entire gallery is always free for students and free to the public every Thursday.
Previously focused only on films, the local gallery’s 10-day festival has expanded into a multi-arts festival with workshops, panels, film screenings and venue tours
From Oct. 12-21, the Art Gallery of Hamilton held its annual festival.
The AGH Festival was a 10-day event that showcased various forms of art, such as visual arts and music, through workshops, panel discussions, film screenings and museum tours. Events were also held outside the AGH at venues throughout Hamilton, including the Westdale Theatre and the Music Hall.
Megan Olynik, head of marketing at the AGH, explained that the festival started off with a focus on films only but in 2022, they transitioned into a multi-day arts festival.
The event is organized throughout the year, with the process beginning right after the previous festival ends. The AGH works with multiple organizations and artists across the city. Additionally, the museum employs many volunteers and staff from the community to help with the programming and running of the events. It is a large undertaking for the AGH and every team member is crucial to ensuring the festival runs smoothly.
The festival stands out compared to other events in Hamilton because of its longer runtime, providing more opportunities for the gallery and the community to engage with each other.
“Events spread out [over time] are very helpful for people coming to more things. They also help introduce audiences to the variety of programs that we have here at the gallery throughout the year [and] allow us to run programs that we wouldn't normally run,” said Olynik.
Reception for the festival has been positive and the events offered often have quite a big turnout, according to Olynik. She hoped that the festival would also remind people of the galleries other offering throughout the year and encourage them to visit.
The AGH has also taken steps to ensure the venue is accessible to everyone, such as making admission free on Thursdays. There are over 10 thousand pieces in the AGH’s collection that deserve recognition.
“At the gallery, there's always something to do. We have programming throughout the year for youth . . . [The current exhibition Wonder is] a very immersive exhibition with rooms full of large sculptures and really neat artwork that we don't often get to put on display,” explained Olynik.
While the festival for this year is over, it will return next year with many events for students to check out with their friends or family. It is sure to have something for everyone and is a great way to become more engaged with the community and artistic side of the city. In the meantime, the AGH is open from Thursday to Sunday each week and is filled with art for students to check out!
At the intersection of art, science and community engagement, the AGH’s Art of Creation strives to inform the public about the health needs of pregnant people in Hamilton
The Art of Creation is a research and community outreach project that strives to communicate early origin science to Hamilton’s community through artistic engagement.
Jordan Chin, project coordinator at the Art of Creation and a student in McMaster University’s master of public health program, defined early origin science as the field of research investigating how a fetus’s environment in the womb impacts their health and their risk factor for diseases later in life.
Chin works along Deb Sloboda, the associate chair research in McMaster’s department of biochemistry and biomedical sciences, who also leads the Art of Creation study.
Sloboda explained that when she first began her PhD early origin science was an incredibly new field. Even though the field is much more established now, the public is still largely unaware of early origin science and its importance in health.
“When we think about interventions or community-based health, we entirely think about [questions like]: How much physical activity are we doing? How can we get populations exercising? How can we make sure that kids understand good eating habits? All [of these are] extremely important, but one thing we don't do is think about how can we support pregnant individuals,” explained Sloboda.
When we think about interventions or community-based health, we entirely think about [questions like]: How much physical activity are we doing? How can we get populations exercising? How can we make sure that kids understand good eating habits? All [of these are] extremely important, but one thing we don't do is think about how can we support pregnant individuals.
Deb Sloboda, associate chair research in McMaster’s department of biochemistry and biomedical sciences and lead on the Art of Creation study
The Art of Creation began as a response to this lack of awareness and attention on early origin science.
“We came up with the idea of using an arts-based approach and going to cultural institutions, like an art gallery, rather than public health or public health administration [and] rather than creating more infographics and flyers that people are going to read at the doctor’s office,” said Sloboda.
Sloboda and Chin both explained that cultural institutions, such as museums, libraries and art galleries, are valuable resources for connecting with the community and are perhaps underutilized avenues for community education. They also emphasized that arts-based community outreach is uniquely engaging and uniquely accessible.
“You don't have to be able to understand, for example, the English language, to look at [a piece of art] and understand it and be emotionally attached to it,” said Sloboda.
You don't have to be able to understand, for example, the English language, to look at [a piece of art] and understand it and be emotionally attached to it.
Deb Sloboda, associate chair research in McMaster’s department of biochemistry and biomedical sciences and lead on the Art of Creation study
Chin explained that the Art of Creation has facilitated multiple arts-based outreach programs, including arts-based support groups for pregnant people and a program in which artists visited an early origin science lab and then created science-informed art.
Currently, the Art of Creation exhibition is being hosted at the Fischer Gallery in the Art Gallery of Hamilton. This is the exhibition’s first stop in Hamilton, but it will not be its last.
“The exhibition starts at the Fischer Gallery, and then we're hoping to move it to community organizations next year so that we can reach populations [who might not] wander into the Art Gallery of Hamilton. It'll end in the McMaster Museum of Art in January 2025,” explained Sloboda.
The Art of Creation Exhibition is completely free to view. The AGH is free to students, Sloboda explained, but the Fischer Gallery in particular is also completely free to the public, allowing anyone to enter it and view the exhibition.
The Art of Creation Exhibition opened at the AGH on Sept. 14 and it will run until Nov. 30. After this, Sloboda and Chin plan for it to move around in the community, reaching as many populations as possible.
By Donna Nadeem, Contributor
As part of a year-long residency at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, artist Reinhard Reitzenstein is exploring ideas of the natural world and technology through sculpture and drawing in collaboration with the Hamilton community. While an established artist, Reitzenstein’s residency has been an opportunity to reintroduce himself and his artistic identity to the public sphere.
Reitzenstein graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1971. His work explores the relationship between nature, cultural science and technology while utilizing installation, sculptures, drawings, photography and sound as his medium of choice. Over the course of his career, Reitzenstein has been described as an environmental artist with focuses on land and ecology, and an allegorical minimalist after creating his own art movement combining allegory and minimalism.
Allegory refers to abstract ideas and principles in forms of storytelling, figures and events, while minimalism is a style that focuses on the simplest of forms and techniques. A seemingly contradictory combination of these two concepts allow Reitzenstein to create visual pieces that are meant to change and unsettle the viewers' perceptions.
Entering the AGH exhibition, you’re greeted by a quote from the artist depicting what he understands his movement to be. “Allegorical minimalism: paradoxical synthesis of the material and natural world, challenging the perceptions of the spectator (as critic) while denying not only a fixed interpretation but the very possibility of interpretation itself.”
Reitzenstein began his residency with the intention of developing at least one or two projects and the capacity to focus on them for a duration of year. This allowed him to engage in a gradual creation process. The space itself was another dimension Reitzenstein had to take into consideration. High and vaulted ceilings along with windows bringing in natural lighting from every direction allowed Reitzenstein to push his sculptures and drawings further to produce larger work that force observation and interaction.
[pjc_slideshow slide_type="reitzenstein-agh"]
The exhibition features two communal projects that have created an opportunity for community members to contribute through various workshops and interactive tours.
The first piece, the Erable Project, is composed of an array of discs suspended in the middle of the room. The discs are individually cut sections of a tree and hung horizontally next to each other. Reitzenstein created some of the discs, while community members contributed to others, creating a diversity of unique colour choices and designs. Each piece is covered in an assortment of wet felt. The soft material requires constant repetitive motions to achieve a desired outcome.
“Some of the kids who were here working on the wet felting got really into it and it was incredible. There's something about the tactility [of felting] that connects to people and allows them to focus and concentrate. It seems to have a therapeutic effect,” said Reitzenstein.
The second piece is a large communal tree drawing done with white gel pens on a black wall. After reflecting on the diversity of languages practiced in the Hamilton area, Reitzenstein decided to ask community participants to add to the drawing by writing the words ‘tree’ or ‘maple’ in their own languages.
The piece includes approximately 58 different languages and counting. As more and more words in different languages get added to the drawing, the tree visually reflects on the cultural diversity of the Hamilton community.
“I wanted to make it a community project where, again, we do workshops with community groups. I thought it would be great too because of the multicultural aspect of our region now, and to make sure everybody has a voice here,” said Reitzenstein.
The David Braley and Nancy Gordon Sculpture Atrium is also filled with Reitzenstein’s bronze sculptures and other art pieces from the museum’s permanent collections. Reitzenstein chose the pieces to coincide with his exploration of allegorical minimalism throughout his residency at the AGH.
In Residence: Reitzenstein is still a work-in-progress at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (123 King St. West). It will be exhibiting until March 29 and is free to all McMaster students with a valid student card.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By: Drew Simpson
Over a month of Hamilton Youth Poet’s Black Poet Residency has passed. So far, the residency has taken place at the Art Gallery of Hamilton every Saturday and the weekly residency will continue until May.
HYP is an arts organization that launched in October 2012. The organization’s four main goals are to manifest a community of cultural understanding, offer youth tools to deliver their writing and literary skill, engage youth towards their academic ambitions and to support aspiring artists’ professional development.
Ultimately, HYP empowers young people by offering training as arts organizers and allowing youth to take part in the planning, promotion and facilitation of events. One of these events is the Black Poet Residency featuring Ian Keteku, a two-time national slam champion and multimedia artist, as a key facilitator.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcsJpE6nKdY/
Although both the organization and event have poets within its name, participants may be beyond the scope of experienced poets. Those who wish to develop their writing skills, editing, computer literacy and even multi-digital processes will benefit from the residency.
“Those interested need not regard themselves as poets or require any prior knowledge of poetry. The residency aims to transcend simply writing poems,” explains one of HYP’s teaching artists, Akintoye Asalu.
This residency is in line with HYP’s focus on youth-focused events coordinated by youths, as it is aimed towards youth writers, performers and creative-minded individuals. As mentioned by Asalu, anyone who is interested in bettering their skills is welcome to attend.
“When our young people can tell and re-tell their histories in the context of public platforms, they are able to imagine and re-imagine their individual and collective identities and become culturally grounded in their own experiences,” explains HYP’s website.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiXLjB2AIgI/
The residency aims to provide an inclusive and supportive space which allows black youth to express their experiences and explore their voices. Such a weekly residency is necessary in Hamilton, to amplify often-silenced voices while also developing skills and building community. Asalu can attribute the prosperity of this residency as a participant himself.
“Being able to sit down and converse with people who understand the struggles that come with being a [person of colour] motivates me to keep using my art to help our community in as many ways as I can… My only hope is that the healthy dialogue that exists within the residency will spread to the rest of the community,” explains Asalu.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="235" gal_title="HYP Event"]
Poetry and art directly combat the sense of isolation people of colour experience on a daily basis. Especially as they face daily experiences with institutions that were built without them in mind.
Asalu describes how poetry allows him to be the voice for those cast in silence; bringing light to silenced struggles. He also finds poetry as a healthy coping mechanism. Every HYP event puts youth at the center. Therefore, a Black-focused residency, puts Black youth at the center; a position that may be unfamiliar to them.
“I want Black people all around the city to feel comfortable talking about the things they go through on a day-to-day basis without fear of judgment from those around them. It is my belief that in order to enact change, we must first begin with constructive dialogue. Through this dialogue, constructive actions can be taken to improve the quality of life for [people of colour] as a whole,” explains Asalu.
This residency can be the defining moment for many Black youths in Hamilton. Raising their voices, attending to their mental health and finding support in community are never-ending obstacles for black youth. The ability to express struggles and unbox silenced concerns while doing so is a grand goal that when realized makes a positive difference in a young person’s life.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Robin Lamarr has been the only person of colour in a movement class. With this personal experience and her own desire to make mindful movement accessible, the movement educator and community activist had been thinking about how she could address the lack of representation in the movement community.
When she obtained a physical space for the studio she founded, Goodbodyfeel, she saw it as a good time to introduce a designated space for people of colour. The result was the first Movement Melanin Expression workshop on Feb. 24. The two-hour, three-part workshop was designed for individuals identifying as Black, Indigenous or people of colour.
“The intention is to create a space where folks who usually feel like they don't belong can feel belonging. And then, because it's an exclusive space, we can be open, raw, vulnerable and honest about what… we're feeling and why… [W]e can be super open about it without having to… defend ourselves against someone who might have white fragility for example,” said Lamarr.
The workshop was the result of a partnership with Hamilton-based visual alchemist and movement teacher-in-trainer, Stylo Starr. Starr joined the Goodbodyfeel Teacher Training last year when she met Lamarr and is almost finished her 200 hours of training.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuJTZiMhA1t/
Lamarr and Starr have collaborated on a similarly structured workshop before. Last summer, they ran a satellite workshop at the Art Gallery of Hamilton wherein Lamarr led a movement sequence followed by Starr leading a walking meditation involving collage material.
Similarly, Movement Melanin Expression began with Lamarr leading participants through her famed R&B Pilates movement sequence. The sequence starts slow and warms up the individual parts of the body before ending with an intense squat sequence wherein participants scream in order to release all their emotions.
After moving, a circle discussion took place. The discussion was intended to address how people of colour can take up space and reverse the lack of representation in the movement and wellness industry. Most importantly, the conversation was meant to be open and unrestrained. Starr hopes that the conversation acted as a catalyst for participants to discuss how they’re feeling with the people in their lives.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt52ZnahXBi/
The workshop ended with Starr’s collage workshop. As she did with the series at the art gallery, Starr led participants through a walking meditation, allowing them to find pieces that spoke to them and create something there. The creative portion of the workshop allowed participants to express and liberate themselves.
“I've seen firsthand how movement has helped my creation. It's just a way of accessing a part of your mindfulness that maybe sitting still might not do for many people… I think it's really important to mesh these worlds because it's often implied that they're so different but they're actually very similar. In creating sequences for classes, it's a collage of different movements and they might not always look the same,” Starr explaining.
Approaching creativity through the medium of collage is one of the many ways in which this workshop made itself accessible. Unlike other forms of art, collage is not very intimidating for the non-artist and allowed individuals to express themselves with lesser concern about artistic skill.
Like several other Goodbodyfeel classes, this workshop had a sliding scale in place to reduce the financial barrier for participants. The studio also has clean clothes for participants to use and provides mats and props. By removing these obstacles for participants, the studio is hoping that no one is priced out of accessing mindful movement.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Btn1Kk8BCUw/
“I've been practicing some form of mindful movement since 2000 and… it's been a really big part of my healing journey. And so since moving to Hamilton and starting this community, my aim is to have as many people as possible benefit and have access to the transformative effects of mindful movement.
Why does the movement community need to even address race and representation? Well, because it's incredibly beneficial to mental health and well-being and everybody deserves access to it,” Lamarr said.
At the end of the day, the most important part of Movement Melanin Expression was the formation of community through movement. Starr and Lamarr intend to continue the class so that people of colour can continue to take up space in the movement industry and discuss more ways to break down the barriers.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
It has been said that life is a dance. No one knows that better than celebrated Canadian dance artist Peggy Baker whose dance installation Move captures the duality of caregiving. The free installation will be performed on Feb. 2 at the Art Gallery of Hamilton as part of McMaster University’s Socrates Project.
The dance installation takes place in a 28 by 28-foot square surrounded by a frame. It is 70-minutes long and is organized into four cycles. The cyclic nature of the piece and the fact that it rotates throughout means audience members can take it in from multiple angles.
The performers are not necessarily dancers by trade but members of the community who love dance. There are 16 of them dancing in pairs that reverse roles with each cycle. They were selected in November 2018 during a two-hour workshop and audition.
The story of Move began 10 years ago when Baker first presented the dance as part of Toronto contemporary art event Nuit Blanche. At that time, the dance was 20 minutes long and done on the hour every hour for 12 hours with 12 pairs of professional dancers. When Baker put on Move for the second time at the Art Gallery of Ontario a couple years later, she decided to extend the length of the piece and do it with fewer dancers.
It was while doing the dance at the Art Gallery of Ontario that Baker thought about using community members as the dancers. She has since put on several performances of Move with non-professional dancers, staging the entire performance in five three-hour rehearsals.
Baker’s own experience with caregiving formed a part of the inspiration for the installation. She was the primary caregiver to her late husband, who had primary progressive multiple sclerosis. She found that caregiving involves a beautiful rapport between the one receiving and the one giving care.
Baker was also inspired by art and dance itself. While teaching in Philadelphia, she was struck by the beauty of partnership when she had dancers pair up and help another during some difficult movement sequences. Also while in Philadelphia, she saw an exhibition of paintings by American painter George Tooker and was inspired by the images of people embracing one another.
The dancers changing roles throughout the piece represents the inevitability of being on both sides of caregiving. The choreography for the piece overall is formal and highly organized, mimicking the ritualized elements of human lives. The choice to have four cycles mimics the cyclic structure of the seasons and the fact that there are four cardinal directions.
“[I]t’s something universal. We all receive that kind of intimate physical care and physical nurturing as infants and children. We may all find ourselves in a position where we where we are called upon to give care to a parent or a partner or a child. And we may all eventually need to receive care,” explained Baker.
KITCHENER, Ont. (09/04/18) - Victoria Park
The electro-acoustic soundtrack, composed by musician and composer Debashis Sinha, is also organized into four cycles. It is subtle and atmospheric, not quite music but a sonic landscape for the audience and dancers to reside in.
Baker encourages audience members to walk around the square performance space, close their eyes or turn their back to view the art in the gallery. The space allows viewers to feel comfortable arriving after it begins or even leaving before it ends.
“I like it to be in a public place. I like it to be in a place that already is claimed by the community as being a place in their town or city like this is… an art gallery, a foyer of a theater, a market… [I]t needs to locate itself in the heart of the community… [I]t's about community building basically,” Baker said.
At the end of the piece, the dancers pour water for one another and drink it. One of the dancers in the group, a ceramic artist, suggested that the group each makes the vessel that they drink out of. At the end of one of their rehearsals, she guided her fellow dancers through making their own bowl.
The creativity and passion brought on by these community dancers give this installation of Move a unique tint. However, the beauty of Move is the universality of the theme and the way in which it can move anyone.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By: Natalie Clark
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Women’s Art Association of Hamilton. To kick off celebrations, the WAAH is featuring their annual juried exhibition at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. The Celebrations! exhibit features art from current and past members of the WAAH.
The WAAH was created in 1894 by a group of women who feared that cultural and artistic pursuits would be lost in Hamilton’s booming industrial growth. The ambitions of the organization at the time were simple.
WAAH wanted to create a general interest in art, establish art scholarships, hold lectures and seminars, hold exhibitions of paintings, designs and sculptures and develop art and handicrafts in Canada.
125 years later, these ambitions still hold true, though there have also been some changes.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="193" gal_title="WAAH 1"]
Zorica Silverthorne, WAAH exhibitions chair and vice president, notes that technology and digital media have contributed to the recent changes made to the organization.
“Our website hosts online exhibitions featuring artist members, there is an online gallery for our members to exhibit their works and we are even digitally selecting some of our exhibitions,” mentions Silverthorne.
Meanwhile, old traditions are also being kept alive. From the tireless efforts of the founding women of WAAH to the current executive board have ensured that an annual juried exhibition has taken place every year since the organization’s inception.
For the past seventy-two years, the exhibition has made the AGH it’s home. Long before that, the organization played a crucial role in establishing the AGH itself. Needless to say, WAAH has a lot to celebrate.
“Our exhibition statement is ‘it is in our nature to celebrate’… whether with a large group of people, small intimate gathering or solitude… ‘Celebrations!’ is open to interpretation,” said Silverthorne.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="194" gal_title="WAAH 2"]
Some of the works of past WAAH members are currently on display in the gallery’s permanent collection. Silverthorne notes that this is an important aspect worth celebrating.
“Even if the woman is no longer with us physically, her work and what she’s contributed should not be forgotten… it’s a chance to bring new life and new exposure to her legacy and not to mention looking to our past and learning from it is always an advantage,” said Silverthorne.
Silverthorne gives special mention to various different women presented in the exhibit but mentions that it’s difficult to mention only a few given the many talented artists that are involved in the WAAH.
“Some artists to celebrate are Maria Sarkany who had a coin design chosen by the Canadian Mint, well-known local artists Sylvia Simpson, Claudette Losier and our award winners Jodi Kitto-Ward, Jodie Hart and Susan Outlaw,” said Silverthorne.
Kitto-Ward, voted “Best in Show” for the exhibit, joined the WAAH in 2009. She currently has two of her pieces featured in the exhibit; “Celebration” and “In the Forest (The Bruce Trail 50th Anniversary)”. Kitto-Ward has a background in accounting and was employed at an accounting firm before her beginning her career as an artist.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="195" gal_title="WAAH 3"]
“I always had a love for art and enjoyed drawing and visiting art galleries as a child, but I was very self-critical and didn’t think I had what it took to pursue art on a professional level,” explained Kitto-Ward.
Later in her life, Kitto-Ward decided she wanted to pursue what made her happy; art. As she began taking courses at Sheridan College, she finally started to feel more confident in her work as an artist. Kitto-Ward now balances art, accounting and being a proud mom.
“I have experienced the support and opportunities provided by the WAAH first hand and I am proud to be a member and part of this historical and celebratory exhibition,” said Kitto-Ward.
“It’s important for me to be included in this exhibition… because of what this organization has achieved with women coming together for a common goal of supporting the arts, bringing so much to this city and beyond.”
The Women’s Art Association of Hamilton 125th Anniversary Exhibition: Celebrations! Is currently on display at the Jean & Ross Fischer gallery at the AGH until March 3, 2019. Admission is free and more information on the exhibit, and future WAAH shows, exhibitions and events can be found at www.waah.ca.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
