NEWS LETTER
February to April 2007
From the Director
The months seem to pass so quickly and now we are into a new season and a milestone in the history of the White Water Gallery. 30 years of exhibiting art that not only has been on par with other national artist run centres, but has also been influential in helping define the direction and course of artistic creation in the entire region. Many ideas are floating among members of our programming committee and things are shaping up to continue to test the boundaries, pull the strings, and challenge conventions in many contemporary art issues. Marina Nicolaou has been working with a few other volunteers to come up with some kind of birthday celebration. Perhaps a party will be coming our way some time between April and July? We will keep you posted.
Daniel Elzinga Director
From the Chair
Happy 30th Birthday White Water Gallery!
Yes this is our thirtieth year of existence, a real milestone for an artist run gallery. As we look back over the history we see the impact this gallery has had not only on the local scene but also spawning Artists who have gone on to international recognition. We start this year with a very positive attitude, a strong board, a dedicated director, some good fundraising [over $6500 by the end of 2006] and an interesting program line up. One of the celebrations in recognition of our 30th anniversary was the introduction in January of the project initiated by our former director Heather Saunders. Over the past year Heather has been working on “A Retrospective of Artists in North Bay and Surrounding Areas“. This project has entailed going over the Gallery’s archives and documenting our history and some of the local artists who have been a part of it. The retrospective will be a part of the Virtual Museum, an online gallery of Canadian history. This is a real coup for the Gallery since it will be one of the only Artist run galleries featured on this website. WWG continues to break new ground. The site will feature 36 local artists, their bios, their rationale and their work. Look for it in the spring. There will be a link on our website. We are still looking for other projects to add to our celebrations and people to head up some of these celebrations. We are hoping this year to upgrade our audio/visual equipment so we can feature more current and cutting edge artists using these media. The Gallery is continuing to attract more visitors and more interest from the Arts programs in the High schools, University and College. We have been paired up with Widdifield’s Arts program in a pilot project with the Ministry of Education, another coup. As we start in on our next 30 years the WWG continues to influence and contribute to the growth of the Arts both locally and nationally. John Coffman co-chair
Events:
March 30 – Our annual AGM is coming up quick March 30 at 7:00 pm at 100 Georges. If you are interested in getting involved make a note on your calendar and we look forward to seeing you there.
March 3 – March 30: Hamilton Artist Fiona Kinsella Sweet Fresh, the wilderness.
http://www.whitewatergallery.com/fionaimages.html
The objects I make originate from an investigation of materials, and for the past year I have been working with sugar as a key component in my mixed media pieces. Icing sugar has been employed to create a series of (fake) cakes in my most recent body of work titled sweet fresh. The familiarity of these objects offer the viewer a personal point of entry to experience the work. Cakes traditionally mark celebrations associated with rights of passage from one station of life to another: from birth, baptism, and childhood, into adulthood or marriage, and inevitably, death (cake and cold cuts in the church basement).
April 7 – April 28: Burlington Artist Jim Riley Broken, a video installation
http://whitewatergallery.com/jimriley.html
3 video paintings and one video wall installation explores the neuromuscular consequences of a head injury. Initially, as a result of the injury, I temporarily lost my ability to walk. This was followed by a variety of body sensations that were not evident to the onlooker. The outward appearance of my movements seemed normal, but inwardly I might have been experiencing a range of vertigo sensation of swaying, stumbling of falling.
Member of the Month: Allan Hirsh
Allan is a cartoonist/sculptor/psychotherapist and the list goes on and on and on. Volunteering with the gallery for several years now, Allan works tirelessly, keeping this ship afloat. He was instrumental in bringing “Dining for Art” to our fund raising efforts and is essential in making sure the Art-A-Thon is always a great success. His enduring letter writing has helped bring in an enormous amount of financial support from the community. On top of all this, he helps the director keep his sanity when the days are just not going the way he would like them to. Thanks for the psychological support Allan!
-Director
Calls for Submissions: Next Deadline May 1 – we are now booking for the 2008 programming season!
To apply for a paid, 4-week exhibition, please include:
To apply for a member's 2-week exhibition, please include:
All of the above, except prints may be submitted in place of slides or a CD of jpeg files
Quote from Theories of Modern Art: A source book by artists and Critics, U. of Cal. Press, 1968
Constantine Brancusi, Aphorisms (undated)
Beauty, it is absolute equity.
Things are not difficult to accomplish. What is difficult is to prepare ourselves to do them.
When we are no longer children, we are already dead.
Theories are patterns without value. Only action counts.
Nude men in sculpture are not as beautiful as toads.
To be cunning is something, but to be honest is worthwhile.