The idea for the Artist Development Project came from our 2023 Community Consultations. Artists asked us for support with professional development and opportunities to showcase and teach their work and practice.
In 2024, we delivered!
Partnering with Visual Arts Nova Scotia, we presented five professional development workshops in the spring and fall.
For Culture Days, we presented five pop up exhibitions across Pictou County and hired four artists to present free art workshops and demonstrations to the public.
It is thanks to this programming, and others we presented, that we ranked 9th in the Small Municipalities category for Culture Days participation.
This project is funded by the department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage.
Professional Development Workshops
Over the spring and fall, in partnership with Visual Arts NS, we presented a series of professional development workshops. These workshops were free for artists to attend and covered a variety of topics.
Becka Barker | Grant writing
Stacey Cornelius | Pricing Your Work
David Dahms | Exhibition Preparation and Installation
Christopher Webb | Networking & Talking About Your Work
Marla Benton | How to Teach an Art Workshop
Free Artist Workshops
Do It Yourself Marketing with Darcy Walsh
Marketing your artistic endeavors involves many aspects of traditional project/service marketing but we often work from an out of pocket or none existent budget. Take control and oversee your own marketing procedures and processes with a little DIY attitude. This workshop will outline some key consideration points with tips and discussion on how to customize your approach to create your own voice and build an audience.
Topics to be covered:
- Establishing your presence
- Know your audience
- Building your network
- Create your press kit
- Social media do’s and don’t
Workshop Date/Time
October 6, 2024 from 1-4pm
Location
IGNITE Atlantic 345 Temperance Street, New Glasgow
Plein Air for Youth with Elisa Rutledge
Painting Plein Air is the best way to inspire a creative masterpiece from any artist. Come
Paint with Artist Elisa as she walks you through a painting with the picturesque Pictou
scenery, with your own stand up easel and paint supplies. Available to all ages, enjoyed by
children and beginners.
Workshop Date/Time
September 25 & October 2, 2024
6-8pm
Workshop location
Pictou Library (outside)
Intro to Photography with Marissa Rosaleen
Unlock your camera’s potential with Marissa’s 2-hour photography course! Designed for amateurs and beginners, this fun and friendly session will help you start shooting like a pro. Join her to learn the basics and capture stunning shots with confidence.
Workshop Date/Time
October 3, 2024 from 6-8pm
Workshop Location
Westville Library
Pop Up Exhibitions
For Culture Days, five artists popped up their work across the county. The mediums ranged from textiles, painting, sculpture, photography and drawing.
By showcasing this work, the community was able to connect with art made by their neighbours and friends.
Carolyn Bedford | The White Lotus window
Carolyn has exhibited in various group shows in Nova Scotia and had many solo shows of paintings which have seen reviews and now, exhibits her sculpture work. She does her own bronze work and has a small foundry to produce the pieces and also fires her own clay work.
She also does some photography having run her own wet lab, and writes stories poetry often in collaboration of her exhibit titles. Carolyn was apprenticed in the bronze and believes strongly in hands on throughout the process of any medium. For over 50 years, Carolyn has also worked in the advancement of the arts, working on the provincial board, operating a Co-op gallery, organizing a symposium, giving presentations, teaching and keeping her interest in local art events.
Catherine Beaudette | Tabitha+Co
Catherine Beaudette is a Canadian artist, cultural worker and past professor at OCAD University. Born in Québec, she currently divides her time between Montréal and Pictou, Nova Scotia. Her art practice stems from both places where she collects objects, artifacts, and specimens to form the basis of her paintings, photographs and installations. Beaudette is the founder of Bonavista Biennale and 2 Rooms Contemporary Art Projects in Newfoundland, Gallery 202 in Pictou Nova Scotia, and co-founder of Loop Gallery in Toronto – grass roots initiatives designed to encourage cultural sustainability and empower creative communities. She has attended artist residencies in Greece, France, Spain, Montenegro, Havana, Dawson City, Banff, and Fogo Island; and exhibited nationally and internationally. Beaudette received her MFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1998.
Hazel Sheehan | Groovy Little Gift Shop window
Hazel was born and raised in Riverview, New Brunswick and spent much of her youth in Nova Scotia. Growing up, she was exposed to a lot of music and traditional crafts in her family (including crocheting and cross stitch). Hazel has always enjoyed producing visual arts and poetry but they have become a focus for her during the last eight years. After retiring in 2021, she moved to Red Deer where she took part in a couple of art shows. Hazel is mostly self-taught with a few workshops. Having moved back to Pictou County in the spring of 2024, she is eager to become part of the art community here.
Randy Sutherland | Express Yourself Cafe/Trenton Train Station
Randy Sutherland has been involved in trades from an early age. He started as a brick and stone mason until moving back to Pictou County where he studied welding at NSCC. He has been involved in welding and fabrication for over 29 years working in shops from coast to coast.
Starting as welder then fitter and most recently welding supervisor Randy has always been drawn to design and architectural components in steel. He has been lucky enough to collaborate with and learn from many talented people along his path fabricating both private and public pieces. In an effort to pursue more opportunities he started Five Elements Design as a creative outlet, primarily building Acadian wood stoves and fire pits along with custom works.
Like many, Randy struggles to find the time and energy to create. Having been involved in trades most of his life the term “artist” has always been difficult. Instead, his choice would be craftsmen.
Gaétane Martel | Westville Library
Gaétane Martel was born and raised in Montreal before moving to Pictou County. The art of photography allows her to highlight the beauty that surrounds us. She uses nature as a means of expression. It also allows her to be aware of the remains of nature and the passing of time. It is a great freedom to create and express her vision of photography.
Light… fascinating, enchanting, transforming, seducing her every time and reminds her again and again that it is light that chooses if she is in the right place at the right moment. One second is enough to create the soul of a shot, to immortalize it or to remember that it ever existed. This connection between nature and Gaétane is an invitation to dream and contemplate. The story behind each image is unique and exclusive.
Kristin Bjornerud | deCoste Culture Hub Gallery
Kristin Bjornerud’s watercolours are open-ended poetic narratives that reflect on our complicated relationships to each other and the natural world. Intertwining metaphor with realism, her work concentrates on the female figure as a way of exploring concepts of identity, memory, and landscape through the lens of modern eco-feminism. Kristin holds a BFA from the University of Lethbridge, Alberta and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. She has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the Ontario Arts Council and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Her work is represented in numerous public collections including the Canada Council Art Bank, the Saskatchewan Arts Board and the Canadian Collection of the Brucebo Museum (Sweden). Originally from Alberta she has lived in many places across Canada and Europe and is now based in Merigomish, Nova Scotia.
On September 28, a CHAD Transit bus took us around to all of the pop up exhibitions across the county. On board, local musician Shaun Patrick serenaded passengers and added to the experience!
