March 15, 2013 
Vancouver Island School of Art Newsletter
Dear Students and Friends of VISA,       

I like to think of spring as a time for new footwear and for discovering new things. At VISA we are delighted to announce that our Spring Semester Courses are now on-line with a lot of new exciting offerings on the schedule. And continuing with the theme of 'new things' we recently discovered some great galleries in Vancouver on a VISA field trip last Saturday.

VISA instructor Xane St Phillip and myself went with a group of students to Vancouver to visit the galleries near lower Main on 1st and 2nd Avenue and to see the Art Speigelman show at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was exciting to see so many new spaces for contemporary art. Most of the galleries have been around for awhile: the Grunt, Winsor, Catriona Jeffries, Monte Clarke and Equinox, however they have all moved in the last few years to this more industrial area of Vancouver. Many of these galleries used to have much smaller spaces on South Granville Street. There is also a new gallery in the area called MacCauley & Co Fine Art. We saw a great combination of photography (Catriona Jeffires and Winsor) as well as paintinngs (MacCauley, Winsor, Equinox and Monte Clark) and sculpture (Cal Lane's piece at the Grunt). We ended up in the Olympic Village by one of my favourite public sculptures Myfanwy MacLeod's Giant Birds.  

Public sculpture is on my mind as I was recently interviewed by a University of Victoria student about this topic. I do think there is a dearth of good public sculpture in Victoria. Of course when you make a statement like this it becomes necessary to define what is meant by 'good public sculpture'. I thought it might be best to answer this by giving examples of what I think works. So why do I love MacLeod's giant birds as public sculpture? One of the things that excites me about all art whether it is painting, sculpture, photography or video, is when the work presents something unexpected. MacLeod has taken one of the smallest, most common bird, the sparrow, and enlarged it to an extreme size. These works manage to combine beauty and humour at the same time. I think one of the attractions of these birds is that they do look 'real'. I think if they were giant bronze birds it wouldn't have the same effect; we would see them more as just another element in the urban architectural environment. The birds diminish our size as humans and their monumentality stops us in our tracks as we walk through the Olympic Village. You have to walk up steps to get to the birds which is an interesting way to transform the pedestal concept of traditional sculpture to an interactive platform for the viewers. The fact that there are two birds animates the square even more in that you really become aware of the space around and between the birds. The birds do a wonderful job of activating what could be a somewhat bland urban space.

While I wish Victoria had more galleries that showcased exciting contemporary art,  I am happy to know there is a lot of good art spaces only a boat ride away in Vancouver. This discovery has made a great start to my spring.


 
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Check out our amazing line-up of six week courses starting May 14

This spring we are offering a range of drawing, painting, sculpture and photography courses. The courses are all six-weeks long for the low rate of $225 per course. We have plenty of courses for beginners as well as courses for artists with some experience.

The Spring semester with its shorter courses is a great way to try out an art course without having to make the full commitment of a regular 12-week course. All these courses can be applied for credit to a Certificate of Diploma program.

 
Artist Talk:
JENIFER PAPARO
Thursday,  March 21 at 7pm 

Jenifer Papararo is Curator at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver. She recently presented the first solo exhibition in North America of Nairy Baghramian's work and will present the first exhibition in Canada of work by Monika Sosnowska. Currently she is working with Mike Nelson to co-commission an installation for CAG and The Power Plant. From 2002 to 2004 Jenifer was Director of Programming at Mercer Union, Toronto. There she curated Mark Leckey's Soundsystem, which included an extensive weekly program of events. She is a founding member of the curatorial and artist collective Instant Coffee.

 

Talk is in Slide Room Gallery
2549 Quadra
DROP IN WRITING
Every Tuesday, 7:00-8:30
Once again, writer and teacher extraodinaire, Buffy Cram will be hosting drop-in writing sessions. These sessions are great for people who want to get started with writing or for writers who might need a kickstart to their practice. Buffy provides a series of imaginative and inspiring writing exercises in a relaxed casual atmosphere.
No experience necessary
Cost: $20 per session
Every Tuesday, 7:00-8:30 

 

CONTEMPORARY BOTANICAL WORKSHOP
Saturday, March 16, 10am-5pm
This extremely engaging and imaginative workshop includes three projects: collage, watercolour and drawing, all based on a fantastical plant-like creation. All materials are included in the supply fee so you just need to show up and let your mind go on an adventure.

Instructor: Wendy Welch
Cost: $100 + $25 material fee

 

DELUGE CONTEMPORARY ART
Opening, Friday March 15, 7-9pm

 

CACGV CAFÉ GALLERY

The Drive Through: Contemporary Landscapes
Margaret Hantiuk 

March 19-31

Arts Center at Cedar Hill

3220 Cedar Hill Rd., 8 to 9 daily

 
For more information about our courses or events contact
Linda or Jen at the office: 250-380-3500 or info@vancouverislandschoolart.com
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