May 16, 2013 
Vancouver Island School of Art Newsletter 

VICTORIA ART FINALE
Opening reception, Slide Room Gallery Friday, May 17 at 7:30 pm

Come check out this wonderful showcase of art from Grade 12 students from Victoria, Port Alberni, Galiano Island and more.
 
The show looks very impressive. We were very excited to see such high calibre of artwork coming from our local regional secondary schools.  
 
If you have young people in your life who are interested in the arts or if you are curious about what kind of art teens are making, please come and check out.

Grand prize and other prizes will be announced at 8pm. Tea, lemonade and other refreshments will be served.

The Slide Room Gallery is located at 2549 Quadra Street

Dear Students and Friends of VISA,

With the news of the Bangladesh factory tragedy and retail outlets trying to come to terms with their responsibility and role, I have been thinking a lot about clothes and how we are overrun with plethora of used garments. One of the reasons I became an artist is because I was compelled to make use of perfectly good materials that I felt shouldn't be thrown away. Art was a way of repurposing and reimagining potential landfill. To this end, I did a few art projects using clothing. When I was doing graduate work at Cal State LA, I made paintings with surfaces made of pieced together clothing and fabric attached together with fanciful Victorian crazy quilt stitching. I would then gesso this surface and use this as my 'canvas' for painting. For another project I cut clothing into strips and formed a very long continuous line which I would wrap tightly with weaving yarn to make a series of coloured 'lines'. I brought these lines to various outdoor locations (urban, seashore, forest) to create on-site drawings and would photograph the results. However, no matter how many projects I came up with involving clothing, there was still too much of it around. I don't know how it happened that we all have so much clothing. 

I read somewhere that in 1968 there was enough clothing the world to clothe every man, woman and child in the world for the following 200 years and that was before we started getting cheap clothes from Bangledesh, China, India, Turkey, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico and the list goes on. The Bureau of International Recycling website in the UK states 'if everyone in the UK (60 million people) bought one reclaimed woollen garment each year, it would save an average of 1,686 million litres of water and 480 tonnes of chemical dyestuffs.'  In 2010 the Salvation Army Victoria Recycling Centre recycled 1.44 million lbs of mixed textiles.

One thing that is happening with our overload of clothing is the cropping up of stores like the $2 Clothing Store in West Hollywood. A recent issue of the LA Weekly has a story about this intriguing yet slightly scary retail experience. The store looks very much like a Christian Boltanski art piece. There are many artists who use clothes as part of their work. Michelangelo Pistoletti is an example with his renown Venus of the Rags (see image below). A recent exhibition I saw at the Western Project in Los Angeles called Big Mess had three artists who all used clothing in their works, each in very different way.

However, in the end all the art projects in the world couldn't manage to contain or use up all the clothes we discard as part of our throw-away culture. Maybe the next time we think about that new clothing purchase, we can head towards the local vintage or secondhand store. My favourite place in Victoria to buy a 'reclaimed woollen garment (aka 'sweater') is Flavour Upstairs.

when you register for a Spring Six Week Course

STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR A SPRING COURSE AND GET A DISCOUNT ON A SUMMER WORKSHOP:
To receive the $25 discount for the spring/summer workshops you need to mention that you have registered for a Spring course and you would like the discount when you call or email to register for a workshop.

Many courses have already started but there is still room in Landscape Photography and Urban Sketching
 
Additional savings: 
If you do want to register for a course that has already started we will give you a pro-rated discount of $25 on any of the courses you see listed on the Spring Course Schedule (this does not include Landscape Photography or Urban Sketching) 
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
Fridays, 10am-1pm, May 15-June 19

Taking a formal course in Landscape Photography is a wonderful way to make yourself stop and pay attention to what you are looking at and how you can make the best possible photograph from what you see. The course includes review of camera operation, followed by further study of depth of field, long exposure, flash and tripod use, simple lighting set-ups and the basics of post production. With several classes held 'on location' students will learn first hand how to shoot under diverse light conditions, amongst challenging terrain and in varied weather conditions. Composition and image sequencing are also covered. Students will complete this course with a finished portfolio of work and will be confident to use their camera to produce dynamic and interesting photographs of local territories and land formations.

Tara Nicholson is a wonderful photographer and great instructor. Don't miss this great opportunity to brighten up your spring...

 

Instructor: Tara Nicholson
Tuition: $225 (18 hrs)
Images
To register 

Image: Tara Nicholson, Prospect Cabin 2011
URBAN SKETCHING
Saturdays, 10am-1pm, May 17-June 21

Do you see people sitting on a park bench or in a caf� sketching? Would you like to draw what you see around you? This course focuses on drawing things you see as you make your way through the city including architecture, interiors of buildings, people, gardens and parks. You will learn some basic drawing techniques as well as what are the best materials to carry with you in terms of sketching on-site. This is a great course to take if you are traveling to an urban destination this summer and would like to do some drawing while you are there. No experience necessary. 

 

 

Instructor: Tracey Nelson
Tuition: $225 (18 hrs)
Images
To register 

ABSTRACT PENCIL DRAWING
Saturday, 10am-1pm, May 25

Using the very simple and basic pencil as a starting point, this workshop covers all the different ways to make lines and tones. Students will use a range of graphite pencils as well as an eraser to create different effects. Exercises include a variety of approaches including doodling, Paul Klee's 'taking a line for a walk,' and Arschille Gorky's 'automatic drawing.' Students will also create dynamic abstract compositions by tracing their own marks, as well as using photographs as a source. Once you take this workshop, you will never stop drawing again! Or, if you have never drawn before, you will soon realize it's a simple as signing your name.
No previous drawing experience necessary. 

Instructor: Wendy Welch
Tuition: $125 (includes materials)
To register 

SURREALIST VIDEO WORKSHOP
Saturday & Sunday, May 25 & 26, 10am-5pm

Surrealism is a 20th-century literary and artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious mind and capture dream states. It utilizes fantastic imagery and the juxtaposition of unusual subject matter. In this workshop, students will make their own surrealist video, learning to film and edit a short work using cameras, lights and effects programs. This fun and creative workshop is a chance to explore and let your imagination run free. Saturday includes an introduction to Surrealist video, and overview of cameras and equipment, discussion of story structure and shooting of the individual works. On Sunday there is an introduction to effects and the editing of projects. There will be an in-class screening of completed projects at the end of the workshop. This workshop includes creative instruction by Catlin Lewis and technical assistance by Kirk Schwartz. No previous experience necessary.
 

Instructor: Catlin Lewis 
Tuition: $175.00 (12 hrs) 
MediaNet fee: $30 (for use of video equipment, computers and editing software) 
Surrealist video techniques 

 

SUMMER STUDIO AT VISA
Looking for a space to be creative this summer?

 

The VISA Summer Studio offers a unique combination of creative and professional resources with a community of participants and faculty that provide a rich environment for growth and personal development. The vibrant and nurturing art environment at the Vancouver Island School of Art provides an ideal place to make your creativity happen.

 

If you are looking for studio space, feedback on your work (optional) and a period of concentrated creativity, this is a great opportunity over the summer months.

 

Creativity starts with giving yourself a space. Once you have space to make work, you will find the time.

 

THE STUDIOS

Summer Residency at VISA includes a space in one of our large bright classrooms. Each studio area has a table, easel, chair and wall space; as well as access to sink, library resources, photocopier, laptop, digital projector, darkroom, woodshop and outdoor sculpture/painting area (very large backyard).

 

THE OPPORTUNITY

This is a great opportunity to work on projects that you started during the school year and want to develop further or to explore ideas that inspired your creative direction. If you are approaching your third year in the Diploma Program, the residency provides time, space and input to prepare for the final year of the diploma program. The residency is also great for anyone who is interested in developing a body of work for an exhibition or a grad school application. If you have lots of ideas or think you have no ideas, the first 30 minute meeting with your mentor (Wendy Welch or Xane St Phillip) at the beginning of the week will quickly give you plenty of thoughts about possible directions you can take in your work. The second meeting is a review work of the done over the week. If you only need space without feedback that is also an option to consider. 

 

THE COST

Studio and critique: $150/week 

-includes two 30 minute meetings with a mentor who looks at your work and gives you feedback and suggestions)

Studio only: $75/week  

-while this option does not include formal meetings, the Director will be available for drop in chats and some feedback if required

Optional Key fee 

These rates are for daily access only. If you are interested in 24 hour access + weekend use, an additional 'key fee' of $35/week will be applied to week rate. 

 

THE AVAILABILITY

Studio space is available as of June 15 and while registrations is on a per week basis, you are welcome to reserve one week, two weeks or several weeks in advance to ensure your space.

You can reserve any week or weeks up until August 30. 

 

To register

 

A POSTCARD FROM VICTORIA
AGGV  Curator's Talk and Opening May 15, 7:30 pm                            



Robert Morin & Lorraine Dufour, Raymond Boisjoly, Geoffrey Farmer, Julia Feyrer

Guest Curated by Michael Turner

 

A Postcard from Victoria is an immersive exhibition that features video, artifact and works on paper.

 

AGGV is located at 1040 Moss St

DELUGE, Opening reception May 17 at 7 pm                            

VISA instructor, Todd Lambeth showcases new work at Deluge Contemporary Art.

What interests me most is the cat's status in the home. This series of 15 paintings -- culled from photographs collected after a request for pictures on Facebook -- focuses on house cats in domestic interiors. These small scale, representational works are meditations of space, time, colour and form and are a deliberate attempt at destabilizing the icons of modernism. Repeatedly deploying arrangements of fabric, furniture and architecture, this series is ultimately concerned with modes of inhabiting space and suggests a compressed urban environment. These are not paintings of urban hustle; rather they are oases of meditative calm and reflection. The banal subject of the ubiquitous family cat is transformed into images that celebrate the humility and comfort of our private lives.
Todd Lambeth, 2013

Exhibition continues to June 15, 2013
Deluge is at 636 Yates Street
Do you like to plan ahead?                              


VISA Fall/Winter Schedule is now on-line



If you are interested in applying to one of our programs: Certificate of Visual Arts, Diploma of Fine Arts or Independent Studio program please feel free to set up an appointment for more information: email office
For more information about our courses or events contact
Linda or Jen at the office: 250-380-3500 or [email protected]
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