Interview with Art Lab artist Jessica Field

Jessica Field is our Art Lab artist in residence from April 25 until July 10. During her residency in the Art Lab, Jessica Field will be experimenting with relational aesthetics and drawing to create a body of work that focuses on the influences that technology and science have on the way people socially develop their identities. Through her performance research, she will be creating fictional spaces and developing relational encounters with participants to create maps of how they relate to technology and science and attempt to place how their subjective values and feelings are connected. Most of Field’s works are parodies on the scientific methods, gender issues and the tension between subjective values, feelings, prestige and how these function in the technological complexity of our current culture. We sat down with Jessica to learn more about what she has been up to in the Art Lab…

The RMG: Hi Jessica! Please tell us a little about yourself.

Jessica Field: I am an artist who has lived in the Durham region for most of my life. Growing up in Pickering and then starting my own family here in Oshawa. I am a very curious person who enjoys spending an exorbitant amount of time trying to answer big questions. I am most fascinated by human nature in how complicated we are, on one hand we can be very dismissive and selfish, yet vulnerable but we have the capacity to choose to be very empathetic, imaginative and offer a safe unbiased space for others depending on how life is effecting us.

Jessica Field in the Art Lab. Photo by Lucy Villeneuve.

RMG: Why did you apply to the Art Lab artist in residence program?

JF: I applied to the Art Lab to experiment with new materials and interact with the public to create interesting conversations and learn more about how we are programmed. I am also very interested in doing research in the RMG’s library and with the collection to assist in informing my work. I am also very excited about working in a large gallery to be inspired by a space designed for exhibiting work and becoming more involved with the Oshawa art community.

RMG: What will you be creating during your residency? What can visitors expect to find in the Art Lab or during one of your performance events?

JF: I will be creating a series of drawings that will attempt to grapple the impossible question of “how we are programmed.” Visitors can expect to see a room full of large format drawings that address these questions. In the coming weeks, there will be glass markers and chalk available for visitors to contribute their impressions of the drawings in the studio. Any visitor will be very welcome to interrupt my work and offer their insights into this impossible question of “how we are programmed” as these interactions are a crucial part of my residency. In this upcoming month, my focus is in the collection of information. Then the work will become about editing and fine tuning the drawing content, this is a space for visitors to enjoy viewing complicated maps and moving or adding their interpretation of what these drawn landscapes could represent.

RMG: Tell us a bit more about your artist workshop on June 12. What will students learn?

JF: The workshop on June 12 will be offering a technique for students to use to help them learn about creating systems and see how a system or methodology can eliminate such creative challenges as creative blocks, the stress of how strong an idea is and to find methods of expanding a personalized idea into something that becomes larger than the person who imagined it in the first place. The strategy of the workshop focuses on utilizing the student’s imagination, ability to empathize and drawing attention to the importance of developing impartial judgment. These values allow people to think in larger terms then their individual selves and thus learn an ability to create artworks that speak to the larger picture of what life is all about which is something everyone has invested interest in understanding on some level. The workshop will offer an activity to help students engage in this space to find their own important contribution to this large discourse that others will value and have the added effect of enriching their own creative goals and interests.

Photo by Lucy Villeneuve

RMG: In a nutshell… what is “relational aesthetics” and how does this principle impact your practice?

JF: Relational aesthetics is rooted in a dissatisfaction in the art market where art is bought and sold. Those who work in this practice are really focused on the experience of art, the experience of seeing something that has qualitative value and can be enriching to a persons life whether this is an experience of awe, revelation or a strong emotional experience that becomes a lasting memory. The art as an object is always in danger of being superficialized by popularity or become convoluted and intimidating by our stress of how the art institution values the work.

Relational aesthetics is an attempt to bring a genuine and meaningful experience between the artist and the viewer where the viewer becomes a collaborator in the experience of the work and integral to its validity. There is an equitable exchange between the artist and viewer where the viewer in their participation receives an experience of value that they should feel compelled to cherish and the artist is given material to assist in creating a project that is larger than themselves and not limited by their personal biases and experience.

The use of relational aesthetics in my project is an honest art practice that can allow me to grapple an impossible topic like “how are you programmed.” I can set up a performance which is really a collaborative exercise with the people who wish to participate and in these actions we carry out together. The objective is to really become aware of human diversity and celebrate these differences as being something valuable and important rather than peculiar or unusual. This creates a space for people to feel comfortable with enjoying the pleasure of imagination, empathy and impartial judgment in a safe space to do so which is my responsibility in executing the performance.

Jessica Field. Photo by Lucy Villeneuve.

RMG: What inspires you? Is there a particular artist’s work that has inspired your practice?

JF: I have many references that inspire me and my inspirations are always changing and are very fluid. For this residency, I am focused on Yoko Uno’s drawings and instructions from the RMG library, the pilgrimage drawings mapping the roads of life, illustrations of human life created by Christian artists in the 1800s, the Zen Ox herding drawings, and the youTube channel the School of Life. In looking at these very diverse sources, I hope to find commonalities and create maps and flow diagrams. I am also very curious in receiving input from the public on how they relate to these maps and will hopefully offer insight into what this landscape could look like.

Interview with Gallery A artist Ruth Read

Ruth Read was our Art Lab artist in residence from March 30 until April 22. She began her project Nine Empty Rooms during her residency and now is transforming the space of Gallery A with an immersive installation project. We sat down with the artist to ask her about her practice. Join Ruth for an artist talk on May 15 from 1-3pm and learn more!

Ruth Read received her BFA (sculpture) from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. Since then she has exhibited in both group and solo shows at The Station Gallery, Whitby, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, the Visual Arts Centre, Clarington, and the Latcham Gallery, Stouffville, as well as other galleries in Ontario and St. John’s, Newfoundland. She has taught art classes at The Station Gallery, the Haliburton School of the Arts, the Visual Arts Centre, Clarington and for Fleming College.

Nine Empty Rooms, Ruth Read, installation progress

The RMG: Hi Ruth! Tell us a little about yourself – when did you start making art?

Ruth Read: I started drawing seriously when I was about nine years old. My best friend liked to draw too. We took Saturday morning art classes from local artist Molly Greene Mitchell.

Later, when I was in high school, I went to the Doone Summer School of the Arts, the former home of Canadian artist Homer Watson. A working scholarship allowed me to take classes from professional artists in the afternoons when chores were done. Here I was introduced to artist quality watercolours. I worked predominately in w/c for the next 20 years.

After high school, I went to Queen’s U, Kingston where I received my BFA, sculpture major. And learned to drink coffee and beer.

Nine Empty Rooms, Ruth Read, installation progress

RMG: Who influences you and your work?

RR: I have continued to study drawing and painting between and around various jobs. Artists such as Peter Kolisnyk, Akira Yoshikawa, Joan Krawcyk and Ted Rettig have had great influence on my practice.

RMG: We’re so excited about your installation in Gallery A! How’s it coming?

RR: I started putting ceiling frames together. My brother lent me some corner clamps- fantastic, they really make the job easier.

Nine Empty Rooms, Ruth Read, installation progress

Interview with ArtLab Artist Sally Thurlow

Sally Thurlow is our Gallery A ArtLab Artist in Residence from March 2 to 27. During her residency, she will be working on a series of sculptures and paintings exploring subconscious themes on major change, dislocation, and relocation which have personal meaning and may also relate to the universal, continuing, and recurring theme that refugees are always on the move. However, this project is only just getting underway, so it is open to huge change…

In an earlier Reclamation sculptural series she stated “Memory is embedded, the process of ageing ennobles. From being tossed away or lost, then washed up, then recovered and restored to dignity and purpose, these driftwood forms represent a deeply human longing for reclamation. Like us, they are simply travellers through time, looking for meaning. How have we come here? How do we react to our environment?” Her attention now is more toward envisioning forms that speak of intense emotional states – making visible the invisible, allowing for new possibilities. She has moved from placing her figures to blend into the environment to making them stand out. Consequently, Thurlow started working with paints, stains, and manufactured additions to her figures. Here she will be working on the second sculpture of a trio.

As a member of the IRIS Group, Thurlow’s residency in the ArtLab is completed in conjunction with the Gallery A exhibition IRIS at 20. We sat down with Sally to learn more about what she has been up to during her residency.

The RMG: Hi Sally! Please tell us a bit about yourself?

Sally Thurlow: I was born and raised in Toronto but moved to the lakeshore of Newcastle 30 years ago with my young family and now live by the Whitby lakeshore. Observing daily such a great body of water has been very influential on my life and work. I received my BA majoring in Fine Arts from U of T in 1999 finishing at Trent U for some Environmental Science and Cultural Studies courses, also very influential, plus earlier significant studies at OCA. In 2006 the RMG gave me my first solo show called Canoe Dreamings and helped me get it to travel to five other galleries in Ontario. The Ontario Arts Council awards were very helpful for this exhibition from a starting boost to crating expenses for shipping. I have been fortunate to be part of the Iris Group in Durham Region and The Red Head Gallery in Toronto. Both are great groups of artists to collaborate with. I have since had solo shows at The Visual Arts Centre in Bowmanville and The Red Head Gallery, and have been involved in many group shows. I am very pleased that the RMG now has one of my works in their permanent collection.

Sally Thurlow: Day 1…where I started from, a pruned and stained evergreen,
fresh cut cedar branches

RMG: Why were you interested in Gallery A’s Art Lab residency? What will you be making while working as an artist in residence?

ST: I thought it would be interesting to see and hear the flow of visitors through The Iris Group’s Iris at 20 anniversary show while I worked around the corner. I enjoy engaging with people about all the work and if they come in to the studio space, we can talk about my process and some may even critique it. Beyond this, the RMG is a great gallery to work in.

I decided I would work on a sculptural piece that I hope will be going in to the Bluseed Studio Gallery in Saranac Lake – a 5 person show curated by Margaret Rodgers, former Visual Arts Centre curator and director, and Iris Group founder/member. Also it will be part of my Red Head Gallery show in September. At my own studio I am presently beginning to paint again and I wanted to separate the painting from my messy sculptural process but I have had to bring it home a couple of times when I needed to use stains or to clamp it in my vice for intricate work. It is a sculpture that is intended to relate to two other sculptures.

Sally Thurlow: Day 3 …pruning branches… still more pruning to do

RMG: What materials do you work in?

ST: I work in a multi-disciplinary way to make the work in whatever way I feel suits, using whatever kind of materials relate to the work. For this sculpture I will be using a discarded Christmas tree trunk which I had already worked on for another idea but have decided it could be better used for my present idea. Also, freshly cut cedar branches (from my hedge) that I am denuding of the cedar greenery and I am steaming, staining, and attaching to this tree in a particular form which has already been viewed as insect-like because of the way I have pruned the branches bringing out innate equivalences between all living things.

Sally Thurlow: Day 4 …bending branches after soaking them in very hot water

RMG: Can you please tell us a bit about your artwork in IRIS at 20, on view in Gallery A?

ST: This exhibition is highlighting numerous “souvenirs” which women have offered over 20 years of International Women’s Day events we have held in various community places. The artists have each chosen a souvenir to respond to and since I had given a little extra paper canoe from my solo Canoe Dreamings show, and had shown this fibreglass vessel earlier empty, I decided to show it with my new work in it. The environment, and a sense of responsibility to its well-being has been a constant part of my life, and art-practice. Since I have long been exploring the dynamic range of natural shapes using driftwood, I spend considerable time on beaches and they all have plastic debris. While I pick driftwood, I pick garbage. Other life forms are also attracted to these appealing colours and forms, ingesting the broken down bits and absorbing their poisons. Within this illuminated translucent boat form, its lacy edges mimicking the frothy tide, the plastic debris placed inside may simply remind us of pretty kaleidoscope bits. But in a personal narrative written on disposable plastic wrap (part of the dilemma), I question our cultural and environmental practices reflected in our exploding throw-away societies. The abundance of plastic bits in my vessel functions to partially obscure the message just as the monstrous plastics problem is partially hidden by being out in the middle of the oceans, even though some of these giros of plastic are twice the size of Texas. They are often brought there by enormous container vessels.

Sally Thurlow: Day 7 …having cut the trunk in segments and drilled into each to fit a dowel

RMG: What inspires you? Is there a particular artist’s work that has influenced your practice?

ST: Walking beaches, experiencing life and death in the raw, the power of the water, what it hides and exposes, my children… so much inspiration. There are many artists whose work I admire. I grew up across the road from Elizabeth Wynwood Hahn and her husband Emanuel Hahn – both important Canadian sculptors whose work can be found at the AGO, the National, other galleries and in public places. Elizabeth wrote “Sculptural form is not the imitation of natural form any more than poetry is the imitation of natural conversation… It is the juxtaposition of masses in space,… a clarification of experience.” That speaks to me as my work comes from my gut, my experiences. Louise Bourgeois, Andy Goldsworthy, Betty Goodwin, Jenny Holzer, Anselm Kiefer, Suzy Lake, Gerhard Richter, and many more, all have such different, brilliant artistic expressions that I admire.

Sally Thurlow: Day 9 …branches stained and inserted, shortened branches to spikes, still lots to do, mostly details

Artist Biography:

Sally Thurlow is a multidisciplinary artist based in Greater Toronto. For some years she has been exploring the dynamic range of figurative forms using driftwood, within a wide range of other media. The questioning of our cultural and environmental practices is a constant focus of her work. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Toronto, with courses in Cultural and Environmental Studies at Trent University and significant earlier studies at OCA. She has given numerous artist talks and workshops at educational institutions and public galleries.

Her work has been shown internationally and she has been the recipient of various Ontario Arts Council awards. She is a member of the IRIS Group and the Red Head Gallery artists’ collectives. Her work is held in private collections across Canada, and at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario.

For more information please visit sallythurlow.com

The IRIS Group – Q & A with Founder, Margaret Rodgers

The IRIS Group will be exhibiting in Gallery A from March 2-27. Prior to their exhibition, IRIS at 20, we sat down with member Margaret Rodgers to tell us more about the the collective and upcoming projects.

Margaret Rodgers is an accomplished, Oshawa-based artist, with an international exhibition history. She is also founder of the IRIS Group – a collective of women artists – formerly an art professor at Durham and Centennial Colleges, and Director/Curator at VAC Clarington. She is the author of Locating Alexandra (Toronto: ECW, 1995) about Painters Eleven artist Alexandra Luke, and is published in venues including OshaWhat, Art and Ecology, Sculpture, Urban Glass, Canadian Art, ESPACE, and the Journal of Canadian Studies. She was a member of Heritage Oshawa for several years, and during that time worked on DOORS OPEN and organized Heritage Week events at Oshawa Centre. She is currently a member of Oshawa’s Cultural Leadership Council. @RodgersMargaret

Margaret Rodgers, 1976-2016, Mixed media on canvas, 91.4 X 87.6 CM, 2016

The RMG: Hi Margaret! Please tell us a bit about the IRIS Group.

Margaret Rodgers: The IRIS Group is a collective of women artists. It began in 1996 as a forum to share ideas, offer mutual support, and develop projects that further the overall intentions of the group. Based in Durham Region, IRIS has exhibited work and mounted outreach projects in galleries and on campuses in Ontario, Alberta, New York State and Mexico.

Filmic – The IRIS Group

RMG: What project is the IRIS group most proud of developing together?

MR: I think that our International Women’s Day events have to be the most exciting of our many projects since the group emerged. We even chose to highlight them for our 20 Year celebration! We collected objects and writings, as well as took head shots of women, inviting their comments on whatever they wanted. Some are very funny, others touching and eloquent. I documented these in two books that can be downloaded on our IRIS website.

RMG: What are some examples of current collaborations?

MR: Most recently, we worked together on “the Secret Garden” at YWCA Durham with the help of residents there, and through a city grant as well as Artsvest sponsorships from Oshawa businesses, we were able facilitate our activities. Last spring we exhibited together for FILMIC at Station Gallery Whitby, and the previous fall we participated in Nuit Blanche.

The most current is IRIS at 20. This March in Gallery A at the RMG, two of our members Janice Taylor-Prebble and Laura M. Hair have created a fabulous installation to feature the objects that we collected during the IWD events. The show will also include new works by several of us that riff on the objects, and I will have a projection of all those women that posed for us over our ten events.

The IRIS Group

RMG: What is the best thing about working within a collective?

MR: I am constantly amazed at the ideas that we develop collaboratively and the way that individual talents merge and support each other. I think that a collective has a better chance to thrive artistically through strength in numbers. A few years ago, we mounted projections of our work on the sides of buildings – something not one of us could have done individually.

For more Information please visit www.theirisgroup.ca

This article was originally published in the Culture Counts e-newsletter on February 9, 2016. It has been adapted for the RMG’s blog.

Interview with Janice E. McHaffie, Gallery A Artist in Residence

Janice E. McHaffie is our Gallery A ArtLab artist is residence from From January 5 – February 28. Prior to her artist talk on February 7, we sat down with Janice to learn more about her work and what she has been up to during her residency.

RMG: Hi Janice! Please tell us about yourself?

JM: I am an artist from Claremont. I have about 16 years of university level art specific training including 5 years fine arts at Durham College and a year at OCAD. Having started with stone carving at the University of Guelph in the early 1970’s, my work has progressed and metamorphosed into an eclectic range of paintings with hundreds of them in public and private collections around the world. I am also the Youth Liaison for Pineridge Arts Council, Pickering.

RMG: What materials do you work with?

JM: While at The RMG I will be working with acrylic ink, acrylic paint, acrylic gels and mediums, watercolour papers canvas board and stretched canvas. I will also be sculpting from whatever moves me at the time to work with.

Janice McHaffie

RMG: Why were you interested in Gallery A’s Art Lab residency? What have you made while working as an artist in residence/ what will you be working on during your residency?

JM: I was interested in the residency in Gallery A because I wanted to interact with the public while creating and wanted to invite them to actively participate with the theme and two art projects. So far, I have only created three small canvas works and some ink on yupo. By February 25 (closing ceremony 7-9pm) I will have filled all the walls in Gallery A with paintings. I will also have created 2 collages and a sculpture. I am hoping to have close to 100 small paintings done by that date.

RMG: Can you please tell us a bit about your exhibition on view in Gallery A or what you intend to create for the viewer?

JM: The paintings on view in Gallery A and everything I create while I am there is following my theme of Dying and Death. I will be opening the floor to talk about these topics, hopefully helping people to converse in an easier format through the visual aid of the artwork.

Janice McHaffie

RMG: What inspires you? Is there a particular artist’s work that has influenced your practice?

JM: What inspires me is everything and everyone who passes through my life, from what others perceive as the profound to the mundane. Children affect me most with their boundless energy and creative inquisitiveness. I love how they just spit out what they are thinking. Coincidentally that is exactly how I am. Artists who have inspired me include Auguste Rodin since I started with stone sculpture, and my initial paintings were inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe. Now I just paint what comes out of me. My work is always about texture and the layers of life, I have been called the “texture queen” for years, and I guess they have a point : ). Every day is an adventure to me and at the RMG. I get to share the adventure with all of you!

What are we excited about in 2016?

There’s plenty to look forward to in 2016 at the RMG! The New Year brings all new exhibitions, community programming, learning opportunities and RMG Fridays to the gallery. We asked our staff what they were most excited about in the upcoming year and we hope you’ll let us know what you’re most excited about too!

“I am excited about new exhibitions in the second half of 2016 that will be in galleries with new floors! A beautiful wood floor in the upper Alexandra Luke Gallery and polished concrete in the RS McLaughlin Foundation Gallery will serve to highlight the amazing work that graces those spaces.”
– Linda Jansma, Senior Curator

“I’m super excited about curating, Durham Regional artist, Jay Dart’s exhibition Greetings from Yawnder! Jay Dart has created fictional worlds known as Yawnder and Elsewheres in order to explain his creative process. This exhibition will bring Dart’s world, Yawnder, to life. Each illustration will recount a different layer to his fictional story, inviting the viewer to help the character, Jiggs, on his journey. There will be installations of geist trees, jars with Magical Mystery Beards, and twig libraries, bringing Yawnder beyond the pages and into the gallery space. This participatory exhibition will have the visitor contributing to both the story and the creative process. It will be a lot of fun to work on and so rewarding to watch the community engaged with it!”
– Sonya Jones, Associate Curator

“I’m really looking forward to the Art Lab and Gallery A residencies and exhibits by contemporary artists at the RMG this year. We have an exciting line up of practicing artists who will partake in absolute audience engagement in the process of their residency. It will be fantastic!”
– Parvathi Bhat, Gallery Educator

“Prepare yourself for February 5th. RMG Fridays will be celebrating its 5th anniversary and will be off the hook amazing!! Dance performances, 2 musical acts and the opportunity to watch an artist paint live on site are just a few things in store. We even have Museum Hack, all the way from New York on-site hosting interactive exhibition tours and I can hardly contain my excitement! It has been a thrilling night to program and will be even more epic to see first-hand. I’m also counting down the days until the March 4th RMG Fridays to hear Birds of Bellwoods perform! The incredibly talented band that stole the hearts of our guests will be back by popular demand for both sets of music. This time I’m buying a CD; They sold out before I could get my hands on one last time!”
– Carla Sinclair, Manager of Community and Volunteer Development

“I’m really excited about Sarindar Dhaliwal’s exhibition in May. I first saw her work while I was a student in 2006 and am looking forward to seeing what she does at the RMG in 2016. I’m also looking forward to ‘meeting’ more of our community online through social media. Log on and say hello on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!”
– Sam Mogelonsky, Manager of Marketing and Communications

Image: Now Entering Beyawnder, Jay Dart, 2015-2700

Interview with Gallery A artist Mike Drolet

Mike Drolet has is our Gallery A ArtLab artist is residence from November 3, 2015 to January 3, 2015. Prior to his artist talk on December 6, we sat down with Mike to learn more about his work and what he has been up to during his residency.

The RMG: Hi Mike, Please tell us about yourself?

Mike Drolet: Hello RMG blog readers! I am originally from Whitby, Ontario and studied Fine Art at the University of Ottawa. In 2014 I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a minor in psychology and a specialization in sculpture.

RMG: What materials do you work with?

MD: Although I don’t want to limit myself to a specific set of materials, generally I use materials that are traditionally sought after for construction, for example, wood, metal and concrete. I am always looking into expanding and incorporating new materials for new pieces to enable different compositions.

Mike Drolet, 2015

RMG: Why were you interested in Gallery A’s Art Lab residency? What have you made while working as an artist in residence?

MD: What first got me interested in the residency was the studio space that was available to work in to work in. The lab is quite large which for my work is essential. Additionally, the Gallery A space is a massive benefit for any artist to have. As many artists may know, documentation is almost, if not as important as creating/ having artwork. Having access to Gallery A allows for the opportunity to take great photos of the new pieces created during the Art Lab and even older pieces in case you don’t have any. The Gallery A space in conjunction with the Art Lab also provides a solid foundation for an artist to show their work to the public, which as an emerging artist is invaluable.

Besides the benefits the residency provides towards my artistic practice in terms of resume and documentation building, my stay at the gallery has also posed a unique set of problems, none of which I consider to be negative in any sense. Due to the nature of my practice, I produce a lot of aromatic “pollution” (dust, vapors, sparks etc) where generally the best place to run through these processes is outside. As my time slot for the residency was during the winter months it made nearly impossible to cast concrete or wield. These obstacles have forced me to change my approach towards creating works and from what I believe resulted in a unique set of sculptures I would have not done otherwise. So I encourage artists of all disciplines to apply, accept the rules and guidelines of the gallery, and push your creative practice further in new ways.

In terms of what I’ve made during the residency, I have completed a total of seven sculptures, possibly eight as one sculpture may become a part of a larger installation of multiples. I have also had much more time to work on maquettes for future projects and past ideas. I plan on completing two more works before my end date in the space at least, that’s my goal.

Mike Drolet, 2015

RMG: Can you please tell us a bit about your exhibition on view in Gallery A?

MD: The exhibition Equipoise on view now in Gallery A is essentially a synopsis of my sculptural work that focuses on Precarious Balance. I use a minimalistic approach to comment and compose structures within the genre of abstract-expressionism. Every piece installed in the show uses its own weight to maintain the planned composition. The piece entitled Moon was actually the first piece that I had done in the theme of balance. All the other pieces in the exhibition were made just before I began my residency or during.

RMG: What inspires you? Is there a particular artist’s work that has influenced your practice?

MD: I can’t say that there is any one thing or person that has inspired me in terms of my artistic practice. My practice is more often the result of past experiences, research into various aspects of sculptural elements such as materiality and composition. Considering all these things applying them to two-dimensional drawings and realizing them in the third-dimension is where my ideas usually synthesize.

That being said, Chris Burden and his show “Extreme Measures” was definitely something that had some influence towards how I thought about composition and sculpture I would say. I still really enjoy his bridge works and his piece “Beam Drop, 2008.”

Mike Drolet, 2015

Oshawa Cultural Summit

Under the theme of Creative Spaces, this year’s annual Cultural Summit is an opportunity to share ideas, learn about what’s going on and celebrate culture in Oshawa!

Highlights Include:

Keynote speaker: Tim Potocic, Director – Hamilton Supercrawl!
Community presentations:
- Laura Suchan, Executive Director, Oshawa Community Museum + Dr. Helen Haines, Assistant Professor Department of Anthropology , Trent University Durham discuss their recent archeological project partnership at the museum.
- Donna Raetsen-Kemp, CEO, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and Gallery A artist (TBC) presents the newly renovated community gallery space at RMG.
- Filmmaker Carla Sinclair, explores LGBT culture in her recent documentary Heal Myself.
The City of Oshawa will present on Culture Counts:Oshawa’s Arts, Culture & Heritage Plan and 2015 achievements.
Special performance to be announced shortly!
Refreshments and Networking Opportunity!

Visit the Cultural Summit webpage for more information: www.oshawa.ca/culturalsummit

Have a question? Please ask! Send an email to culturecounts@oshawa.ca

WHEN
Thursday, October 22, 2015 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

WHERE
Arts Resource Centre – 45 Queen Street Oshawa, Ontario CA

TICKETS
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oshawa-cultural-summit-tickets-18977026798

Apply to exhibit in Gallery A!

Opportunities are now available for community partnerships and special initiatives as well as an annual artist residency that prioritizes artists who wish to experiment with new ideas, collaborate, and work in new directions.

Exhibiting artists will have opportunities to give public talks on their work, participate in professional development workshops, and give and receive critical feedback from peers.

Programming of this space is separate from our curatorial planning and proposal selections will be made through a jury of local artists and arts professionals.

Application Deadline:
October 15, 2015 for projects taking place from March 1, 2016 – August 31, 2016

Information Session: Thursday 10 September, 7pm

Click here to apply to Gallery A!

For more information, please contact Leslie Menagh: Manager of Public Programs & ArtReach at lmenagh@rmg.on.ca or 905.576.3000 ext. 108

Meet Leslie Menagh, the RMG’s new Manager of Public Programs and ArtReach

Leslie Menagh is the RMG’s new Manager, Public Programs & ArtReach. Prior to joining us, she was working as an artist, as well as in theatre, film, artist-run-centres, festivals and cultural organizations. Stop by and welcome Leslie to the RMG team!

The RMG: What were you up to before the RMG?

Leslie: Wearing many hats. I was running a home-based studio/arts venue called Eddy Creak (still am) for the presentation of live music and visual art. I’d been privately costuming for theatre and film and for years, working as a videographer, and quietly as an artist myself. Freelancing as an art educator has also been in my repertoire, as has volunteering for numerous artist-run-centres, festivals, and cultural organizations. I’m a bona fide art tart. One of my beloved Peterborough places is Artspace, where I’ve been volunteering for years and recently and proudly joined their Board of Directors.

The RMG: What drew you to the museum sector?

Leslie: My interests are so diverse. I think the best part of working in this sector is that there is the potential to engage with any subject, story, object, or idea. It suits my interdisciplinary soul.

The RMG: What is your favourite museum?

Leslie: I had an opportunity to visit Paris a few years ago, and spent an afternoon at The Decorative Arts Museum. They were doing a phenomenal feature on jewellery spanning thousands of years. Most of the displays were dramatically lit in darkened rooms. The building itself – part of the complex that hosts the Louvre – was equally enchanting, and rich with architectural vistas and haunting acoustics. Unforgettable.

The RMG: What is your first memory of art?

Leslie: I’d have to say music. My father is a musical conductor and I grew up watching him wave his arms at choirs, bands, and theatre groups. There are photos in my parents’ home of my sister and I toddling around a stage at his feet.

The RMG: What is the one thing you want to share with people about the RMG?

Leslie: The Art Lab residency program through Gallery A is such a golden, professional development opportunity for artists. It’s FREE, very straight forward to apply, and once you’re here, setting up studio visits and an artist talk provides invaluable exposure.

Application Deadline: October 15, 2015 for projects taking place from March 1, 2016 – August 31, 2016

Application Deadline:
October 15, 2015 for projects taking place from March 1, 2016 – August 31, 2016