AFA Calendar

Ever wanted to model for a calendar?  Nope?  How about your work?  The AFA is putting together a thirteen month Canadian Art Calendar to benefit charity groups working with poverty.  The group, Artists for the poor, will be selecting one image from each province and territory.  If your work is chosen you will be given $50 and a calendar.  For more information, you can check out their site here.  For the application you will need to send five low quality images (72 dpi) to info@artistsforthepoor.ca. Include a short bio, the province you hail from, and include the word 'Calendar' in the subject line.  Applications are due May 18th.  Good luck!

Raku at Deb's!

Phew... last post.  On Saturday, April 6th, starting at 9:00, Debbie Wilson will be hosting a raku firing at her place.  It should be a pretty swell time, it's with the Red Deer Pottery club, which will be some great fellowship and an opportunity to learn more about the club.

There are maps in the ceramics classroom, or you can ask Trudy for directions.  If you are planning on coming, there will be some glazing time set aside on the 5th at the college, so bring your pieces then.  There will be soup for lunch, and Debbie is hoping to do a potluck at dinner so bring out your best dishes.

Some more tips:
- bring a respirator
- bring a lawn chair and any drinks you might need during the day
- wear natural fibre clothing and good shoes

Hope to see you there!

Gramma Link Chili Bowl Sale

This is still a long way off, but it's never to early to start preparing.  Gramma Link, a charity group in Red Deer, is working with the Stephen Lewis Foundation to help support grandmas in Africa who are struggling to raise their grandchildren, who have been orphaned by AIDS.  It's a really great cause, and for the past couple of years the Ceramics Club has donated thirty bowls for each event.  If you are interested in helping out apart from the group, please contact Charlene Peel (char.peel@gmail.com) or Diane Assinger (ricdiane@telus.net).  The event takes place in October, but I know that they are more than willing to accept bowls at any time.  Make your grandma proud and donate some bowls!

Harcourt House Art Market

On May 25th from 1:00 - 7:00, the Harcourt House in Edmonton will be hosting an Art Market Show and Sale.  In order to partake you will need to submit:

- a bio (200 words)

- a proposal of the work you will bring (100 words)

- five images

- a phone number

- an email address.  

Your work needs to have been created since 2011.  The call for submissions is due April 20th at midnight, and successful applicants will be notified.  You can send your submission to marketsubmissions@gmail.com.  The price to partake is $100/full table or $50/half table.  More information can be found here.

Wood Fired Ceramics and Kiln Construction at the U of R

This spring and summer the University of Regina will be hosting a wood-fired kiln building class.  You will learn how to create a kiln, have the opportunity to create pieces for the firing, learn to properly fire the kiln, and learn more about wood-fires both historic and contemporary.  This class will run from May 7th to June 20th, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 - 3:45.  For more information you can visit the University of Regina's website.

VASA and the Works 2013

Call to enter! A VASA Exhibition in the Works Festival open to all BFA students at all levels. A collaboration with Ceramics Students from Red Deer College!

VASA & RDC Ceramics Club 
A Call to Enter:
CAPACITY FOR FELLOWSHIP
A collaborative project for The Works Festival 2013

The Works Art & Design Festival 2013

The Visual Arts Student Association and Ceramics Club from Red Deer College are collaborating on an exhibition to be presented at the Works Art & Design Festival this summer. The show runs during the Works Festival from June 20th to July 2nd (and possibly past these dates). The theme of this exhibition is physical, mental and communal energy, working within the confines of the Works Festival Theme, which is Human Energy. This is an open concept theme, which can be interpreted in many creative and unique ways. You have probably already created work that fits within this theme.

Submission

You are invited to submit work to this exhibition, which will be juried by the Visual Arts Student Association Executive Committee as well as students from the Ceramics Club at Red Deer College. Any member of VASA (BFA Student at U of A) or student enrolled in the ceramics program at RDC is eligible to apply. This application is open to both 2 and 3-Dimensional work, including video or installation pieces, however; due to the limitations of the exhibition space, some works may not be able to be displayed. For this reason, please submit a variety of images, up to 3 in total, 150 dpi jpg, burnt to a CD. If you are submitting a piece that includes video or sound, please include a copy of the video file, capatable for both mac and pc. If you will not be able to pick up your submission package after the selection process, provide a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage so that your package may be returned to you. In the case of an installation piece, provide a detailed description of the set-up and space required, as explained below.

Please provide the following information on a typed visual key in your submission package:
1. Title
Artist name(s)
Dimensions
Media
Inventory number that corresponds to the file name of the image
Any special requirements for display. For example, for video works, should they be projected or displayed on a screen? For unframed paper works, would you like them hung on the wall? For sculpture, do they need a plinth or are they displayed on the floor? 
Also, please include:
- A short artist statement (150 words)
- A Bio
- This form, completely filled out (ATTACHED)

All applications should be submitted in hard copy form at the U of A’s Art & Design office in the VASA mailing slot (located in the Fine Arts Building) or directly to Mia Riley by April 26th at midnight.

If you have any questions please email Cara at uofavasa@gmail.com or Mia at mia.riley@rdc.ab.ca.

- Cara Alex Seccafien

SHOW US YOUR MUGS! at Medalta

Medalta in Medicine Hat will be hosting their first annual international cup show from August 23rd to September 28th.  Carole Epp, the creative writer behind the musing about mud blog, will be jurying the mugs, with a select number being featured on her blog!  Some awards and prizes will also be distributed to chosen artists.  This is a great opportunity to showcase and potentially sell a small sample of your work at an international show.

The due date to apply is May 30th, you will need to fill out a short online application form and submit a twenty dollar application fee.  If you are wondering about eligibility, be sure to check out their website for specific information, but they seem pretty open with what counts as a cup.  It can be sculptural or functional, must consist of at least 50% fired clay material, and should address the idea of 'the cup'.

Good luck!

Art in the Garden Show and Sale

On Saturday, April 13, from 9:00 to 5:00, the Parkland Garden Centre will play host to an art show and sale.  Suzanne LeBeau has been putting together these shows for several years through the Spirit of Art Group.  This year's show includes painting, ceramics, jewelry, and photography and there will be several local musicians on site.  The hosting locale, Parkland Garden Centre, is located on Highway 11, 3 miles east of 30th Ave in Red Deer.  For more information you can contact Suzanne via phone (403-342-6344) or by email (artgroup@hotmail.com).

Curious VI - 3rd Year Show

You know those three people who are always in the ceramics studio?  They aren't part of your class, but they are always there, sometimes working.  Are they homeless?  Are they lost?  Maybe.  But it's more likely that they are part of the third year program at Red Deer College.  The third year program gives students a chance to return to the studio environment and work on their own self-directed projects within a post-secondary atmosphere.  If you've ever wondered exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it, your questions will all be answered during our third year exhibition called CURIOUS VI.  There's even a website listing the students who are involved.  Just click the title.  Neat.

The show will be held at the new gallery space in downtown Red Deer, which I believe is called the City Centre Stage Gallery.  Our opening and one night only show will be Friday, April 5th, 2013 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM.  Shawna Sikstrom will be catering the event.  It will be a really exciting exhibition to be a part of and well worth checking out.

Update about Off Centre

The Alberta Potter's Guild is willing to sponsor ten RDC students so that they can attend the conference at ACAD May 10th and 11th.  The requirement for this is a five hundred word essay on ceramics in Red Deer and your ideas on how to make clay more prevalent in the community.  I can send along your essay through the ceramics club email, or you are welcome to contact the APA directly.

Monument by Paul Boultbee

A view through the glass

New Artists at the 7 Window Galleries

CALGARY – EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts is thrilled to present three local artists who will showcase photography and sculpture in the 7 Window Galleries.

Targeting the imagination and perception of scale, Hakan Temuçin presents a photographic interpretation of natural landscapes in an Ordered World. Tim Westbury shares Ball & Stick, prints that create a twenty-four panel installation focusing on the legacies of scientific rationalism and the reintroduction of methods of inquiry now rendered obsolete. Paul Boultbee’s sculptural installation Monument speaks to memory and permanence and the need to leave something behind.  

The artists were selected by a panel jury with the aim of promoting critical dialogue and to introduce patrons and passersby to new artistic practices supported by EPCOR CENTRE.

Title:  7 Window Galleries

Location: EPCOR CENTRE Window Galleries   (across from Max Bell Theatre)

Dates:   April 5 – June 24, 2013 

- Kerri Savage

For those of us working in ceramics, you have probably seen Paul Boultbee around the studio.  He also works at the Red Deer College's library and is heavily involved with the arts around Red Deer.  He has been creating tube-like sculptures that are sawdust fired.  His pieces are cumulating in the show at the Epcor Centre in Calgary.  This is a fantastic opportunity to support a fellow Red Deer artist and I would highly recommend visiting his show while it is up.  Paul is also wonderfully welcoming and will happily discuss his work with you if you catch him around the studio.

Off Centre: the APA Clay Symposium

By Monika Smith
President, APA

Join us at the Alberta Potters Association Clay Symposium, May 10-12, 2013.

On May 10, 2013, ACAD will be opening its doors for the Alberta Potters' Association (APA) Clay Symposium.  "Off Centre" will offer workshops on Friday in the ACAD Ceramics studio, talks on Saturday in the lecture hall and a juried show at the Webster Gallery, downtown Calgary.  The board of the APA invite you to take part and attend this exceptional event, which will satisfy both the serious clay artist in search of new ideas and directions and those who are interested in the broader art world.

Submissions for the APA May 2013 show Off Centre are now open.  This juried show will take place at Calgary's Webster Gallery in conjunction with the 'Off Centre' Symposium.  Works included in the show will reflect the open-ended concept of what it means to be "off center".  Please contact show co-ordinator Connie Cooper at conic@albertapottersassociation.com for more information.

Conference Presenters and Itinerary:

One of the workshop demonstrators and speakers on Saturday, May 11 is Steve Grimmer, an educator from the University of Manitoba, known to ceramics college students through his participation in 100 Miles Apart, an event that circulates through four Western college that have ceramics programs: Red Deer College, ACAD, University of Manitoba and the University of Regina.  (The next one is at ACAD in the Fall of 2013 and an invitation is extended to all community members to attend at no charge... stay tuned!)  Grimmer will demo his recent work that uses 3D modelling and rapid prototyping as a creative and production tool for studio artists.  He will bring some moulds for slipcasting, plus press moulds and leather hard casts for assembling and decorating.  Grimmer will also discuss and demo surface design strategies using stencils, stamps, and transfers.  In his lecture, Grimmer will talk about his background and use of mathematics, along with design, Islamic tile, and architecture in his pottery practice...

You can read and download the full PDF here.

Monika Smith has also informed me that the APA is working with ACADSA to enable students to attend for free, provided they write a short essay on how they would increase the visibility and familiarity of ceramics within the community.  The group would be willing to extend a similar benefit to students of Red Deer College - 

Students are welcome to submit a 500 word essay that is a "challenge to students to come up with ways of making ceramics more visible in Red Deer!  Tell us why ceramics and craft is important in Red Deer and Alberta.  And, then show us ways to help market and promote the clay arts in Red Deer.  We're looking for concepts, ideas, directions and plans to get us on the mental maps. Events, sponsors? How to make friends and influence? These ideas could be important to the growth and development of the Alberta Potters' Association and we do wish to hear the opinions of students--the upcoming artists whom we wish to help in their careers as emerging artists once they leave RDC.

"Let those creative and entrepreneurial juices flow.

" We'll gladly meet with students to talk to them about their thoughts and take serious consideration of ideas that can be developed through the APA!"

- Monika Smith

Lacombe Art Show and Sale

On April 19-21 Lacombe will be hosting their annual art show and sale.  This year their theme is Encore: Annual Sale and Celebration of Creative Expression.  This is a very popular event and if you are looking for a fantastic venue to sell or show your work, you should absolutely consider this opportunity.  For more information and registration forms, you can visit Lacombe's website here.

Greg Payce Wins Governor General's Award

Greg Payce, a long-time ceramicist and instructor at ACAD, has won the visual arts Governor General's Award.  For more information you can check out the article in the Calgary Herald or watch the video made for the event on youtube.  This is an amazing honour for an artist to win, and it's wonderful that it went to such a talented ceramicist.  Congratulations, Greg!

Off Centre

On Friday, May 3rd, to Saturday, May 25th, the Webster Gallery in Calgary will play host to the Off Centre Show.  The Alberta Potters Association will be hosting this show as well as the Off Centre Symposium at the Alberta College of Art + Design on May 10th and 11th.  There will be a reception on May 10th at 6:00 pm at the Webster Gallery (812 12Ave SW).  If you are interested in submitting work or have questions, you can find more information here. 

Fleur Schell at ACAD

This Monday (March 11) we will be travelling down to ACAD to visit Fleur Schell as she gives a three hour demo on her hand-building techniques.  There are several vehicles planning to leave from the ceramics studio at 8:30 with the intention of arriving at ACAD by 10:00.  If you are interested in coming along, feel free to sign up in the ceramics studio.  There is a list of vehicles going on the white board at the back.  Also Trudy has arranged for a tour to visit all the different studios in the school beginning at 2:00.  If you are interested in attending ACAD in upcoming years, this would be a great opportunity to get a first-hand look at what the College has to offer.  There is a sign up for this as well in the ceramics studio.