The Citizen, 2016-04-21, Page 21PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016.
Entertainment & Leisure
Stevenson to be featured at Goderich gallery
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`Razing Landscapes'
The Goderich Co -Op Gallery will feature the work of Blyth artist Kelly Stevenson next month
for a special show that will see more than 20 pieces of her work on display. Each piece is new,
but inspired by something old, Stevenson explained, like the piece above called `Razing
Landscapes.' Stevenson said old barns play a big part in the show. (Image submitted)
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Blyth Artist Kelly Stevenson,
whose works are featured
throughout the county, is going to be
showcasing an exhibit about finding
the beauty in discarded objects
at the Goderich Co-op gallery
next month.
"The show will feature all new
work," she said. "While there is no
direct theme, because it's coming
from several bodies of work, the
work has a focus on old and
recovered subjects. I've used some
old photos for source, took old
things like broken fans and turned
them to flowers and looked at old
barns as a source of inspiration."
Stevenson, who won the Huron
County Art Show last year with her
piece The Harvest; Cultivating
Mechanisms, said that she finds
beauty in many things at the end of
their life cycle and likes to create
work based on that.
This particular exhibit, however,
will be somewhat of a departure
from her award-winning piece which
was fairly large.
"You have to consider the space
with a show like this," she said. "If I
did pieces like the one for the art
show last year, I would have only got
four different pieces in. I went for
smaller pieces so I was able to share
23 different works."
Stevenson said she was contacted
late last year and asked to the show
and said she was happy to do it
because it gave her a reason to return
to her art.
"I was looking to get back into
submissions, which can be tough to
do, and I took a break for health
reasons," she said. "I had some
mental health issues I had to work
through, but the Goderich show gave
me something to work towards."
Stevenson said it was nice to be
able to set her mind to a set goal
instead of creating submission work
which doesn't share the same kind of
goal -oriented outcome.
This isn't the first time that
Stevenson has had a show filled with
her own work as the Blyth Festival
Art Gallery featured her at the
Bainton Gallery in 2014 with a show
called "Who Heals You." It was
Stevenson's first professional solo
show after graduating from the
Ontario College of Arts and Design
(OCAD).
The show runs for the month of
May with a special opening
ceremony on May 7 from 2 to 4 p.m.
The Goderich Co -Op Gallery is
located on The Square in Goderich
underneath Elizabeth's Art Gallery.
`Blossoming #1'
Blyth artist Kelly Stevenson is being featured at the
Goderich Co -Op Gallery next month and said that, while
the show Tacks any overarching theme, it does deal with
things that are old or approaching the end of their lifecycle.
Shown above is one of the pieces that will be featured
called 'Blossoming #1'. (Image submitted)
Margaret Atwood to launch 2016 Alice Munro Festival
Legendary Canadian author,
Margaret Atwood, will kick-off the
2016 Alice Munro Festival of the
Short Story with a reading and
conversation at Blyth Memorial Hall
on Thursday, June 2. The author
will read from her 2014 short story
collection, Stone Mattress: Nine
Wicked Tales, followed by an
onstage conversation with fellow
Canadian author Merilyn Simonds
when they will discuss Atwood's
work, many interests and passions.
Tickets for this evening with a
Canadian arts icon are on sale now
for $25 each, available through the
Blyth Festival box office at 519-523-
9300 or online at
www.blythfestival.com.
Nine other guest authors will also
take part in this year's Alice Munro
Festival of the Short Story, June 2 —
5, including multiple Governor
General Award for Fiction Finalist
and 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize
winner Elizabeth Hay. Hay will give
the keynote address at the Festival's
gala on Saturday, June 4. Fellow
Giller Prize winner (2013
Hellgoing), Lynn Coady, is also one
of the featured authors on this year's
roster. Ms. Coady will speak at the
Huron County Museum on Sunday,
June 5, on her latest publication Who
Needs Books?: Reading in the
Digital Age, an examination of how
technology is impacting literacy.
Both of these authors will also take
part in events geared towards book
clubs that are invited, along with
individuals, to read either His Whole
Life by Elizabeth Hay or The
Antagonist by Lynn Coady and
participate in facilitated discussions
with the authors.
The Alice Munro Festival of the
Short Story honours the work of
Huron County native and Nobel
Prize winning author Alice Munro.
Fans of Munro's work will not want
to miss Munro biographer Robert
Thacker's lunchtime talk "Alice
Munro Country". During another
event, the new Cambridge
Companion to Alice Munro will be
the subject of an author panel with
two of the contributing authors:
Elizabeth Hay and Merilyn
Simonds. Thacker will moderate.
The opening reception on Friday,
June 3 is a unique collaboration
between the Blyth Festival and the
Alice Munro Festival of the Short
Story. Blyth Festival artists will read
selections from If Truth Be Told, a
new play by Beverly Cooper which
is premiering at Blyth this season.
The play is a fictionalized account of
a group that was successful in
having a number of award-winning
books banned in schools in Ontario
in the 1970s. Four guest authors will
read selections from some of the
banned books in between scenes
from the play.
One of the missions of the Alice
Munro festival is to nurture
emerging writers. The annual short
story contest is an example of that
commitment. This year's contest
solicited over two hundred entries
from across Canada. The winners in
the adult and youth categories will
be announced at the Jubilee Gala on
June 4, — 2015 by Scotiabank Giller
Prize Finalist, Samuel Archibald.
The Festival program includes a
series of masterclasses that allow
writers of all levels to learn from and
network with the guest authors.
Author readings also make up a
big part of the program. New York
Times best-selling author and
regular McSweeny's contributor,
Sheila Heti, will read a selection of
new, yet -to -be -published, stories at
the festival. At this, the only literary
festival in the world to celebrate the
short story format, a panel of authors
will share their favourite short
stories at a books and brunch event
at the Livery Theatre in Goderich on
Sunday, June 5. Rounding out the
list of 2016 guest authors are:
Caldecott Honour winner and
Governor General Award Nominee,
Mariko Tamaki; 2015 Relit
Award—finalist short -fiction
collection Shawn Syms and 2015
www.movielinks.ca long distance?1-800-265-3438
Lambda Literary Award finalist,
Vivek Shraya.
A new addition to this year's
Festival is photography. The Huron
County Library and Photography
Club of Bayfield have partnered on a
photo exhibit that matches quotes
from Munro's stories to images of
the Huron County landscape,
demonstrating the connection
between art and place. Renowned
photographer, Don Martel, will
conduct a landscape photography
masterclass as part of this year's
Festival as well.
Full program details, including
box office information, for the 2016
Alice Munro Festival of the Short
Story can be found on the website
www.alicemunrofestival.ca. The
Happy 50"
Birthday
April 23
Davey (Kennedy)
Love Mom, Tracy, Bev
Cooper & Family
Alice Munro Festival of the Short
Story is supported by the Ontario
Arts Council, Township of North
Huron, County of Huron, and the
municipalities of Central Huron and
Morris-Turnberry.
Wood Pens
Maple
and
Moose
398 Queen St.,
Blyth
519-523-4276
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.eawta Snell
SATURDAY, APRIL 23/16
BMG Community Centre
Brussels — 9 pm - 1 am
Tickets available at door $10.
Christopher 519-357-8389
or Tyler 519-357-8821
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