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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-07-18, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 1990. Art finally gets permanent home at Festival After years of hiding in stair­ wells, using converted storefronts and unused corners of Memorial Hall, the Blyth Festival Art Gallery finally has a home of its own. Saturday night a large crowd gathered in the new Festival Gall­ ery, located in the “link” built on the south of Memorial Hall, joining Memorial Hall with the Blyth Festival’s administration building. The new gallery provides much more space for art display and is completely climate and humidity- controlled meaning it can host touring art shows. The generous proportions allow visitors to stand back and look at art from different angles, unlike the former narrow space at the rear of the Festival’s box office. Although at Festival’s art gallery hasn’t had as high a profile as its theatre, it also dates back to the first season 15 years ago. In the formation of Blyth Centre for the Arts, founder James Roy insisted all aspects of the arts should be Raku featured in first show at gallery Curators Dennis Pal and Eunice Diamond have selected the works of 12 artists to open the new Blyth Festival Art Gallery facility with an outstanding exhibit of Raku. “We invited a number of recog­ nized clay artists to submit up to five pieces of work done in Raku” says Pal, one of the organizers and owner of MartenArts Gallery of Bayfield. “The invitations were balanced between potters who use Raku as their main method of expression; and those who basi­ cally work with other clay tech­ niques and occassionally do Raku. With this mixture, we hope to present a cross-section of what clay artists are doing with Raku in Ontario today.” Founding Artistic Director James Roy officially opened the new gallery and exhibit on Satur­ day. “Raku: Performance in Clay” Show opens Exhibit curators Eunice Diamond andTonn curators Eunice Diamond and Dennis Pal chat with James Roy at the opening of the exhibition of “Raku: ?r °rMa0oe 'n ?'ay at the new Festival Art Gallery Saturday K art n wk’ll ,he FeS,iVal' firSt be9an ^splaying Sry SP al * 6 openin9 ni9ht for ’he new Family affair Tammy Walker joins her parents Bev and Ron in admiring some of the raku on display at the Blyth Festival Art Gallery. The Walkers have been long-time exhibit organizers with the art gallery since 1976, the second year of the Festival. encompassed in the mandate of the corporation. He put that to work in the first season in 1975 when he arranged with two local artists to hang a few works of art in the stairwells of the theatre for patrons to see. “I really felt this area had a lot to offer,” he said Saturday night remembering back to those early days. The next year dividers were constructed for the basement of Memorial Hall from which art could be hung for better display. The basement was used for rehearsal space as well, however, that the art display had to be constantly moved. It was at this time that two of the stalwards of the gallery became involved. Ron Walker, now head of art at Central Huron Secondary School, and his wife, artist Bev took over the job of organizing exhibits of local art. Mr. Roy said he could recall sitting at the Walkers’ table talking to them about their taking over the visual arts portion of the Festival (July 14 to August 16) highlights the work of Jenifer Elion (Toronto), Marianne Fisher (London), Hanna Back (Hartington), Wayne Cardi- nalli (Stirling), Leta and Don Cormier (North Gower), Agnes Olive (Terra Cotta), Michael Sheba (Toronto), Tim Isaacs (Salem), Sarah Link (Hamilton), Robert Tetu (Seaforth) and Chris Thompson (Toronto). The word “raku” means enjoy­ ment and these artists represent a range of works which have evolved from an ancient oriental ritual. Raku is the only firing technique with which the potter can actually make the pot, glaze it, watch it transform in the kiln and take it home, finished, on the same day! The actual firing of Raku is the exciting step. Through a peephole the potter can watch his pot transform a dull powder to a glassy Continued on page 23 and once they agreed, he got out very, very quickly before they could change their mind. They were on their own most of the time, he said, because when an art show was about to open it was usually also the opening of a show on the theatre’s stage and there just weren’t extra hands available. Along the way they also involved their friend Jo Manning, a well- known creator of etchings. The basement location wasn’t very satisfactory and when an old1 grocery store became available in the building now occupied by the Festival’s administration offices, a crew of volunteers moved in to paint it and put up a display area. When the first addition to Memorial Hall was made in 1980, two rooms at the back, originally planned as a loading dock and a community meeting and craft room were turned over for use as an art gallery. The more or less perma­ nent home for art was an improve­ ment but still not a proper facility. Mr. Roy praised the new gallery saying visual art no longer needs to be overshadowed by the plays on the main stage of the theatre. The gallery, located between the new box office (not yet in use) and the theatre is “wonderfully located to bring attention to the exhibits”, Mr. Roy said. “What I, and a lot of people, have held onto over the years is that these things are not frivolous”. Art is not just a matter of buying some thing from Wool­ worths to cover a wall, he said. “Artists have the genius to get us to see things through other people’s eyes.” Visual art, he said, is an even purer form of creation than what goes on on the stage. Today the art gallery is run by a special committee of the Blyth Centre for the Arts headed by the board member Carol McDonnell. Admiring Admiring an unusual place in the Blyth Festival Art Gallery raku show is Carol McDonnell (left), chairperson of the gallery committee, Don McCaffrey, chairperson of the Festival’s building committee in charge of construction of the new gallery arid Carol Irwin, president of the board of directors of Blyth Centre for the Arts. Panfy FOR PAM GERVAIS AND DWIGHT CHALMERS Friday, July 20,1990 at Blyth Community Centre at9:00p.m. Ageof Majority SHOLDICE-RAMMELOO Pierre and Marie Rammeloo are happy to announce the engagement of their daughter Corrie Monique to Douglas Kenneth son of Ken and Elizabeth Sholdice of Brussels. The marriage will take place August 3 at 7:00 p.m., Brussels United Church, Brussels. Open reception to follow at Brussels Morris & Grey Community Centre.