Group Show at the Bread Gallery: March 9th - April 25th

 

Members of the HCAC will be displaying a selection of work March 9th - April 25th at the Bread Gallery in Brooklyn, Hants County.

Please join us for the opening Friday March 9th from 6 - 8pm for a chance to meet the artists.

Winter 2012 Newsletter

The past year witnessed significant changes for the Hants County Arts Council, and with change brings more opportunities to be both creative and innovative!

In April we saw a large turnover in our board of directors. Long-standing President Sandra MacDonald stepped down to spend more time with her family and to devote herself to her new role as manager of the Winding River Art Gallery in Stewiacke.



David Howells, Kristie Sheehy, Al Bergin with Stewart
Creaser and Lorraine Vasslo from Avondale Sky Winery.

Vice President David Howells, and past Festival of Art Organizer Kristie Sheehy, stepped down to organize their show Three Faces of Realism along with painter Al Bergin.

This show ran throughout October at the Public Archives in Halifax and was a destination during Nocturne.

Jaki Durocher also stepped down from the board to devote more time to her work. In April, she and Dawn Josey held a show at the Public Archives in Halifax called HERSTORY; a tribute to the influential women in their lives.



Carlos Da Rosa, Jaki Durocher and Dora Davis

Joining the board as our new president was Tacha Reed. Since moving to the area Tacha has opened Flying Cloud Boutique; a mobile shop featuring the works of nearly 30 Nova Scotian artists and artisans.



Several members of the HCAC including Dora Davis, Carlos Da Rosa and Jaki Durocher joined Tacha and musician Christina Martin to celebrate the shop’s grand opening in July by creating a mural of Blomidon. 

We also welcomed a few new faces to the board this past spring, names I’m sure you will recognize from their work being featured at the Festival of Art in previous years – painters June Brown, Liz Robinson and Sharon Ogilvie.

Andrew Harvie, our web master and membership coordinator, took on the role of Vice President and began our monthly Pub Night / Lecture Series held at the Flying Officer’s Mess at the Spitfire Pub. Open to members and guests of the HCAC, this series has featured informative sessions with artists and members of the creative community including Twila Robar-DeCoste, Evan Maxwell, Ron Hayes, Carol Morrison, artisan Pamela Kinsman of Signature Glass, and Laurie Daulton, manager of the Acadia University Art Gallery. Andrew is currently putting together the roster for the autumn of 2012 (winter and spring are booked!), so if you have a story or technique to share, or if you would know of anyone who would be a good speaker, then please feel free to contact him.

Windsor’s art community thrived in 2011 combining craft and charity through various local events. The Hants Community Hospital Auxiliary Society (HCHAS) hosted their 5th annual gala at the Cocoa Pesto featuring many of our HCAC members. Once again it was a huge success promoting art while raising funds for the Hospital!

Last September HCAC member and owner of Phoenix Hollow, Kelly Mitchelmore, hosted the 3rd annual Paint Windsor. Featuring local visual and performing artists, Paint Windsor has evolved into a celebration of trade and community, involving everyone from iron welders and painters to musicians and cake decorators all creating works on site throughout Windsor! This years 4th Annual Paint Windsor promises to be even better – held once again at Phoenix Hollow on September 9th 2012. 

This past year we found that we had outgrown the canoe club as a venue for the Festival of Art, so in October we held our 5th annual event at the newly renovated Vaughan Shand Centre. The event was a great success and we are already planning for the 6th annual event which will coincide with this year’s Pumpkin Festival, October 12th -14th 2012.

In the meanwhile we have also had the great fortune of being invited to host a group show at The Bread Gallery in Brooklyn this March. Any members interested in participating please contact Tacha at tacha.reed@gmail.com before February 15th for more information and to book a space.

Over the next year we plan to continue growing the council, collaborating with local groups and providing even more art-related events, workshops, information and opportunities to you, our members. To that help achieve that goal, we would like to add 5 to 7 new members to the board of directors this year. We are looking for a variety of skill-sets, so that we can expand what we do as a society. Opportunities include: art director, director of marketing, public relations, fund developer, web designer, sales and workshop coordinator. We are looking for team players who are willing to devote an hour or so a week to growing the HCAC so that we can better serve our membership.

On January 19th the second edition of our Arts Digest was delivered to 17 000 homes in Hants County. Before we can distribute the remaining 2000 copies to local business, galleries, boutiques, tourist bureaus and the airport the digests must be folded and packaged.

On February 18th Liz Robinson will be hosting a get together at her home in Garlands Crossing so that we can meet as a group and package the digests while also brainstorming on where we would like to take the HCAC over the next few years. Members are encouraged to bring a list of ideas along with a snack to share while we sit down and plan for our future. The gathering commences at 1pm at 150 Underwood Road, all members and potential members are welcome!

2012 really does present a world of opportunities for the HCAC and we hope that you will all join us on this wonderful ride as we grow!

Over the last few years the HCAC has taken that first giant leap into the 21st century by joining the world of Social Networking and beginning our blog to promote our artists and the events that we host. Our blog has become the home for our seasonal newsletters and we would love to see our members contributing content. Whether that is coverage of local events, promotion for upcoming shows, art reviews – anything art-related is welcome! You can also keep up to date by following us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hantscountyartscouncil or on Twitter @hantscountyarts

Don't forget that our website also has room to display YOUR events. All you need to do is let us know the details and we'll be happy to do what we can to help publicize your arts-related events.