Greetings fellow members and friends of the HCAC! Hopefully each
and every one of you has taken the time to sit back and enjoy this truly
remarkable Nova Scotian summer!
It seems that 2013 is just flying by and with so much having
already taken place, and in the works for this upcoming fall, we thought we
should touch base about some of the highlights of 2013 so far!
This past April saw our first of many collaborations with the Avon
River Heritage Society (ARHS) as we helped produce their 15th annual Great
Little Art Show, which took place April 26th - 28th at their museum in Newport
Landing. Fearing that last year's event could possibly be the end for this
local celebration of art, members from both groups came together at the last
minute to pull off yet another great little art show!
We welcomed Acadia University’s Art Gallery's curator Laurie
Dalton as our guest speaker. Laurie and her husband, not originally from Nova
Scotia, had yet to explore this side of the Avon valley and they were instantly
taken in by her beauty. They were also impressed at how our community of
artists has been pulling together to support each other, working together to
promote and grow our local arts and culture.
Artist participation, attendance and sales were all up from previous
years. This was the first time for our two groups to partner on an event and we
were both very happy with the results. The experience left us inspired to
improve things for next year by adding artist demonstrations and workshops
throughout the weekend.
Speaking of demonstrations, in June we began our second
collaboration with the museum to revive their event "Heritage Artisans in
Action" - only this time we extended the weekend-long demonstration to
continue almost every Sunday throughout the three month long season that the
museum is open. Each week we highlighted a different medium and invited artists
to return to demonstrate their particular skill while also offering a selection
of their products for sale. Our advertising budget was incredibly low so we
relied heavily on guerilla marketing and social networking. The ARHS has kept
up a social media campaign with regular posts that include, amongst other
things, regular spotlights on the HAiA participating artists.
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| Demos with metal sculptors GA Jank & Steve Veniot | | |
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With a total of 8 events we have highlighted artists who work in
fibre, wood, leather, metal, painting, jewellery and those who create
traditional Mi'kmaq and Acadian crafts.
What started out as an experiment
proved itself to be a rewarding collaboration for both of our groups and has
led us to discussions about future collaborations. We are currently discussing
the possibility of the ARHS museum becoming a permanent home for the group
where we can provide regular arts programs including Heritage Artisans in Action.
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| Sandra Aucoin at Paint the Port! |
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The GLAS and HAIA weren't our only new collaborations this year.
We also played a part in the revival of another beloved local arts event, Paint
the Port in Hantsport. On July 20th, which was possibly the hottest day of the
year, many members of the HCAC joined other local artists to create live on
site throughout the town of Hantsport.
The next event on our roster is our annual Harvest Festival of
Art, taking place once again at the Vaughan Shand Centre, 69 Cedar St in
Windsor. Now in it's 3rd year, the building is resembling less and less the
former Hawbolts Furniture Factory and is now looking and feeling like the state
of the art Community, Health and Arts Centre owner Matthias Jaeppel has
envisioned all along.
Unfortunately, due to the recent renovations the arts council no
longer has the luxury of filling both floors of the building with our work.
This year we will have to limit ourselves to the main level of the building.
Since space is limited, and we would like to include as many of our members as
possible, we ask artists to be selective and include only your most prized
pieces from the last year.
This year's event fee is $45 per person to display five pieces of
art work. If you would like to display more, or less, you may do so for
$10 per piece with a $25 dollar minimum. For example if you wish to only display
one or two pieces you may do so for $25, three would be $30, four for $40. five
for $45, six for $55, seven for $65 and so on.
We are also asking each of our participating artists to volunteer
some of their time throughout the weekend, whether that is lending a hand
during the Wednesday evening drop-off, aiding with the hanging or errands
taking place on Thursday and Friday, or gallery sitting on Saturday and Sunday
- we need your help! We ask each artist to please commit to at least two hours
during one of the 5 days of the event. For those unable to volunteer their time
we suggest you make a donation of $20 that will go towards additional
advertising or to cover the cost of a gallery sitter should we not have enough
volunteers scheduled.
The majority of our entry fees will go towards covering the cost
of advertising which will include handbills and posters to be distributed
throughout Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, Mount Uniacke, Windsor,
Brooklyn, Hantsport, Wolfville and Elmsdale, as well as the purchase of ad
space in the Hants Journal, The Grapevine, the Valley Spectator, The Coast and
other publications if funds allow.
In addition to our weekend showcase during
the Pumpkin Regatta we will also be promoting each participating artist month
long with a show at Tan Coffee's Windsor location on 40 Water Street. Here we
will have copies of our arts digest and Harvest FOA event info available
throughout the entire month of October.
As if there wasn't enough on our plate, we have been encouraged by
the department of Communities, Culture and Heritage to apply for two brand new
grants being made available this fall. The first will help fund a collaboration
between the council and a museum or library to coordinate a number of workshops
that can be hosted in several communities throughout Hants County.
With a proposed start date of April 2014 we are asking interested
artist to provide a one page outline of a proposed workshop(s) that they can
lead. We are looking for 6 - 12 teachers in a wide variety of mediums to host
1/2 day and full day workshops where they provide all of the tools to
facilitate a lesson.
Artists are asked to provide a description of their proposed
workshop along with a budget for supplies and an estimated time to complete the
project/lesson, for example: 1-3 hours, full day, multiple days.
Our second proposal would provide the start-up funds to create a
portable gallery that can be set-up in the empty store-front windows that dot
our local towns. For a small fee the HCAC will set-up gallery displays of our
members' work in communities such as Windsor, Hantsport and Elmsdale as an
inexpensive means of promoting our artists, our events and our new home at the
ARHS museum in Newport Landing. These pop-up displays will provide us with the
much needed publicity and exposure our group and members, while also helping to
beautify our town cores. As spaces are rented to other businesses, we will
simply move on to another vacant space until there are no longer spaces
available.
We are still working on the budget for this project and we will be
able to share more information in the upcoming weeks. In the meanwhile, anyone
interested in having their work displayed in one or more of our various pop-up
displays, please contact Tacha.
So far 2013 has been yet another tremendous year for the HCAC and
our board of directors are incredibly proud to represent such a wonderful group
of talented people. The strides we have made in the last few years have really
been incredible and we are all very excited by the possibilities our future
holds. Thank you again for your support, this last year especially wouldn't
have been possible without your contribution.
Hants County Arts Council
Board of Directors
