Professional Development Event: “Building Momentum: Strategies to Build and Sustain a Visual Arts Career in Western Newfoundland.
As part of the CARFAC National lecture series “Building Your Career “, VANL-CARFAC invites you to the session “Building Momentum: strategies to build and sustain a visual arts career in Western Newfoundland.” Arts communities across Canada are more connected than they have ever been before, but navigating opportunities from remote locations, for emerging and/or relocated artists, can be challenging.
Time and Place: Wednesday the 15th, 7pm – 8:30 in Room FA 224, the Fine Arts Building, Grenfell Campus
Corner Brook-based artist and educator D’Arcy Wilson will offer tips and strategies for building your visual arts career in Newfoundland, while staying connected to a national arts community. The presentation will lead into a Q&A and discussion for sharing perspectives and experiences. All are welcome, but please note that this event is geared towards visual artists working outside of a commercial practice.
Building Your Career is part of a national presentation series, co-hosted by CARFAC National, with funds provided by the Access Copyright Foundation
D’Arcy Wilson
D‘Arcy Wilson (MFA University of Calgary ’08, BFA Mount Allison University ’05) is an interdisciplinary artist who has collaborated with wildlife rehabilitation centers, natural history museums, school choirs, and more. She has participated in numerous artist residencies and exhibitions across Canada, most recently exhibiting her work at The Rooms (St. John’s, NL), the Owens Art Gallery (Sackville, NB), Cape Breton University Art Gallery (Sydney, NS) and Galerie d‘art Louise-et-Reuban-Cohen (University of Moncton, NB). In 2016 she curated Saltbox Contemporary Arts Festival at the Grenfell Art Gallery, in Corner Brook, NL. D‘Arcy is based in Corner Brook, where she is Assistant Professor in the Visual Arts Program at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell Campus.
Recipient of the 2017 Cox & Palmer Pivotal Point Grant Announced Visual Artist, April White, Awarded $5,000
St. John’s, NL – November 6th, 2017 – Cox & Palmer and Visual Artists Newfoundland and Labrador (VANL-CARFAC) are pleased to announce that April White is the recipient of the 2017 Cox & Palmer Pivotal Point Grant. White, who is based in St. John’s, will receive the $5,000 grant to create a new series of work, while attending the Sparkbox Studio Residency (ON), and the Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture Residency (Yukon).
“We are delighted to congratulate Ms. White on being the recipient of the Pivotal Point Grant,” says Paul McDonald, partner at Cox & Palmer. “We are so pleased to lend our support and cheer her on as she furthers her goals, reputation, and career as a visual artist.”
The Cox & Palmer Pivotal Point Grant is a funding opportunity offered through VANL-CARFAC for visual artists in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was created to provide financial support for working visual artists who have reached a crucial point in their artistic career and to allow them to evolve their practice and develop their reputation and visibility within the art world.
The jury for the 2017 Cox & Palmer Pivotal Point Grant Award says they were very pleased to recommend April White as this year’s recipient: “There were some tough decisions to make during the jury process, but in the end it came down to recognizing the overall achievement, artistic merit, and unwavering determination of this artist in the pursuit of her practice. We acknowledge that the path April has laid out for herself will very much offer a pivotal point within her career, and we were particularly pleased to see her involvement in other parts of Canada; appreciating that her upcoming residency at Klondike Institute of Art and Culture will be especially rewarding for her progress.”
For media enquiries, please contact VANL-CARFAC’s Program Co-ordinator, Shelby Millwater, at vanlcarfac@gmail.com or (709)-738-7303.
Visual Artists Newfoundland and Labrador (VANL-CARFAC) on Structural Changes at The Rooms
For Immediate Release:
October 12th, 2017:
VANL-CARFAC are expressing concern over the recent changes to the administrative structure of The Rooms’ Art Gallery. In June, just prior to Vicky Chainey Gagnon’s departure as Director of the Art Gallery division, VANL-CARFAC had spoken with Mr. Brinton and had been assured that a new director, with a professional curatorial background, would be hired within six months to head the Art Gallery division.
On September 19th, VANL-CARFAC representatives met with Minister Mitchelmore and The Rooms’ CEO, Dean Brinton, to discuss the community’s concerns regarding The Rooms’ Provincial Art Gallery, and the status of the hiring process. Following this meeting, The Rooms issued a press release confirming that two divisions have now been placed under the directorship of a single administrator, and Anne Chafe, Director of the Museum Division, has been appointed as the Director of the Art Gallery Division. As a part of this new structure, the press release stated a second curator will be hired immediately and $50,000 will be redirected into art gallery exhibitions and programming. As well, VANL-CARFAC was told one of the two curator positions would be appointed as Chief Curator of the Art Gallery.
“VANL-CARFAC has expressed the community’s concerns to Mr. Brinton that the Art Gallery must be allowed to maintain its autonomy within the corporation,” said VANL-CARFAC chair, Jane Walker. “Without an arts professional representing the gallery at the management level, that autonomy could very easily be chipped away. Art Gallery programming needs to remain independent and driven by the curatorial direction of visual arts professionals, at all levels of the corporation. We have expressed to Mr. Brinton and Minister Mitchelmore that we feel it’s vital that there should also be artist representation on The Rooms’ board of directors, in order to adequately represent the Gallery’s interests.”
Both Minister Mitchelmore and Mr. Brinton have stated that the new administrative structure will have no effect on the Gallery’s federal funding, nor on gallery programming. However, there has been much concern within the community that this will not be the case. These concerns are shared by former Gallery director, Vicky Chainey Gagnon. Gagnon, in a recent interview with the CBC, said abolishing her position would negatively impact the gallery’s work by excluding necessary expertise from the management table.
Walker continues: “We have been assured this change is purely administrative and will not affect the autonomy or curatorial vision of the Art Gallery. However, since the passage of Bill 56 and the changes to the Rooms Act, there have also been assurances that there were no plans for major changes within the gallery, and, if changes were to happen, there would be public consultations before any were made. We were also assured that a director with a curatorial background would be hired. None of those things have happened, and so, there is a natural fear throughout the community as to what the future actually holds for the gallery.”
For media requests or more information, contact Shelby Millwater at the VANL-CARFAC offices, 709-738-7303 or vanl-carfac@nf.aibn.com