Welcoming Year Two

Habitat for the Arts is a year old.

Since November 10th 2010 the big space located on the corner of Hazel and Patricia Streets in downtown Jasper has been home to the Yellowhead Regional Creative Campus, Library Film Nights, music jams, painting workshops, beading and knitting afternoons – heritage arts, author readings, information sessions from the Banff Centre and Volunteer Alberta, public gallery shows from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts collection, regular meeting space for over six community arts related orgs including a startup for Jasper’s Toastmasters, square dancing, childrens theatre games (lots and lots of children), adult theatre practices, video classes, pottery classes, multimedia art exploring, NFB webcasts, language arts for outreach education, Whats On Jasper wall, volunteer store and centre, afterschool programs, annual cultural celebrations like Celtic Hour, lunch bag programs, studio for visiting artists…

…we were hoping to create a SPACE for community to engage, teach and demonstrate arts and culture.  It looks like ‘it only took a dream’.

Photos of the past year can be seen on our the link to the right here called ‘A Photo History’ – it will take you to a Flickr photo site.  Or catch some sidewalk cinema as we showoff the year on the window screens at Habitat this month…hey – if it’s going to get dark at suppertime…we are going to use the dark!!

The Habitat has been supported by many and supports many arts programs in Jasper.  In 2011 over $20,000 was spread through the community for three culturally related arts ‘festivals’.  Artists were employed, musicians were hired, art was purchased, instructors taught, restaurants and hotels were booked – are we bragging…you bet we are!  In 2010 the social return on a ten day festival was calculated to be a 200% spin back of dollars into the community…we haven’t finished this years SROI.

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But we can tell you:

The ANNUAL JASPER CHRISTMAS FAIR – November 20…make a gingerbread house for Santas Anonymous and maybe you will win a day in the JPL Fairmont Bakery…secrets will be shared I have heard!  To be on the voting ballot please register your house by the 18th..and deliver it to the Activity Centre on Sunday morning between 9:30 and 10:30 please.

And Go to the FAIR!!

ITS ANIMATION MONTH! 

NOVEMBER 21 and 28 – animation NFB short films at 4pm and animation projects for Christmas gift making workshops, $5 and $10 drop in fees for the Craft Stations (might be good to phone and let us know you are coming so there is enough materials!  Hate to turn anyone away)

Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=269452783090366

Habitat will have a wish tree outside this year.  We will decorate on the 28th with some of the items we have made in the workshops.

Lantern Making workshop with Ursula is November 16.  And a lantern walk…with her other students…

There are Friday noon hour music jams at the Habitat as well…just until the sun returns to shine on the outdoor ones with some heat!

NOVEMBER 16 – Food Society Film – check out Jasper-Food Local-Society on Facebook.

And while you are on Facebook don’t forget to become Friends of the Jasper Community Habitat for the Arts!

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DECEMBER 10- the Habitat will be open from noon-4 or later for its first birthday party.  Come by for cake and check out Jasper’s very own Jazz Band (I would say High School Jazz Band…but if I don’t tell you how old these musicians are – you would never know by their skill!).  Joel Cultur of Art of Street will do a live demonstration of his art during their music…Amber Hayward will read to us from her latest book…Shara will have some awesome handmade dolls for sale as well as Paintings by Paula and Jewelery by Sandra!  Both of the Art of Street artists Joel and Ryan will have some artworks on display…

Door prizes, and open stage for busking and tours through the building…

 

Habitat’s office is open Tuesday to Friday – noon to 5 in November.  780.852.4747

 

ARTSDAYS 2011

September 30th

Join us for an after dinner black tie affair at the Sawridge – cocktails at 5:30.

October 1

Start the day right with fresh pancakes at 9:30 at the Robson Fair that is now moved from the beautiful little park to the MAIN HALL of Jaspers Activity Centre.

Noon to 4 – check out the artisans, music, food and the labyrinth at the ArtsDay festival…indoors at the Activity Centre.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2

Another day of great stuff…

 

The Museletter

There is so much coming on for September that we decided to put out a Museletter.  They are now available at the Habitat, Snowdome Cafe, Video Stop, Mondos Cafe, the Activity Centre, the Museum or here…

Here are a few of the highlights of our first edition!

 

ARTS WITH ALTITUDE—-Check the right hand column of this webpage for more details!!

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Some changes to the MUSELETTER

PLEASE CHECK THE VOLUNTEER PAGE TO THE RIGHT FOR WAYS TO BE PART OF ARTSDAYS!

Deadline to submit something of interest for next Museletter- Sept 7th

 

What is Heritage? It arrived via RIVERS RAILS AND ROADS!!

Good question.

In Alberta it is a day – August 1.  A day to celebrate who we are, what makes us Canadians or Albertans…or a day to recognize the multitudes of ethnicity that now constitute our community.

Did you know that Canada was the first country – 1971 – to adopt a policy on multiculturalism?

Living in Jasper, and welcoming the world on a daily basis as we are a true Canadian destination of choice, means we see the ‘Global Village’ in a much different way than perhaps someone who doesn’t experience such diverse visitor traffic.  It’s fascinating to walk the streets or go to the grocery store and hear the languages of the world trying to translate our English world.

What is Heritage?  Well, if you were in Edmonton you could go to Hawrelak Park and taste foods from around the world for Heritage Day – or watch ethnic dance!  (Next summer we shall try this here!) 

It seems that a word like Heritage is not something you can define with just more words…its a feeling…a sound…something intangible.
So – on August 1 in Jasper you can drop by the Parks Info Centre and meet ‘heritage’ characters like Charlotte Small and David Thompson.  Catch the Metis Dancers, try some Maple Syrup cotton candy, check out the art of Creeatives, take a ride on the various modes of transportation…because…like our visitors who arrived this summer – we all came here at some point via RIVERS RAILS OR ROADS!

1pm August 1

Free Community Event…

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AND

DONT MISS THE 3rd ANNUAL ARTS WITH ALTITUDE FESTIVAL

SEPT 23-OCT 2

Check out the page on the right of this site…called ARTS WITH ALTITUDE!

 

Anticipation

Anticipation  is the only word that we can find to describe the feeling we get when we walk into the Habitat for the Arts this (and every) month.  We like the word anticipation because it involves emotion and excitement.  In a dictionary anticipation can sometimes involve anxiety – either way, excited or anxious – it is all about expectations and hoping for good things.

And that is exactly what Habitat is.  Good things.

We are gearing up for another Sunday in July with Matricia Brown – the second Sunday in our Habitat Heritage Series of workshops.  Matricia spent an afternoon sharing her skills at traditional beading.   The Habitat’s classroom with its northwest facing windows proved to be the perfect place to chase tiny beads around a loom…an artform that puts the eyes to work as well as the fingers!  All five of the students (yeh! class sizes are progressively growing) finished bracelets in the allotted time and are already registered for July 17th’s bead workshop – mocassins – beading on hides.  The class is filling up but give Justin a call – we can add another class!

               

Matricia has also agreed to be part of our RIVERS RAILS AND ROADS Heritage Day program on August 1.  The information centre in Jasper will come alive for half a day with the sights and sounds of Metis Dance, art and music.  2011 is the 200th year anniversary of the cartographer and explorer David Thompson having moved through this area of the Rockies.  In keeping with the spirit of travel we have several summer events around the theme RIVERS RAILS AND ROADS.  And of course what is any kind of a Heritage celebration without cultural expression from as many ethnicity’s as possible!   See you there on August 1 – you will find me at the Maple Shack kiosk…maple sugar candy floss – yum!

The theme of travel is pretty hard to ignore when you live here…we travel out to get services we don’t have here.  And thousands of visitors travel here because of the draw of the mountains…including a class of students who spent an afternoon at Habitat this week.  What to do with 27 children?  How can we build an arts program that they can relate to and learn from?  How can we give them something of value for their afternoon at Habitat?!

A puzzle mural!  We presented them with the concept of RIVERS RAILS AND ROADS and provided them with a short history of David Thompson and the Fur Trade area that we live in…a map was drawn on a 10 foot scale of the three R’s between their home and Jasper and then cut into 1 foot squares.  At random each student chose a square and then was to draw what they knew about the area on their square.  Was there a river there?  Was there any heritage buildings there?  Mountains?  They were free to draw a historical depiction of the area on their square or a futuristic vision of what might be there in 2211!

The map was then reconstructed – and not unlike the one below that we did at the community BBQ – we have discovered that putting the puzzle together is as much fun as painting it!

So we are anticipating July to be as wonderful as June has been.  The AFA exhibit for July is all about our Global Village…what better way to share our love of arts and culture with visitors and community than with ‘This Village’,  works by five immigrants to Alberta.  Did you know that Canada was the first country to adopt a policy of multiculturalism in 1971 where all ethnic groups are encouraged to share their culture with other Canadians?  Be sure to take in the RIVERS RAILS AND ROADS Heritage Day festivities on August 1 …  there will be some great surprises!  (thanks to Deb at Phat Cat!)

Another project under the three R’s program is the revival / continuation of the famed JASPER STORY!  And serendipitously – what should arrive at Habitat this week?  A box full of gold rush Klondike clothing.  Mens and ladies hats, dresses, frills and stockings…  A must see for anyone interested in fabric arts, fashion or history!

                                             

Watch for our Mulitcultural displays in July, some films from the NFB and a chance to get involved in history!

Habitat is open Tues to Saturday, noon to 5 (sometimes we close early on Saturdays)

We will be at the Jasper Farmers Market starting July 5!

Located on the second floor of the Provincial Building on the corner across from Nutters and Evil Daves Restaurant.

If you stop by and the door is locked…give us a call…780.852.4747 and we shall meet you there if we can!

OR

You can catch a glimpse of the Habitat on CITY TV’s Breakfast Show soon…

SUMMER THEATRE CAMP – contact Grace!   theatre@iotad.ca

SUMMER FILMCAMP – contact filmcamp@iotad.ca

SO MUCH TO DO…get your culture on!

at the Habitat – where we are RAVEN’ ABOUT THE ARTS!

AND Please…friend us on Facebook!  Jasper Community Habitat for the Arts

Lots of info posted on there…

 

Buckskin boots, popcorn and singing telegrams…

Well, it has been a while since the last update on Habitat!

In case you haven’t noticed we do put updates on the link to the right called HABITAT HUMPDAY NEWS...middle of the week updates.  Please check it out for future happenings.

What has been taking our energy and attention this past month and more is the Rivers Rails and Roads program for this year.  To celebrate the BiCentennial of David Thompson’s trek through Jasper in 1811 we came up with a few innovative ideas that got the attention of Canadian Heritage and the Municipality and we are bringing them to life this year!

One project is Childrens Theatre.  There is a great novel written about growing up in Jasper by John McLay.  ‘On Mountain Top Rock‘ tells the story of two young people, Jenny and Edward, and their everyday adventures of the 1950′s.  The novel is a journey back in time, through our alleys and our heritage homes.  Always on the lookout for treasures, Jenny and Edward spend a bit of time dreaming of finding David Thompson’s cache by the Athabasca River.  This novel is read in Alberta schools as part of the curriculum for Alberta studies.  With the help of Canadian Heritage and the Town of Jasper we are seeking writers to take the novel to stageplay to enhance the curriculum offerings with a theatrical component to reading the novel!  If you have an interest in writing Childrens Historical Fiction…call us to find out how to submit your treatment.

A mural project, involving the community, will see two 4×8 foot mosaic murals installed at the Habitat after completion – until the new cultural spaces the Town is contemplating are brought to life!  Ah – yes…we have been busy these past few months.  Jasper is getting a new addition to the Library.  Included in that addition is a space for culture.  The Habitat and Jasper Artists Guild have been invited to be part of the new space.  Very exciting!

If you look closely you will see a patio like structure on the top left corner with a person.  Habitat will be on the second floor with new clay, sculpture, theatre, music and video spaces as well as a classroom…and even an office!  (Presently Hab’s office is a drawer in the lunch room!)

Back to the murals…June 12th’s community BBQ will allow the community the chance to start the project…and most likely it will continue and complete on Canada Day at the Museum.  All materials supplied – we just need your imagination!!  Stop by the Arts Jasper and Habitat table on June 12 at the BBQ and July 1st at the Museum after the parade.

Canada Day also sees the beginning of the Street Ambassador project.  David Thompson and Charlotte Small will be in the parade and in July they return to engage visitors for the summer – sharing historical tidbits about their Rocky Mountain experiences.  (David’s buckskin boots arrived this week!)  Watch for them at the Info Centre in the evenings – take the information handouts  they offer and register yourself with participating partners.  At the end of the summer we will be taking the handouts that were registered and naming a star after someone.   Jasper was awarded the status of a DARK SKY PRESERVE (the largest in the world) by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada this year.  So when we say that we will name a star after someone – we mean a celestial star!  There may be days when Charlotte can’t get to town so Edith Cavell and Mary Schaffer have offered to share stories too.  Watch for these heritage characters…and learn a bit more about the Jasper of days gone by.

Speaking of days gone by…did you know that 40 years ago there was a theatre troupe in Jasper that put on an annual production called The Jasper Story.  It had a cast of over 100, horses and wagons, a sound track and ended with the rising of a totem pole!  Well…as part of the RIVERS RAILS AND ROADS program we shall bring a piece of this story back to stage for Arts Days this year.  The annual Variety Hour on October 2nd will offer you a glimpse at the Jasper Story.

And to wind up a summer of programs…we offer a look at the history of travel with an exhibition from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.  A look at travel through the medium of art!  Rivers Rails and Roads will hang in the Peoples Gallery at Habitat for the month of September.

Which brings us to the ARTS WITH ALTITUDE FESTIVAL in connection to the provincially sponsored ARTS DAYS!!!  Last year Arts Days and Canada’s Culture Days fell on separate weekends.  Jasper bridged those two weekends with a full 10 days of programming – the resulting week long festival caught the attention of CBC…Jasper came in 2nd as CBC’s CULTUREVILLE!  This year we will be first.

Please check us out on Facebook – Jasper Community Habitat for the Arts -  as we grow towards Arts Days…here are a few teasers that we invite YOU to be part of:

Sept 23 -26 – Artists in the Pines, music, workshops, food and more.

Sept 24, A Community Theatre under the direction of Grace Kohn will present Star Art on Earth.  A Dark Sky event.

Sept 24 25, Artcetera , check out whats happening on the streets around you.  Music in cafes, poets under the stars, artists in the streets…

Sept 26-29, A Vintage Film Festival, Rose Marie / Emperors Waltz and River of No Return!  At the Habitat 7pm nightly

Sept 30, Black Tie After Dinner ARTS AWARDS, be part of Jasper’s first arts and cultural awards night – followed by an Arts Jasper JAZZ night.  Limo service available!  (which brings me to the title of this post…singing telegrams!  We presented Jasper’s Cultural Pillar recipient with her letter of recognition this week so her interview could be arranged…via singing telegram!  And it was delightful…Erin sang beautifully – one of the many arts services Habitat offers!  a wee commercial here – ask us about booking a singing telegram through Habitat 780.852.4747)

October 1, Robson Park will come alive with a one day festival of music, workshops, art and culture.

October 2, the return of Bowls with Soul, the Cake Off, and a Variety Show.  This year someone from the Variety Show will also become a star…a celestial star will be named in their honour to celebrate our Dark Sky status.

To find out how you can volunteer, exhibit, or be part of these events contact the Habitat 780.852.4747.  Other groups that will be involved and need assistance are the Folk n Blues Society, Jasper Artists Guild, Arts Jasper, ACFA…or just call Habitat and we will connect you.

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(Oh popcorn…I spent my morning cleaning the popcorn machine after last weeks successful theatre production by ACT – A Community Theatre.  Nothing makes a theatre smell like a theatre like fresh popped popcorn!)

ACT and the Braden Gates fiddle workshops (that ended in a square dancing) were filmed and will be posted at a future date.  It is unfortunate that you can’t all spend a month in the life of Habitat with us…it is full of the things that make Jasper special!

As a tribute to the power of art – and the new movement by organizations to use social theatre…we actually had a wee bit of social theatre take off from Habitat a few weeks ago.  Check out the video on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidStanCameraman#p/a/u/0/-0HjWAVDehk

 

Beginner blues, Habitat grads and Agents of Change wanted.

The usual scene on the streets of Jasper in March is the spring skier carrying their long black bag full of gear.  Jasper is known for some of the best spring skiing there is.  I had to take a double look this week as the black bags that were being carried down the street this week were NOT ski gear but rather guitar cases.  It was the final week for the Habitat’s guitar for beginners series.   It was also the final week for the Dish Pottery School.  Habitat was taking on the persona of a campus…how fantastic.  Students heading into the building with instruments and students heading out of the building with finished projects.

While the first session of guitar lessons is over – the second session starts on Thursday the 7th at 7pm with Beginners Blues Guitar with Brian Lackey.   You can register with Justin at 780.852.4747 Tuesdays to Saturdays noon to 5.

Spring seems to be synonymous with strings!  Tickets at Habitat

Spring also leads to Easter and Earthday…lots going on in Jasper for those dates.  The Museum has a special EarthDay event planned around the artworks of Marla Pollock and Sharon Anderson.  Jasper Artists Guild has a weekend workshop for April 22-24 with Marie Banville, an artist with an extraordinary flair for working in wax and pigment.

Video classes begin this week with David Baker, Wednesdays at 4 for youth and at 6:30 for adults.  Register with Justin.  These classes are designed to increase familiarity with your own camera and equipment as well as offer you the chance to work on the Creative Campus edit systems at Habitat.  Email video@iotad.ca for more information.  Registrations are being taken now for this summer’s FilmCamp at the Palisades.  There are two spaces in the camp for students who dont require overnight accommodations at a reduced rate!  www.delphinus18.ca for more info.

For more details about the workshops coming to Habitat check out our Habitat Humpday News on the right hand column here…we edit those listings every week.

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Agents of Change – We Want You!

At Habitat we’re in the business of supporting creative people who make community a better place. With the support of IOTAD (and many many supportive community creatives!), we are delighted to announce the Agents of Change Competition!

We’re looking for a youth (aged 19-29) who is working to make an impact in their community, our city, or around the world.

Is this you?    Is this someone you know?

The chosen agent will receive:

• A one month workspace package (worth $400) at the Habitat.
• Access to 6 hours in the classroom for one month (value $75)
• Access to the Gallery for exhibition for one week during the month (priceless)
• Amazing networking opportunities and more!

Are you an Agent of Change?

We’re looking for youth aged 19-29 who are:

• Making a difference in our community
• Supporting other youth or youth-serving organizations
• Advancing arts and culture causes
• Working with children
• Doing something unique and promising!

If you are making our community a better place, complete an application form!

The entry deadline is Friday, April 29, 2011.

Agents of Change Application Form, three easy steps

Name

Email

Tell us about yourself and what your are working on (100 words or less)

Links to your work – website or blog etc

What is the Change you want to see in the world and what do you need to do to make it happen? (100 words or Less)

STEP FOUR

Send it to us at hab@iotad.ca before April 29

 

Kidstuff – not just for kids!

I climbed the stairs at Habitat last Tuesday with some trepidation…lurking somewhere in the building were supposedly a troupe of children and adults in full Mardi Gras mode.  The evening had been designed to start after school and was open to all ‘wanna be‘ thespians, musicians and Fat Tuesday enthusiasts.   From the balloons on the entrance to the glitter on the stairs it was obvious the parade had just left the building!

And as the valiant ladies of Mardi Gras Jasper vacuumed and cleaned after the crowds had gone home I setup KIDSTUFF.  Kidstuff is a traveling exhibition of – well – kid stuff.  Vintage kid toys, etch-a-sketch, view master, spinning tops…  Woody Woodpecker, Charlie Brown, Grover and Cookie Monster emerged from their boxes to be remembered by adults more than children.  Putting out the Dr. Suess pieces I couldn’t help thinking of the Mardi Gras parade with its flags and minstrels – not unlike Suess’s flooflooblers and blumblookers.

The last thing to go up on display were the ‘Please do not touch the toys‘ signs, for which I got the immediate ‘What?  Why do you have a display of toys that no one can touch?’

Habitat is becoming known as a place for interactive art, a place where the public can be engaged in or experience art.  It has become home to several weekly sessions for children to paint and dance and be theatrical…but it is also home to exhibitions that engage the viewer.  For a true community presence Habitat is also home to visual displays that offer individual reflection on culture.  Most often these exhibits are artifacts or artworks presented from a collection for the simplistic interaction of just viewing.

Culture has been described as everything around us that defines us, what makes us human, products of human work and thought.  There is little chance that anyone can say that their childhood was void of cultural definition.  I know we were not allowed much of the candy that came with the PEZ dispensers but I sure remember the View Master and the Slinky.  And even though the sign said – ‘don’t touch’ – the etch-a-sketch got a few moments off the shelf with two young friends while no one was watching us!

That’s the great thing about the Arts too – the forgiving flexibility of discipline, the unexpected increase in appreciation for something when the rules are harmlessly bent even just a little.  The Elementary School kids came over for a walk through the Aaron Paquette exhibit this week.  Imagine the kind of limitations a ‘paintings on the wall’ exhibit must have for someone in Grade 2.  What was truly amazing was the interaction that these children had with the art – the conversation with the imagery – in grade school!

One of our intentions when conceiving of Habitat was to offer these kinds of missing opportunities for learning.  For 1/2 hour on a Friday afternoon Jasper students communicated with their teachers while sitting in a room of artwork from the Art Gallery of Alberta.  No lengthy bus ride, no expensive road trip – a two block stroll to Habitat and these youth got to see these beautiful paintings up close and personal.

Aaron Paquette hopes that his art acts as a catalyst for greater understanding.

Habitat hopes that provision of a space for the arts can do the same.

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Special thanks to the Creative Campus Edson and Tracy Templeton for the KIDSTUFF exhibit.

Creative Campus also hosted their SECOND ANNUAL Celtic Hour on March 17th.  The Peoples Gallery at Habitat was close to capacity thanks to the amazing talents of Lisa Riddell and Monika Schaefer.  If you didnt catch them this year – shame on you!!  Mark your calendar for next year, St Patricks Day 7pm at Habitat!

 

Celts, Smiles and hiring street ambassadors.

Jasper is a wonderful place.  And submitting funding requests to add more art to something that is already wonderful is almost beyond words.  Almost.

The Habitat for the Arts has hosted its first Creative Campus sponsored COME FOR THE SMILES event – a 1/2 day of engaging in art, pottery, video and theatre for adults.  You see, we don’t think anyone quite understands exactly what it is that we are doing up here.  So we invited all of Jasper’s ‘Communicators’ to a FREE morning of play.

Town officials were allowed to get their hands dirty – instead of focusing on infrastructure or bylaw issues – they had to focus on centering a wedge of clay on the wheel.  Tourism officials were allowed to forget about the coming season – instead of wondering how to make 2011′s summer successful – they got to don grass skirts and butterfly wings in the improvisational theatre room.  Teachers who normally are the ones trying to creatively engage with their students got to drop into the world of video editing and just engage creatively with themselves.

Funders like programs with names…a traceable entity when it comes to volunteer or financial statistics.  While we may have chosen COME FOR THE SMILES hurriedly to get the project rolling – it couldnt have been more suitable for the morning of smiles and laughs that rolled through the halls of Habitat on March 2nd.  And as usual – many adults were hesitant to come out and play…so we shall repeat the day with another group of ‘communicators’ in a few months.

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Our second annual CELTIC HOUR approaches…music by two extraordinary fiddlers…Lisa MacDonald and Monika Schaefer.  March 17th of course from 7-8pm tap your toes to the lure of Ireland for only $5!

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More updates…coming soon.  Gotta go open the doors to the Aaron Paquette exhibit!  See the previous post on March and A Musements…

 

A Musements and Mythology, Habitat moves into March

Habitat for the Arts is now looking at month four!

The Peoples Gallery:

The Snow and Ice exhibition of photography for Jasper in January is now replaced with ‘A Musements’ by Susan Szathmary.  These works are wonderful explorations in colour.  Each canvas is based on just that – Red or Yellow or Green…and through the darkest days of a Rocky Mountain winter Susan has developed delightful pieces that enlighten and spirit the viewer away in their abstract form of colour.

FROM THE FITZHUGH February 24th 2011 by Annalee Grant, Photojournalist  www.fitzhugh.ca

Susan Szathmary was working on something entirely different – illustrations for a children’s book – when she found a collection of wooden planks and decided to paint them with acrylics.

The resulting pieces, titled A Musements, are being displayed at the Habitat for the Arts in the People’s Gallery until March 1.

What’s special about these works of art is that they were created in Costa Rica, while Szathmary was on an artist’s retreat at the Julia and David White Artist’s Colony located in Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica. It was her first departure from painting on paper, to the wooden planks. She used a monochromatic colour scheme to create vibrant, lively pieces that are receiving praise from those who have caught a glimpse at the People’s Gallery. Szathmary explored six colours and played with shapes and her chosen colours. She never did finish the pieces, until the Habitat for the Art’s Marianne Garrah encouraged her to pull them out of the closet and finish them up to be hung at the Habitat for a few weeks. Szathmary said she has no idea where her inspiration came from, past the use of bright colours.

“A lot of it’s very intuitive,” she said.

Usually Szathmary sticks to smaller pieces and creates patterns and designs. She says the size of each board was a challenge, and she did her best to use depth of field to create something unique. The experience has left her with a desire to keep pursuing different kinds of art.

“It’s like a springboard for me to kind of develop and keep developing.”

Szathmary calls the pieces “lovely accidents.”

The artist has never done a show before, and was hesitant to hang her pieces in public. She says she has a constant battle over whether or not to display her pieces, and wonders what art is really for – display for others, or for the creation and enjoyment of the artist?

“It’s scary, you know. You really put yourself out there,” Szathmary said of displaying her artwork, although she adds that sharing it is all part of the process. She went on to muse about the possibility of pursuing a larger and more formal show in the future. She says the challenge for her is to bare what she has created, and “be brave enough to be imperfect.”

Szathmary has spent months at the Costa Rica retreat, which accepts artists of all forms who submit their portfolios to be accepted. While there, Szathmary has mingled with artists from the U.S. Japan and more, with skill levels ranging from developing to experts. Depending on how long each artist stays, they get together at the end of their time and share the pieces they created. Many people are repeat customers, and return year after year to be inspired by the cozy, friendly place away from the mainstream tourist rush of Costa Rica.

“It’s a well loved place,” Szathmary said. She reminisces about the beautiful tropical flowers that change constantly. “All season long new flowers come out.”

Szathmary first attended the retreat in 2006, and returned in 2007 and 2009, and hopes to go back again in the future.

“I’m very, very fortunate to have a lot of time to explore.”

Once the show at the Habitat is finished, Szathmary hopes to return to some unfinished projects and use up the remainder of her paints to clean out her closet of art projects. In the process, she hopes she can develop her skills further.

A Musements will be at the Habitat for the Arts until at least March 1.

The Szathmary exhibit will be followed by an AFA travelling exhibition called Half-Breed Mythology with works by artist Aaron Paquette.   This show arrives on time for March and International Womens Day.  Aaron’s works often depict the important role of family in his images.  The role of grandmothers is a central theme in his work, referenced by the balancing of heritage with stories.

This exhibit is presented by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Peoples Gallery in the Jasper Community Habitat for the Arts.  It will run March 3rd -23rd.

 

The Classroom:

When not being used for after school creative arts you will find evening classes in anything from Spanish to the Art of Gardening.  Thanks to the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre the classroom received wonderful new tables and chairs.  A thank-you goes out to Adult Learning downstairs for the use of their table and chairs while in transition.

The Studios:

The artists studio for visiting or resident artists who would like to have a quiet dedicated space is almost ready – a bit more shuffling of stored items to their proper placement, some oak to cut up for the stage floor, and yet MORE recycling and we will have a fabulous home for an artist with an amazing view of the Rockies through the ceiling to floor windows!

The Schools:

The pottery school is running at capacity two nights a week with more planned in April.  The video school has several students lined up waiting for some minor upgrades to the Computers from Schools.   The theatre school has after school programs twice a week and the creative arts program is working towards 3 days a week soon!

It is worth reminding you here that the Classroom and the Peoples Gallery are two spaces you can use for arts programming of YOUR choice.   If you have always wanted to run a class for any age or in any arts medium…we welcome you to check out the Habitat spaces.  For very low hourly rates you can bring your ideas alive!  Call Justin at 852.4747 noon to 5pm.