New locations are being arranged and set to enable the arts and cultural programs formerly offered at the Signal Hill Arts Centre to go ahead, said Alice Neufeld, arts and cultural director for the City of Weyburn.
The offices for herself and for Arts Council curator Regan Lanning were relocated to City Hall, as was the art gallery, now set up on City Hall’s second floor. This gallery will be open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The relocation was made necessary after major water damages occurred when the fire sprinkler system at Signal Hill failed, forcing the closure of the historic building. The art that had been ready to go for the “Winter in Saskatchewan” exhibit was evacuated safely, and the building is being assessed for damages and repair costs.
This exhibit opened on Monday at the City Hall Gallery, and will be on display until March 27, featuring the following artists: Aurora Richardson, Nicole Griffin, Tania Nault, Carol Reeve, Michelle Craigen, Rhonda Lamb, Tana Cugnet, Lauren Daae, Brenda King, Jaynie Himsl, Olivia Maney, Audrey Euteneier and Denise Bakken.
The art programs took a little longer to arrange, said Neufeld, but she is confident most of them will be able to proceed, other than the adult clay class.
“We want to offer as many of these programs as possible,” said Neufeld. “The public can be reassured we’re going to go ahead with programming.”
A number of the programs will be offered in the Sun Room at the Weyburn Leisure Centre, including a small meeting room attached to the Sun Room, where an introductory pop-up clay plate and mug program was held on Jan. 26.
The upcoming art camp to be held during the February break week will be held in the Sun Room from Monday to Friday, Feb. 17-21, going from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
She noted they want their programs to be as accessible as possible, so there are still some options being considered for programs.
“The City has been excellent in providing us with office space and program space,” said Neufeld. One factor with the Sun Room is the space is available for some of the programs, but for some time periods the Leisure Centre has booked in programs so it won’t always be available.
In addition to the art camp, a class in hand-building in clay will be offered for children aged six to eight, or nine to 12, for five weeks on Wednesday evenings, from March 11 to April 8. There is also a play with clay class for children aged three to five years on two Wednesday mornings, Feb. 5 and 12.
There is also a drawing and painting class for those aged nine to 12, and a lapidary rock shaping and polishing class for those aged eight to 14 years.
Artist Carol Reeve will teach the drawing and painting class from Feb. 25 to March 31, while Bruce Wagner will do the lapidary class on Saturday, March 7, from 1 to 5 p.m.
An adult class is copper foil stained glass workshop, to be held on Saturday, Feb. 29 and Sunday, March 1 in the Sun Room. There will also be an adult clay outreach program on Thursday, March 26 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Leisure Centre.
There will be a class in making large clay flowers on Sunday, April 5, and in making clay deck art on Saturday, April 25. A number of other adult classes are pending a new location.
The City has started using online registration for their arts and culture programs, and Neufeld said it’s been working really well so far. She urges people to continue using this method to sign up for program, and encouraged people to also consider buying a Signal Hill membership.
This gives members access to the monthly newsletter about Weyburn’s arts and culture events and programs, along with ease of registering for any programs they want to sign up for.
“As far as the future goes, it’s a day at a time,” said Neufeld. “We don’t want to sacrifice the quality of the programs, so we’re continually offering quality programming, just in new locations.”
