Many ideas and suggestions were put forward by artists, crafts people and representatives of many arts groups and organizations gathered for an arts forum on Tuesday evening at the Signal Hill Arts Centre.
Curator Regan Lanning emceed the gathering with a full agenda of questions and issues she wanted the attendees to answer or to suggest ideas for, ranging from how to make art events and projects more inclusive and more interactive, how to make Weyburn more known for its arts community, and how to improve the events and projects that are organized by the Arts Council and by other organizations and groups.
She also provided more details about what the new arts facilities will include at the Weyburn Recreation and Culture Centre (WRCC), currently under construction along with the new elementary school on Fifth Street adjacent to the Leisure Centre.
In raising the possibility of city-wide art projects, the idea was presented to do a community collaborative mural at the annual Car Show and Shine downtown, as the event draws in hundreds of people from the city and surrounding area to take in the car show.
Other ideas included a revival of the yarn-bombing project of a couple years ago, ice sculptures on display in River Park during the winter, and involving poets, minstrels and actors as a Weyburn version of a fringe festival. The idea of wandering musicians and singers at the Gifted craft show in November was also raised as a possibility.
In discussing how to make Weyburn better known as an arts community, Arts Council chair Jessica Payette commented, “We need to know who our artists are, such as if a high school student wants to learn about fibre art — who do they talk to? Who can mentor them?”
Lanning suggested that a database of artists and crafts people would be invaluable to develop, and later suggested also compiling a year-round arts events calendar, including all groups from the Arts Council to the Concert Series, Crocus 80, Tommy Douglas Centre, dance studios and any other arts groups from around the city, all submitting their event information if they know them.
Lanning relayed information about the WRCC, noting that the gallery space there will be one and a half times larger than the Allie Griffin Art Gallery, but that they will lose the use of the Allie Griffin and the Signal Hill Art Galleries once the new one opens in 2021. She noted she will have movable walls, so will always have two art shows going all the time.
As her office will be there, it will be a supervised art gallery which will enable national and even international art exhibits to be booked in which have not been possible before, said Lanning, adding the pottery studio will also be a part of the arts area, although it will be smaller in area than the current one at SHAC.
In addition, there will be three multi-purpose rooms available for art classes, and a feature Lanning really likes is the walking track up on the second level. From there, walkers will be able to see down into the gallery area, and this may draw others to the gallery space who might not ordinarily come.
