Untitled Art Society has taken a big step forward this year offering full artist fees for the first time. Programming co-ordinator Ginger Carlson says as of 2015 the artist-run centre is paying its artists based on guidelines established by CARFAC a national organization providing resources and support for visual artists. The gallery itself was also renovated late last summer. “We’ve undergone many changes in the last year thanks to a motivated new board of directors and staff” says Carlson who joined Untitled Art Society (UAS) in November.
She adds that the decision honours UAS’s commitment to fully support emerging artists in Canada by paying them adequately and should also help the gallery attract funding from sources such as Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Canada Council. “We’re really just trying to make that jump and really commit to that funding and hopefully in the future we’ll be able to support even more artists” says Carlson. “We’re very excited to be able to start this process.”
Although UAS still faces financial challenges — Carlson says it’s one of the lesser funded artist-run centres — it plans to cover the additional expense by featuring fewer exhibitions over longer periods. The gallery will fill the gaps with collaborative shows which she describes as both economical and “spontaneous” — plans are already in the works for exhibitions with Elephant Artist Relief Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers Avalanche! Institute of Contemporary Art Quickdraw Animation Society and the Alberta College of Art and Design (watch for a student show in April).
The first exhibition to be featured under the new policy is a collaborative effort by Jason de Haan and Warren McLachlan. Sisters is inspired by a 1935 photograph of eight women who were injured by a bulldozer manned by police when a strike at a coal mine in Corbin B.C. turned violent. The exhibition runs until March 28.
If you’re looking to rekindle the passion in your relationship for Valentine’s Day consider The Sama Kutra. A 2014 Fringe fest hit created and performed by Jed Tomlinson (pictured) and Jacqueline Russell and directed by Michael Kennard of Mump and Smoot the show follows Sizzle and Spark Fandango to the bedroom as they try to fire up their sex life. If nothing else these clowns should give you a good laugh. The show runs until February 14 at Lunchbox Theatre.
It’s no fight club but there will be spatter when artists armed with paintbrushes face off on Thursday February 12 at the Hifi Club for a local Art Battle. The event pits 12 artists against each other in three 20-minute rounds of painting with the winner receiving a cash prize. The paintings themselves are auctioned off at the end of the night so everyone’s a winner.
Alberta Ballet is also bringing back a hit with performances of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy — Director’s Cut running until February 14 at the Jubilee. Artistic director Jean Grand-Maître’s collaboration with singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan has been updated to include songs from her latest album Shine On.
