The CCF/FCMA is pleased to highlight our four esteemed guest speakers for this year’s conference: multidisciplinary Mi’kmaq artist Ursula Johnson, ceramicist & Alberta Craft Council Director Jenna Stanton, UK Crafts Council Director Annie Warburton, and the Honourable Patricia Bovey, Independent Senator for Manitoba.

 

The official opening of Placemaking takes place October 12 at the Halifax Central Library with Keynote Speaker Ursula Johnson. We are thrilled to present her talk in partnership with the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective’s 8th National Gathering of Indigenous Artists and Curators. Johnson holds a BFA (2006) from NSCAD University, where she studied photography, drawing and textiles. She descends from a long line of Mi’kmaw Artists, including her late Great-Grandmother, Caroline Gould, from whom she learned basket making. Johnson will explore current Indigenous art actions locally and globally emphasizing Indigenous placemaking and the unique connections between arts actions, communities and our individual relationships to the land. Ursula will explore and reflect on the impacts of arts action enhancing a sense of appreciation, understanding and belonging which may lead to healthier social interactions between many peoples.

 

The following day at NSCAD University, Lead Speaker Jenna Stanton and International Speaker Annie Warburton will discuss craft and creative placemaking in Canada and abroad.

 

Jenna Stanton speaks from her career as a ceramicist, arts administrator, and creative community builder. She received her BFA in Ceramics from the Alberta College of Art + Design, and an MA Ceramic Design from the potteries in Stoke On Trent, England. Through her career in the arts (Medalta, Alberta Craft Council) she continues to research and implement models for strengthening our organizations and creative communities through the lens of Creative Placemaking.

 

Annie Warburton is the Creative Director at the United Kingdom’s Crafts Council, where she leads on exhibitions, international programmes, education, and research. She also directs the Crafts Council’s innovation program on intersections between craft, science, technology and industry.  In 2016, she co-launched Real to Reel – the Craft Film Festival, during London Craft Week, now in its third edition.

 

The CCF/FCMA is especially excited to have a leading voice from the Federal level join us at the Lunenburg School of the Arts. On October 14th, the Honourable Senator Patricia Bovey will share her extensive experience in culture and politics, bringing the discussion of national identity and culture’s role to the forefront.

 

Senator Bovey’s involvement in the arts is vast, as former Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, founder of the Buhler Gallery at St Boniface Hospital; the University of Winnipeg’s Manitoba Arts and Culture Management Program, with an MA in Curatorial Practice; and as an Adjunct Professor of Art History at the University of Winnipeg, to name just a few.  Senator Bovey has served on the Boards of the National Gallery of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts as well as boards focused on museums, cultural management, contemporary art, and universities. She has also been heavily involved in public art committees and task forces in Winnipeg, and the winner of multiple service awards including the Canada 125 Medal and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal.

 

We are thrilled to have such esteemed guests this year! Registration is open now, sign up today!

 

Need a reason to join us? Check out Ten Reasons You Should Attend Placemaking.

 

Image, left to right: Annie Warburton, Senator Patricia Bovey, Ursula Johnson, Jenna Stanton.