From January 25th to February 8th, the CCF/FCMA’s Administrative Director, Maegen Black, travelled across the country to work with Craft Councils, Arts Organizations, Galleries and Governments for a series of special events. The tour, encompassing five cities, allowed the CCF/FCMA to reach out to the Craft community, to learn from their experiences and to provide advice, direction and assistance with the planning of future activity on a national scale.
Starting in Whitehorse, Maegen participated in a two day consultation session run by the Yukon Arts Society and Tipping Point Strategies. Aimed at connecting arts groups in the Territory, “Developing a Sector Strategy for Yukon Visual Arts and Crafts” attracted between 50 and 75 attendees, each sharing their insights and experience to discuss what the community needs in order to grow. Representatives from galleries, residency programs, schools, and artists collectives joined artists, craftspeople, teachers, curators and government representatives from Tourism, Culture, and Economic Development to form a cohesive voice of the community.
As a guest lecturer, Maegen Black discussed the CCF/FCMA’s collaborative structure and summarized the experiences of Provincial and Territorial Craft Councils to show what is possible, what difficulties are often faced, and how a formally structured arts community can make a positive impact. By days end, the group had agreed to continue with a steering committee and to issue formal requests to the Territorial Government to form a Yukon specific Art & Craft Council.
Rounding out her time in Whitehorse, Maegen was interviewed on CBC Radio (download the interview audio here), visited the beautiful Copper Moon Gallery and Yukon Arts Centre, and was lucky to catch a great display of natural art, the Northern Lights.
After four days in Whitehorse, a less than 24 hour stopover made Vancouver feel a bit surreal. Meetings with Raine McKay of the Craft Council of British Columbia and Deb Dumka, President of the CCF/FCMA, revolved around national advocacy, project planning and a pitch for Vancouver as the host city for our Annual Conference in 2013.
A lengthy meeting with ceramic artist Paul Mathieu was by far the most insightful of Maegen’s travels. Arguably the most provocative speaker on the value of the Council system and the place of Craft in Canada’s cultural community, Paul is sure to incite heated debate as a speaker during our Annual Conference in Ottawa this October.
While the nation’s capital will host the CCF/FCMA Conference later this year, Maegen travelled from Vancouver to Ottawa to take part in another Conference in early February: the Northern Lights Conference. At the invitation of the Nunavut Arts & Crafts Association, Maegen attended lectures at the conference and assisted with programming in the NACA run Northern Lights Cultural Pavilion. Featuring the work of over 40 artists from across the Territories and Labrador, the event was a feast of Inuit and Northern arts, including jewellery, sculpture, fashion and more.
The opportunity to mingle with government officials including Ministers of Health and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Association alone was worth the trip, not to mention the connections made to Northwest Territories representatives, an area in which the CCF/FCMA is working to expand. Connections to the Great Northern Arts Festival and Inuit Art Quarterly continue to develop and we look forward to working on pan-territorial partnerships in the future.
Connections were also strengthened with our 2012 Conference partners, the Ottawa School of Art, and LaPai Gallery, while a meeting with José Niaison of the Canada Council for the Arts provided insight and information in regards to the CCF/FCMA’s future plans.
Returning to her home region in the Maritimes, Maegen travelled from Ottawa to Halifax for the Atlantic Craft Trade Show and meetings with Craft sector colleagues. Presentations at the ACTS events included fabulous talks by curators and private art gallery owners (such as Barbara Silverberg of Option Art in Montreal, Cheryl Frasier of Zilberschmuck in Toronto and Christian Bernard Singer of the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo) as well as an Export Development session on how to export your work to the United States.
Not to be forgotten was the ACTS Awards ceremony, where craft artists, administrators and gallery/boutique owners were honoured for their achievements. The CCF/FCMA would like to specifically congratulate our colleague, Anne Manuel, the Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council, for her Industry Leader/Supporter Award presented at the event.
As though the ACTS events weren’t enough, providing an opportunity for the CCF/FCMA to meet directly with regional Craft representatives and Craft artists, meetings with Sandra Alfoldy, Curator at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and Kye Yeon Son, jeweller and metal artist, opened doors for more CCF/FCMA activity. (Kye has since agreed to be a the second speaker at our Conference in Ottawa.)
Wrapping up the tour in Charlottetown, Maegen met with representatives of the PEI Craft Council and the PEI Woodturners Association. The PEIWA had brought Michael Hosaluk, the Saskatchewan woodturning artist, to Holland College for a special demonstration, an act that drew almost 200 viewers and inspired meetings between the organizations and the PEI Minister of Culture. The visit also allowed for meetings between the CCF/FCMA and Susana Rutherford, the national board member for PEI, and Kevin Rice of the Confederation Center for the Arts, which is interested in taking part in the CCF/FCMA’s planning for Craft Year 2015.
Overall, the tour allowed the CCF/FCMA to reach out to new contacts and renew relationships with existing partners across the country. Thank you to the many colleagues and volunteers who made this tour possible: Charlene Alexander, Marlene Collins, Darielle Talarico, Hiedi Irvine, Raine McKay, Deb Dumka, David Emery, Rowena House, Justin Ford, Natalie Landry, Don Moore, Tom Dean and Shane Ryan.