News

RE: FREDERICTON’S PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE 

As members of the arts community in the Greater Fredericton Area, we write to express our enthusiastic support for the new Performing Arts Centre (PAC) that is proposed to replace the much-loved but failing Playhouse. Many of us are practicing artists who have performed at the Playhouse, including Juno and ECMA Award-winning musicians and actors on international stages; some of us lead local or provincial organizations that help the creative arts thrive, including those that rely on the Playhouse as a venue to present performances and events. All of us recognize that a professional facility such as the Playhouse is an indispensable component of this vibrant city’s cultural life. Fredericton would be a much lesser place without it. 

As a community, we count on the Playhouse to present the best available performing artists in music, theatre, dance, comedy, and more; we also count on it to provide space where our own, home-grown artists, musicians, dancers, theatre companies – whether youthful or seasoned, amateur or professional – can create and present their work. It is a place where we gather to celebrate creativity, to connect with each other, and to enjoy an enhanced quality of life.  

However, while it has served us well for several decades, the Playhouse is now beyond its useful life; its design and condition make refurbishing it unfeasible. We cannot lose this valuable community asset. It must be replaced.  

The leaders at the Fredericton Playhouse and the City of Fredericton have a bold plan to build a new PAC to replace the current facility. Like the dozens of downtown businesses that signed a similar joint letter last Spring, we fully support this plan to invest in cultural infrastructure in our region – a plan that will build on the Playhouse’s record of success and take it to a new level by providing greater capacity, increased versatility, better functionality, and an improved audience experience. 

The City of Fredericton has identified this project as its top priority for new infrastructure, committing $14 million to its construction and commissioning a design for the new facility. We encourage other levels of government to do their part to make the PAC a reality by providing the necessary funding to build it.  

As we embark on our collective recovery from the impact of COVID-19 on the performing arts, the PAC will be a most welcome investment. We urge all levels of government to work in partnership with each other and the community to address this urgent priority for our cultural sector.  

Yours sincerely,  

In parallel to the fait main | handmade exhibition, public activities (free and festive!) will be presented:

On Wednesday, March 2 at noon, artist Jacinthe Loranger will present her work and her artistic process during an artist’s talk presented at the Aberdeen Cultural Centre in collaboration with the Atelier d’estampe Imago. Jacinthe Loranger lives and works in Montreal. Her practice revolves around screen printing and is deployed in various forms such as installation, object making and collage. This conference will also be broadcasted by Teams. To receive the link, interested parties can contact alisa.arsenault@umoncton.ca

On the evening of Wednesday, March 2, from 5 to 7 p.m., the opening of the exhibition will be held at the Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen. Artists Amy Ash, Andrea-Jane Cornell and Jacinthe Loranger will be in attendance, along with curator Alisa Arsenault.

On Friday, March 4, starting at 7:30 p.m., artist Andrea-Jane Cornell will present a sound performance, preceded by a performance by Allumette, on the 2^nd floor of the Aberdeen Cultural Centre. Andrea-Jane Cornell is a sound artist based in Portland, Maine, who transforms and transmits sound material over radio frequencies. Space is limited, so register for a free ticket. This PRE:FLUX event is presented in partnership with Galerie Sans Nom. Visit the website for more information on the RE:FLUX festival.

The artists in the exhibition have also been invited to share their influences on the web in a series of videos, The Greatest Hits of the Internet, Vol. 2, which will be published throughout the duration of the exhibition and can be viewed on GALRC’s YouTube channel.

The exhibition fait main | handmade runs through March 27, 2022, at the Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen. Curated by Alisa Arsenault and exploring practices where the handmade is intrinsic to the work of contemporary artists, the exhibition features the work of Amy Ash, Marjolaine Bourgeois, Andrea-Jane Cornell, Zoé Fortier, Allie Gattor and Jacinthe Loranger. Hours of operation are from 1 to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and admission is free.

Double-vaccination and masks are mandatory for all events.

These initiatives are supported by the Canada Council for the Arts Re-opening Fund. Thanks also to : Imago Print Studio, Galerie Sans Nom / RE:FLUX, Aberdeen Cultural Centre.

Hello please join us in our upcoming digital conference & speaker series Digital Dusk – March 2022. Brought to by *AANFA (Atlantic Art at Night Festival Alliance)

Digital Dusk is a month-long conference and digital speaker series that invites Canadian arts festivals, institutions, workers and artists to come observe the strategies, conversations, and art being created within Atlantic Canada, as we collectively shifted from physical to digital space in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital Dusk welcomes everyone throughout Turtle Island to come share in the experiences we had while being able to showcase the temporary arts festivals and artists who make up the Atlantic’s vibrant art scene.SCHEDULEMarch 2, 2022 – 4:00pm ATL / 3:00pm ET / 2:00pm CST / 1:00pm MT / 12:00pm PST / 4:30pm NSTSHIFTING SPACESIn conversation with galleries, festivals, and arts organizations about how their institutions navigate presenting art to their audiences within changing conditions.

March 9, 2022 – 4:00pm ATL / 3:00pm ET / 2:00pm CST / 1:00pm MT / 12:00pm PST / 4:30pm NST TRANSITIONAL PRACTICE Artists examine how their practices have continued, shifted, changed, re-oriented throughout COVID-19. Discussing the complexities of creating within these times.

March 16, 2022 – 4:00pm ATL / 3:00pm ET / 2:00pm CST / 1:00pm MT / 12:00pm PST / 4:30pm NSTBLURRED LAND(SCAPES) A roundtable asking curators about their experiences, and how the process of curation manifests within the current artistic landscape, politically and practically.

March 23, 2022 – 4:00pm ATL / 3:00pm ET / 2:00pm CST / 1:00pm MT / 12:00pm PST / 4:30pm NSTCOLLECTIVE CONNECT Keynote discussion asking how community/collective based artists, researchers, leaders, organizers continued their practices, engaging and mobilizing during COVID-19.*Each roundtable will last an hour with time for audience Q+A *
REGISTRATIONTo register for a panel discussion follow the links provided within the schedule above or visit us at *AANFA (Atlantic Art at Night Festival Alliance)
Schedules for the panels and list of conversationalists and panelists available on our website. 

The UNB Art Centre welcomes an exciting exhibit Between the Lines by weaver I-Chun Jenkins on view, in-person and online, until March 6. 

Stepping outside of the traditional weaving practice, the artist finds inspiration in repurposed magazines rather than traditional natural or synthetic fibres. This exhibit of finely crafted woven paper works features pages which are meticulously cut, sliced, woven, crocheted, or folded together to create images that have a personal resonance for the artist.  

I-Chun Jenkins is an award-winning artist and a graduate of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design’s Textile studio where she was first introduced to hand dying and weaving techniques.  Over time her focus changed as her love of glossy magazines and children’s illustrations became fused with her concern for the environment. Allowing her to channel her creative energy into this unique artform, I-Chun Jenkins, combines traditional techniques with contemporary materials to produce one-of-a-kind works of art. 

The exhibit will be accompanied by a catalogue which features a short introduction by Susan Vida Judah, one of I-Chun’s most influential teachers at NBCCD. Ms. Judah is herself a renowned fibre artist who served as the Head of the Textile and Weaving Studio at NBCCD (1985-1994) and who was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1989. 

The UNB Art Centre is located at Memorial Hall, 9 Bailey Drive, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton.  The galleries are open 9 am – 4 pm weekdays and during special events. Admission is free to members of the public, however proof of vaccination and masks are required.  

The UNB Art Centre is open Wednesday – Saturday evenings, February 23-26, 6pm – 8pm in conjunction with Theatre UNB’s performance of The Ends of the Earth, a Governor General’s Award-winning comedy by Morris Panych. 

It will also be open the following weekends, 12 noon – 5pm.

 

Saturday, February 19^th   

Sunday, February 20^th      

Sunday, February 27^th     

Saturday, March 5^th    

Sunday, March 6^th      

Visit us on our Website, Social Media, and check out our new Newsletter!

UNB Leisure Learning Courses and Workshops

UNB Design Works March Break and Summer Camps for Kids

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Hear the voice of Black poets in Atlantic Canada in their own words. A new book contains contributions from Thandiwe McCarthy, Afua Cooper, Reed “iZrEAL” Jones, Evelyn C. White, and Gary Weekes.

The Atlantic launch of AfriCANthology will feature Evelyn C. White, and Gary Weekes addressing Speaking the Truth: Blackness in Atlantic Canada and will be held on February 11, 2022 at 7pm. https://bit.ly/atlanticlaunch

Truth spoken plainly and powerfully is difficult to dismiss and impossible to ignore. Edited with purpose by Greg Frankson, AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets brings together some of Canada’s most influential dub, page, and spoken word poetic voices and gives them space to speak freely about their personal journeys in piercing verse and unapologetic prose. Just as individual experiences of Blackness are diverse across Canada, each contributor recounts aspects of navigating their unique personal, professional, and artistic paths in Black skin with fearless candour and audacious forthrightness. Unforgettable in its charged emotional potency and stirring in its unrelenting urgency, AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets is a stunning tour de force by a celebrated gathering of truthtellers that demands we comprehensively reassess the present and reimagine the future of Blackness in Canada. Buy the book, read reviews, find upcoming events, and more here: https://bit.ly/3FfV0Pu

1 February 2022, Fredericton, NB – With the return of in-person events, and in time for Black History Month, the Fredericton Playhouse is proud to present Haitian-Canadian musician Wesli on February 18 in partnership with local African Heritage Month organizers 

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wesli has been playing music since he was just eight years old. Coming from a family of 8 children where music was a daily food for the soul, Wesli used his talent as a unique way to get out of the surrounding ghetto, starting in the gospel choir of his local church.  

Now based in Montreal, Wesli brings together a wide range of talents for his music. Be it acoustic or with his big band, he unites Haitian voodoo and rara styles with roots, Afrobeat, and hip-hop styles. 

“We are excited to be showcasing Wesli at the Fredericton Playhouse for the first time,” says Saa Andrew Gbongbor, local African Heritage Month organizer. “This month, as we celebrate Black History in New Brunswick, the Fredericton Playhouse has partnered with Black-led organizations, the New Brunswick African Association, BOTA-NB and le Centre Communautaire Ste-Anne to bring you one of the best of Can-Afro-Caribbean artists working today.” 

On February 19, at 1 pm, Wesli & his team will also lead a dance and drumming workshop for community members of all ages. The workshop will be offered virtually and in-person at the Fredericton Cultural Centre. This event is free, and everyone is welcome.  

Tickets for Wesli are available at the Playhouse Box Office in person, or by calling 506-458-8344. For more information on the performance or workshop, visit www.theplayhouse.ca. 

Wesli is presented in partnership with New Brunswick African Association and the Centre Communautaire Ste-Anne. The Spotlight Series is generously supported by media partner CBC New Brunswick and season partners Downtown Fredericton and Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook Hotel.  

The exhibition fait main | handmade will be presented from February 1 to March 27, 2022, at the Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen. Organized by Alisa Arsenault and exploring the handmade as an intrinsic part of contemporary artists’ practices, the exhibition brings together the work of Amy Ash, Marjolaine Bourgeois, Andrea-Jane Cornell, Zoé Fortier, Allie Gattor and Jacinthe Loranger.

“The exhibition fait main | handmade explores manual work in six artists’ practices; that is, it examines how the artists handle the material within their creative process and the way in which this handling manifests itself physically and conceptually in their works. The artists’ traditional and/or analogue techniques, sometimes used directly and sometimes transformed through digital explorations, are mobilized in various ways. As manual work is often repetitive, this exhibition seeks to discover how recurrences affect the artists’ relationship with their work, their approach and their day-to-day life.” explains the exhibition’s curator, Alisa Arsenault.

The artists have also been invited to share their online influences in a series of videos, Les « Greatest Hits » de l’Internet, that will be shared throughout the duration of the exhibition. The very first of this new series, by Zoé Fortier, can be discovered on the GALRC’s YouTube Channel (in French): https://youtu.be/QFemS2EECNY. Other activities, such as a music performance, a workshop and an artist talk will be shared soon.

The gallery hours are from 1 to 4 PM, Tuesday to Sunday and admission is free. Proof of double vaccination and wearing a mask are mandatory.

The curator thanks artsnb and recognizes the support the curatorial incubator of l’Association des groupes en arts visuels francophones (AGAVF).

For more information : https://www.umoncton.ca/umcm-ga/faitmain

FEBRUARY 5, 2022 – APRIL 16, 2022

Radial Symmetries

This work revolves around the Pentaradial symmetry of a Sea Urchin shell. Pentaradial being a five sectioned symmetry found in nature that revolves around a central point. The simplest example being the Starfish and its five legs. Alanna Baird has been exploring this patterning through several different mediums and dimensions. The printmaking is often her initial exploration in surface patterns.

Thanks to funding through ArtsNB, I was able to create a body of work in lost wax cast bronze. Using some of my own ceramic work from the 1990’s as forms, I cast wax into these shapes and then altered the wax by cutting holes; exploring the symmetry as well as the strength of this new-to-me material. The bronze was cast in a foundry in Quebec, but the chasing (grinding of sprues and polishing of surface metal) and patination (colour) completed in Alanna’s studio.

The Calligraphic sculpture in plastic represents a second ArtsNB grant funded project. The initial intent was to use 3D printing to change the scale of my work. Computer design is not something I enjoy, the hands on fabrication of things is what I love. I became fascinated with a hand held 3D pen, and the clear plastic it could extrude. Light and air flowing through this new body of work, shadows cast. Although the plastic in the exhibition is too fragile to sell, I intend to work farther in this technique.

I am inspired by what I find on my daily walks on the sea floor, the inter tidal zone of the Bay of Fundy reveals it’s treasure to me. Treasure to me is not gold coins, but rather glimpses of things that catch my eye. Part historical – pipe stems, china shards, even stone weapons of a very early age, and part natural environment – resident as well as invasive species included. Often fragments, shells with their interiors exposed, sea urchin shell pieces which reveal the complexity of their “construction”.

I am a materials based artist. I enjoy exploring the material I have to work with. Mastering techniques, learning how to work with it, what it’s limits are, figuring out what I can do with it. I often work with recycled materials. Invasive species like the Lionfish have entered my view. I am currently working on a printmaking project involving the Golden Star Tunicate, an invasive species along this coastline. – Alanna Baird

Curated by Brigitte Clavette and Jennifer Stead.

Alanna will visit the Gallery in March or April rather than February 5. Subscribe to the Gallery newsletter so you don’t miss the announcement.