Events from October 14, 2021



  • - Presenter: Assiniboia & District Arts Council
    - Location: Shurniak Art Gallery

    A special partnership with the Saskatchewan German Council. Toured through OSAC’s Arts on the Move program.

    Scherenschnitte (scissor cuts) is an art form where silhouettes are cut from one piece of special black paper with scissors or knives with no ‘hangers’- unattached pieces. Scissor cutting has a long history in German folk art; immigrants brought Scherenschnitte to North America in the 17th Century. Reflecting the Canadian artists in Scissor Cuts/ Scherenschnitte, this collection of works ranges from traditional German Scherenschnitte represented by Waltraude Stehwien, a German immigrant, to papercut evolved into sculpture by Jess Richter- second generation born in Canada.

    Employing creativity to express a landscape, scene and image with cut paper requires precision in drawing as well as dexterity of cutting. Stehwien prefers scissors as they 'bite' the paper; designing her pieces by drawing out her complete design, reworking it on the back of the traditional black paper before making any cuts. While Stehwien enjoys the challenging restrictions of traditional Scherenschnitte, Richter explores all that paper can do. Richter, preferring the Exacto knife, works more organically, creating pieces for her sculptures as she goes. Neither artist likes using computers in their art. In Stehwien’s opinion "Computers are remote. Art is sensual." Richter reluctantly learned computer drafting for her MFA degree from the UofR but prefers the ‘tactileness’ of pencil (or knife) to paper.


  • - Presenter: Humboldt Area Arts Council
    - Location: Humboldt Museum/Humboldt Arts Council

    Curated and organized by the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery with funding assistance from the City of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture, Saskatchewan Lotteries, and the Canada Council for the Arts. The exhibition, I do not have my words, features printmaking, photography, sculpture and beaded, mixed media works by Indigenous, Saskatchewan artists, Joi Arcand, Catherine Blackburn and Audrey Dreaver. Each artist’s body of works explore language loss and considers how language is connected to one’s cultural identity.

    Joi Arcand explores the interruption of intergenerational language-learning, as a result of the residential school system and other colonial attempts to remove Indigenous culture, through the revitalization of the Cree language. Emphasizing the discontinuation of the language within Arcand’s own family by rendering it hyper-visible in location and material, the work further questions how the public presence of language is connected to acknowledging Indigenous peoples. Catherine Blackburn’s art practice is informed by her Dene and European ancestry, considering Canada's colonial past through her personal relationships and life experiences. The pieces in, I do not have my words, use media, traditional materials, like beading, and artistic processes that connect to the various themes and histories Blackburn explores in the work, including the Dene language. Audrey Dreaver’s prints document her research into her family’s history of Cree language loss and consider how this loss has impacted her cultural identity as a Cree woman. In this exploration, Dreaver poses questions: How did my family come to lose our language? Is your language who you are? Does my inability to speak my language mean that I am less Cree? The artist invites viewers to engage in her exploration and consider if language loss affects identity by breaking continuity with one’s past and culture.


  • - Presenter: Weyburn Arts Council
    - Location: Allie Griffin Art Gallery

    Together with Common Weal Community Arts, OSAC is proud to offer A Rightful Place to tour throughout Saskatchewan. Toured through OSAC’s Arts on the Move program.

    Migration is at the heart of the human experience. We know that throughout history, people have undertaken significant migrations that have shaped the world we now live in: journeys made in hope and exploration, as well as journeys made by force or desperation. Today, around the world, migration continues in its myriad forms, but the resistance many immigrants encounter on arrival in a new place continues as well. This negativity, aggravated by such things as a potentially depressed economy or a fear of terrorism, can sometimes make migrants scapegoats. The benefits of the acceptance of newcomers and their cultural contribution and perspectives to our society is often lost.

    A Rightful Place was created as an effort to stimulate connection with and acceptance of newcomers amongst local communities. While tensions between locals and immigrants may arise for a variety of reasons, too often it is simply a lack of understanding and familiarity which gives rise to problematic stereotypes and misunderstanding between groups.

    The A Rightful Place Project was a two-year multidisciplinary art and social justice project, in which the lives and migration experiences faced by newcomers were documented through portraits and personal narratives of the newcomers. Due to the current high level of fear and distrust of immigrants that is being promoted by some in our society, it is our belief that sharing these personal images and stories as widely as possible is vital to the Saskatchewan community at large.


  • - Presenter: Outlook & District Arts Council
    - Location: Art Gallery of Outlook

    Diggers showcases humankind’s obsession with altering our habitat for ease of mobility, pleasure, and comfort. Goretzky has a fascination with the heavy-duty equipment that was used in the transformation of Wascana Lake in Regina. The sheer size of the equipment and the magnitude of the project was impressive to the artist; the removal of 1.3 million cubic metres of mud, at a cost of $18 million, was an interesting concept. As a species, we have created machinery specially designed for executing construction tasks like earth moving operations. Although, we are transforming the earth for our own particular tastes, nature is ever present. Nature shows itself as a small plant pushing its way between the cracks in a sidewalk or a jack rabbit bolting across an asphalt parking lot. Nature is ever present and waiting to burst forth and reclaim the world. We walk a thin line with our obsession of transformation and conservation of the natural world which surrounds us. Goretzky hopes that the viewer leaves with a sense of their actions and how we end up reshaping the world.


  • - Presenter: Melville Arts Council
    - Location: Gallery Works and The Third Dimension

    "Common Truths continues my work of examining how challenges facing Indigenous people today can be identified and addressed artistically with reference to traditional teachings and concepts. Since 2015 I have been specializing in the use of the Woodlands style innovated by renowned Anishinaabe painter Norval Morrisseau. This was at the encouragement of recognized elders and practitioners in the Woodlands movement. As a member of Fishing Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan [Plains Ojibway], my ancestral roots are Anishinaabe. I have been drawn to this movement and my voice is wholly authentic and endorsed by this community of artists. This has served as a calling for me, and has proven to be immensely fulfilling artistically.

    Because the lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples under colonial dominance represent a set of Common Truths, this project looks to another shared manifestation within Indigenous cultures to confront them: the organization of social structure and roles as represented by the clan system and the totems. For purposes of this project I use the corresponding Anishinaabe/Ojibway term doodem. [The works and titles] outline the connections I am making between the five classes within Anishinaabe clan structure [using four representative doodem per class] in order to confront 20 common truths impacting Indigenous people. References drawn from the TRC, the media, and/or the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, are included for each of the 20 Common Truths."
    -Donna Langhorne


  • - Presenter: Yorkton Arts Council
    - Location: Godfrey Dean Art Gallery

    Curated and organized by the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery with funding assistance from the City of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture, Saskatchewan Lotteries, and the Canada Council for the Arts. This exhibition is toured through OSAC’s Arts on the Move program.

    This exhibition features the paintings, sculptures and craft objects of folk artist, Frank Cicansky, in dialogue with the ceramics and sculptural work of his son, internationally renowned artist, Victor Cicansky. The presentation of these artists’ works together offers an opportunity to consider the shared values, creative drives and narratives of memory, place and origin that inform both of their artistic practices. Together these works reflect a sincere and compelling response to place, offering immigrant narratives of first and second generation settler Canadians in southern Saskatchewan, while also exploring the influential connections between our province’s folk art and funk art genres.


  • - Presenter: Biggar & District Arts Council
    - Location: Biggar Museum and Gallery

    When anyone moves to a new country there are challenges. This is especially true for women. My life is not the same in Canada as it was back home in India. I had to overcome many challenges, such as living in a very different environment and culture, being away from family and friends, and so on. In 2001, soon after I arrived in Toronto, I met another new Canadian who was struggling to raise her nine-year old daughter by herself. I empathized with her because I knew how difficult it was to raise children even when you have the support of a partner. I offered to take care of her daughter after school until she returned at night after working long hours at her job. I felt her pain as a single mother being far from her family and friends. I wanted to do what I could to help.

    This relationship inspired me. I wanted to capture the experiences of newcomer women on canvas. I started by contacting women through the Immigrant Women Centre in Regina. I went to their homes and with my camera, recorded their joys and problems. Most of the feelings I heard were of loneliness, emptiness, and sadness.

    The women I have painted are bright, and hardworking. They were going through rough times as they tried to settle into their new lives. Through my paintings, I want to show what it feels like to be alone, frustrated, sad, empty, confused, lost amidst strangers and new friends. The paintings help promote dialogue about being new to Canada. I want to offer a glimpse into the life of an immigrant woman during this challenging time. Some show despair; others are more hopeful; while some are more settled.

    Storytelling is not only the core of my work, but is also universally important. Human beings need to be seen and heard. Art is a vehicle through which I am empowering these women.
    - From the Artist Statement of Madhu Kumar
7 1193 10-14-2021