Arts Atlantic Symposium Japanese artist Tomo Ingalls stands at the centre of the Tompkins Studio Hall within the Saint John Arts Centre. It is pitch black except for a soft spotlight hitting the performance area. A 220lb circle of recycled clay is surrounding her, with a larger circle of participants sitting in front of hanging...
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My grandmother, Rev. Alfreda Evangeline Smith (née Simmonds), was born October 23, 1939, in North Preston, Nova Scotia. She learned quilting from her mother, Annie Simmonds, who made quilts to help her family survive brutally cold winters in an uninsulated home. My grandmother was a proud descendant of Black refugees who evaded American slavery and...
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Dartmouth Halifax-based artist Emily Lawrence posted Aquarius Dessert on her Instagram (@emilylawrenceca) on February 1, 2021. An elegant, salted crème brûlée dessert is pictured like a dancer in a white fluted bowl situated slightly off centre on a white ground. Golden candied hazelnuts rest like fallen stars on the flame-crusted sugar surface of the brûlée,...
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Beyond the Gallery is an anthology published by Laberinto Press (Edmonton, Alberta), as part of their Beyond series. The editorial team is made up of Luciana Erregue-Sacchi, Ana Ruiz Aguirre, and Liuba González de Armas. This publication of essays, according to the editors, seeks to “showcase the talent of some of the best literary professionals...
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Queerness is fluid—it lives, breathes, and acts through fluidity. Like the ocean that surrounds Canada’s Atlantic region, and the tides that are pulled in to shore and recede again by the moon’s gravity, to be Queer, to live in Queerness, and to create as a Queer is to navigate a rigid world from a place...
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Miya Turnbull kneels on the floor of a sunroom. Large photos of the Japanese Canadian artist, masked in ways that almost reveal, are placed along two walls. She’s getting pieces ready for a solo summer exhibit at Eltuek Arts Centre, Cape Breton; meanwhile, a group show, Unveiled, opens at The Beaney House of Art &...
Read MoreAn issue that looks at CRAFT practices in Mi’kma’ki. Craft is an artform which takes a physical object or artefact – for example: wood, clay, ceramics, beadwork, basketmaking, glass, textiles – but then there’s the word meaning the skill of producing that object. Why is process important to craft? How does a craftsperson become an...
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In 2009, the preeminent Canadian craft historian Dr. Sandra Alfoldy wrote, “perhaps the fact we do not possess an instantly identifiable “Canadian” craft aesthetic is our aesthetic.” Beauty and truth are found in and among our differences, and authentic realizations come to fruition when we connect both because of and despite these differences. It is...
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My first time seeing porcupine quillwork was watching my Aunt Connie create pieces at her kitchen table when I was 16 years old. It was mesmerizing to watch her take tiny quills and insert each one meticulously into place. I still remember the rhythm she created. When I began my own exploration into Indigenous Arts...
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Originally from the historic Maroon Town of Accompong in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, artist Tyshan Wright now lives and works in Halifax. He is a traditional maker of Jamaican Maroon ceremonial objects, which are mixed media and created primarily with wood and natural forest products. Wright recently collaborated with his wife—beloved Halifax poet and writer Shauntay...
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Just beyond the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Prince Edward Island, the late September sunset washes the sky with a lilac glaze that tints the Hillsborough River below. With only one day remaining until the Harvest Moon, the celestial body is nearly at its peak brightness, but an unlikely structure along the grassy shore—a white cubic...
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Creating community in the arts is especially important for those who identify as disabled. In October 2021, members of the disability arts community gathered online for the first annual Disability Atlantic Arts Symposium (DAAS), hosted by JRG Society for the Arts. Artists connected on Zoom to discuss pertinent topics surrounding the experience of being a...
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