Category: Spare Room Gallery

GALLERY SPACE UPDATE

• Track lighting: check
• Hanging system: check
• Window blinds: check
• Door swing reversed to improve space configuration: check
• Paint touchups: in progress
• Security system: needed
• Volunteers: needed

For an overview of the project, read the Unity Press – Wilkie Herald article by Azure McGonigle here: Exciting new art space announced in Cut Knife.

The space is on track to be ready for an early May opening but it will be difficult to continue with a Request for Exhibitors without administrative help.

Do you have some free time and a soft spot for the visual arts? If so, help us establish this gallery space at 113 Broad Street for the artists and arts enthusiasts of Cut Knife and surrounding area. Email Randy at cmmmcutknife@gmail.com.

~ Debbie M.

RENOVATIONS NOW IN PROGRESS!

Yesterday, Randy began installation of the track lighting. The smaller size of the room means lighting infrastructure can be minimal but it also has to be flexible to accommodate the full range of visual arts practices. LED track lighting has adjustable track heads that can be customized for each exhibit, and it’s easy to clean and maintain. As a non-profit, the CMMM also appreciates its energy and cost efficiency.

Once the lighting is functional, the next steps will be installation of the hanging system and then security.

For more information or to volunteer, email Randy at cmmmcutknife@gmail.com.

~ Debbie M.

If you’ve read a few of these gallery posts, you’ll know we’ve been looking for individuals to help us form a “working group.” Well, we’re still looking, and it’s time to describe the help we need, so you’ll know if you’d like to join us.

• This working group will not form a Board of Trustees or Directors. The term the Museum used at its formation was “Advisory Committee.” We anticipate this will be an informal group that comes together when there is work to be done.
• We hope to be ready to open with the first exhibit in early May, which means there’s much to be done very soon.
• Randy may need some help with renovations. If so, watch this space for an announcement.
• The real work is going to be in the requests for submissions, in the selection and scheduling of exhibits, coordination with artists and creators, and probably a dozen other things we’ll discover once the gallery is open.
• We’ve talked about each exhibit running for a few months, and exhibits scheduled well in advance i.e. 6 months to a year.
• Experience is not required. A soft spot for the visual arts will never be turned away.

The gallery (as yet unnamed) will showcase and celebrate the wide variety of artistic traditions practiced in this area. We hope the working group will reflect the rich diversity of people who live here. We invite interested individuals from all communities, including newcomers, First Nations and Métis, new residents, expats from other provinces, and longtime area residents of all ages and backgrounds, to join us.

from Words Make a Difference

For more information or to volunteer, email Randy at cmmmcutknife@gmail.com.

~ Debbie M.

ART GALLERY vs VISUAL ARTS SPACE

Decision making began very early on in this process. In fact, probably about half way through the first meeting, we were trying to agree on the text for a Facebook post. That was after we’d settled on first steps, and after we’d selected Facebook for the group’s first public messaging. There we sat, stalled on the wording of the very first sentence.

Trying to craft a post about starting an art gallery in the front room at 113 Broad Street, we were divided on the term “art gallery”: “Elitist”, “not just paintings”, “hoity-toity”, etc. We soon agreed on “visual arts space”, a broad umbrella-like term that refers to a dozen different artistic practices:

The visual arts are art forms that create works that are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video, film making and architecture… Also included within the visual arts are the applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design and decorative art.

from Unbound Visual Arts

The gallery (as yet unnamed) will showcase and celebrate the wide variety of artistic traditions practiced in this area. We hope the working group will reflect the rich diversity of people who live here. We invite interested individuals from all communities, including newcomers, First Nations and Métis, new residents, expats from other provinces, and longtime area residents of all ages and backgrounds, to join us.

Let’s get this going! Email Randy at cmmmcutknife@gmail.com.

~ Debbie M.

Do you have some free time and a soft spot for the visual arts? If so, help us establish this gallery space at 113 Broad Street for the artists and arts enthusiasts of Cut Knife and surrounding area. Email Randy at cmmmcutknife@gmail.com.
More: 1- The Spare Room and 2- What Kind of Art Gallery?