Patrick Doyle at DEFSUP

     After winning the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts it’s a good bet the turnout for Definitely Superior’s next opening will be huge. The award commends the DEFSUP gang for their hard work over the years and for hosting some of the greatest shows in the region, certainly worthy of not only provincial, but of national attention.

     The three great shows to kick off DEFSUP’s new found stride and confidence ($50,000.00 sure helps), will be opening this Friday, July 26. Featured are: Patrick Doyle, Alice Massaro, and a film documentary, JR-Women are Heroes. For this article the focus is Patrick Doyle’s work. The other two shows will be reviewed at a later date.

    Doyle has been involved in the Thunder Bay art scene for many years, born into this world surrounded by artistic influences. Susan Ross was his aunt. Ross’s work has been collected internationally. Ross had influence on Norval Morrisseau’s work and  Ross showed with Frederick Varley. Doyle’s great uncle was Robert Flaherty who influenced documentary film internationally with his innovative, Nanook of the North, one of the first documentaries to introduce Inuit culture to the world.

     Doyle recalls his meetings with them regularly as a child, watching Ross paint, surrounded by piles of work in various stages of progress that Ross had in her makeshift studio. She would often give advice to Doyle in his early years. Flaherty was a regular visitor to Doyle’s family home and Patrick recalls handling Inuit art that Flaherty had collected in his travels. Because these great artists were family, Doyle is calmly laconical in his description of his encounters with them. It may be to avoid the appearance of name-dropping.

     He certainly doesn’t need to. Doyle’s work has it’s own commanding authority of individual style and a strength that comes from the power of the images. His work is also very beautiful and has been collected by many. He’s been painting for thirty years now having first studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, and in an independent studies program in Italy.

     He’s spent a good deal of time learning to create his own style, expressed primarily in oil paint. He’s very grateful to the Ontario Art Council for the Northern Arts Grants that have helped support him in the last few years. The grants have allowed him to focus nearly exclusively on his creations. That breathing room had some influence, which can be seen at this show, a show with a great deal of cohesiveness and originality in each piece. “I feel that I’ve come into my own. I’m not trying to imitate anyone else’s art. I’m doing what is from myself.”

     Doyle is often asked why he stays in Thunder Bay. He replies, “I love Thunder Bay for a lot of reasons, but to make it as an artist you also have to be someone else.” That “someone else” is someone in love with the region, which he refuses to leave.

      Doyle calls his work “Abstracted Representation,” meaning he’s created work that is inevitably flat to the picture plane, without perspective, yet makes reference to actual objects. The imagery of his works are closer to Rauschenberg’s than Salvador Dali’s surrealism; containing a few more references for the viewer to look for and find meaning in should they choose to do so.

     “I like to tell a story through paint,” says Doyle. “I’m inspired to paint what happens to me in my life as a reflection of myself. And I’m not big on explaining my art. It is for the viewer to interpret what they want to get from it.”    

     Doyle works on six to eight pieces at a time, depending on space and time allowed. “I feel they have a consistency when I work on them together,” he says. His love for colour certainly makes a statement on its own. The shapes and forms he chooses have a good degree of repetition with variation to allow each work to be original.

     Richard Asham, a friend of Doyles, describes the narrative side of Doyle’s work in an essay that will appear in the show. The essay is titled, Synesthesia: The Sound of Colour. Synesthesia is a condition where different sensations might cross each other at the same time, and some people claim sounds produce colour.

     Whether Doyle has this condition or not, his work certainly claims the authority of an artist with a unique vision worth checking out, worth being inspired by, and worth collecting. Doyle’s show runs till August 24.

Hardball and Riley discuss Fine Art

Circles of Influence

As Canadians we are often guilty of not celebrating our own actors, musicians, writer’s, painters, filmmakers and many others. One reason for this is American popular culture, which certainly has easy access to our minds and hearts and most notably to Canadian children. Some of it is great, we have to admit, but the commercial junk, false and repetitive advertising, sexual morays, unnecessary violent images, extreme political ideologies, religious temperament, nationalistic zeal, economic policies, and selective world view can have an effect on how we view ourselves as Canadians with our own set of values.

     It also affects how we view our neighbors and the rest of the world. We can be transfixed, totally turned off or have a harder time being selective and knowing who we are and how we are actually different from the Americans.

     One difference, and this might be a generalization, is American style win-or-lose success as compared to Canadian, happy to make a living success. We creative types often wonder if anything we do has influence or really matters in Canada because we don’t see much of our peers in the media. We can develop an inferiority complex with the Americans and envy anyone in Canada who obtains some success without understanding what kind of luck, hard work, or change and sacrifice is involved. This actually makes it more important for artists to talk about what they do and what it took to become an artist. A realistic understanding can go a long way.

     Many artists shut down after a few setbacks because they see so many examples of overnight success on TV. Our own expectations of others and of ourselves can be too high. And we don’t know at what point we’re supposed to be happy with our accomplishments, because we often judge by other people’s success stories that are unrealistic .

     A lot of this has to do with understanding the circle of influence an artist might want and need to have. Setting realistic goals helps, and understanding that any excess success is a bonus.

    So we have two sets of problems, one for artists and one for their potential supporters that can both be met with a little effort by thinking in terms of circles of influence.   

     For the creative types the question is: contributing to what circle would make you happy? Friends and family? Your school? Your church? Your neighbourhood? The City? The region? The province? The country? The world?

     For all of us who are fans of anyone in the arts, or sports, politics, science, etc., there is a question of who we could celebrate. Of any group there are individuals worthy of attention. Can you list ten examples that are your international favourites? Ten of your country? Ten of your province? Ten of the region? Ten locally?

    Because of the mega-influence from the U.S., it can be harder to make a list of local talent. A few months ago the Walleye Magazine did a listing of various local artists. It was inspiring. There is a lot of talent in the city and surrounding area.

     Making your own lists, sharing your knowledge with friends and adding to the list by getting out there would go a long way to support local artists of all stripes. I’m trying to take my own advice and get out more often. See you at Summer in the Parks, Wednesday nights. That’s a start. 

Jon Nelson's Photography in Atikokan

     In Atikokan, Jon Nelson is showing about 30 of his amazing photographs at the Pictograph Gallery, www.atikokanpictographgallery.com, from July 6 to August 3.

     Jon Nelson worked in Quetico Park with his wife Marie as a ranger for 12 years beginning in the 1970s. They spent their first years living with their children in an Interior Ranger Station accessed by floatplane. The family would arrive in May for walleye season and leave after “ice-out” in September when the season’s tourist traffic ebbed.

     The more time Jon spent in the park, the more he became interested in photography and plants, with the help of Shan Walshe, a park naturalist. Jon took a particular liking to lichens and wrote an entire chapter on lichens for his book, Quetico: Near to Nature’s Heart.

     The title for Jon’s book comes from a young woman’s journal. She wrote in 1898, while travelling with her husband and four native guides, “Sad to leave Quetico, because Quetico is near to Nature’s Heart.”

     Working with a digital camera for the last eight years, Jon fell in love with High Dynamic Range Imaging photography. The process starts with quality multiple photographs, over and underexposed so that the detail of both light and dark areas become exaggerated. The contrast range is limited when a computer program combines the digital shots. This maintains the detail from each shot. The results can be very stunning.

     For example, in his image of the canoe shed at Old Fort William, the detail is fantastic, and the added detail of the raindrops on the window are a real contrast to the wood textures of the interior.

     Setting up the camera on a tripod and taking time to get the shots right, Jon works with a variety of lenses, using the same Olympus camera he’s had for eight years. With only 8 megapixels, he prefers the Olympus to other cameras, describing their sensors as being better able to pick up lively and vibrant colours.     

     The lens has to be open for a few seconds, depending on the lighting. On an overcast day the lens will be open for two seconds, 1/125 of a second to 2 seconds to get all the overexposed and underexposed sections. Clouds tend to blur, but details, like raindrops and sand, etc, will have their textural qualities truly revealed. Jon takes a minimum of three shots and up to seven shots of the same image.

     A regular photograph can only cover one quarter of what the eye can see, and apparently the HDRI process represents more of what the eye has the ability to see. That is only because we have the ability to adjust our eyes. We don’t see this kind of detail in one glance. We have to squint, block the sun, move closer, or get accustomed to the dark. So, the result of the HDRI process can be a little off-putting, as the photos can look 3D without the glasses, or like photorealist paintings. Objects and entire landscapes glow as if a light were behind the photos, much like seeing the images on a computer screen, but better.

     Part of the reason for this, in Jon’s case, as there are other photographers in town using the HDRI process, is that Jon prints his pictures on aluminum plates. Without glass or a frame to obstruct the view, the photos practically glow and the colours are incredibly rich, more so than when printed on paper. Some images can have a glossy unreal look, while others like the caboose image, look like amazing paintings where the artist spent a year working with high quality oil paints.

     Jon’s landscapes and rock images are fantastic. These works really grab the landscape for you, and create the desire to go to Quetico Park to see the wondrous beauty for yourself. Some images have that photojournalist appeal, with a story to boot.

     The photo of Charlie Brooks holding his antlers is one example. The antlers are 11,000 years old. Steep Rock Mine was constructed in the 1940s. In the 1970s a lake was drained to further the search for iron ore. At thirty feet below the silt and sand, caribou bones were discovered. Charlie had the only pair of antlers from the dig. Atikokan is Ojibwe for “caribou bones.”

     Inspired by Lacque Lacroix native guides, who got him interested in the native history of the area, Jon went to Trent University in Peterborough in his mid forties and got a Masters Degree. He returned to Quetico to do archeological research. Later he taught biology and chemistry at Confederation College.

     Now, he’s continuing his love of photography with passion. Aside from his show in Atikokan, his work can be seen in Thunder Bay at the Fireweed, and the Baggage Building at Prince Arthur’s Landing.

Something for Everyone, Nothing for Anyone

     This year marks twenty-five years of activity by the Definitely Superior Art Gallery. Again this year DEFSUP is a finalist for the Ontario Premiers Award for Excellence in the Arts. Their current shows are a good amalgam of current members, former members who are now professional artist/musicians in Montreal, and young people who are part of the Die Active Art Collective and may become future members. Having produced and presented over 800 exhibitions, events and activities DEFSUP has supported over 12,000 local, Canadian, and international artists.

     Last week I covered the Die Active 2-Pact show. Two other shows running currently are the 25^th Anniversary Member’s Show and a show called Something for Everyone, Nothing for Anyone, featuring two Montreal Artists, Tyler Rauman and Adam Waito. The two are former Thunder Bay artists.

     The Member’s Show is always an eclectic collection of styles and approaches for painting, drawing, multi-media, and sculpture. Such is its nature as the members featured are a mix of novices and professionals who do commercial and fine art.

     In Gallery One, the bizarre creature, a soft sculpture that will first grab your attention is Kathleen Twomey’s “Protector.” Half dog, half human, the thing is carrying a child. Spooky. Not far from this creature is a group of ceramic yellow ducks, by Katie Lemieux, where one duck is missing its eyes. Spooky-cute.

     Christian Chapman plays with the Queen’s head. Mark Neisenholt plays with Mayan hieroglyphs. Sam Shahsahabi’s and Janice Andrew’s acrylic paintings explode with colour, while Henry Hajdinjak’s is a tsunami of textures like you wouldn’t believe. Candace Twance goes for a little serenity in her painting, The Seer. Breanna

Bakkelund does a little classic piece in pastel called, Girl With Braided Hair. Kathleen Baleja’s Pod is made of “waspnest” material. And there’s much more worth checking out.

     In Gallery Three, Tyler Rauman and Adam Waito share their fun and lowbrow art, work that is a cross of commercial and fine art. They are both premiere poster makers for the music scene in Montreal. And they make their own music, so their affinity with what works and what the scene wants aesthetically makes them very current. Google their names to check out their amazing music careers.

     Their images are a mix of 1960/70s cartoon styles similar to Robert Crumb and Peter Max, and that of 1990s artists, Robert Williams and I, Braineater. It’s very much the kind of fun and edgy work popularized in Juxtapose Magazine.

     This art takes real skill and imagination, and mixed with its function of promoting bands and concerts these works are very effective at delivering a message and making the images memorable.

     Tyler Rauman’s work is hyper, manic, colourful, fun, dark, jazzy, and unrelenting in forcing you to look deeper. The mesmerizing quality comes from a great deal of colourful and strong repetition of simple shapes and images. His paintings can seem cluttered at first, but Rauman’s drawing abilities use the detail well.

     Adam Waito uses strong black contours to clearly delineate characters and objects. They too jump out at you, and for all their simplicity they are rich works, stronger in impact than the average political cartoon and resembling traditional woodcuts that have an association with dignity that is a bit jarring for the bizarre subject matter.

     Renee Terpstra says she and David K. brought this work to Thunder Bay in part because these two artists are both examples of how “this gallery has seeded artists throughout the country,” states Renee. “They’re here to help us celebrate our 25^th anniversary.”

     And you can too. These shows are up until July13. And cross your fingers and hope this year that DEFSUP wins the Ontario Premier’s Award.  

Modern Cave Painting at DEFSUP Gallery in Thunder Bay: 2-Pact Die Active Art Show

     The oldest cave paintings in North America are dated between 9,000 to 12,000 years old. Their meaning and function have never been fully resolved, but two distinct functions can be determined; our native ancestors said, “We were here,” and the images made them feel good.

     The paintings most likely performed the basic function of giving their makers comfort through mimesis, the copying of the things they loved and needed, primarily the animals they hunted for survival.

     By painting animals repeatedly the mass of images gave them feelings of plenty, which was especially important if the animals migrated to other parts for long periods of time. Those feelings of plenty became a necessary tool for survival, giving psychological comfort and reminding our ancestors that the animals would return.

     Having plenty, like our modern version of being materialistic, makes us feel good. We get status and security by owning lots of stuff. And for artists and others who collect art, art can be a substitute for the real thing. What we can’t have we make real in images, like lonely men painting women, poor people making vision boards, rich people collecting art supposedly imbued with deep meaning from some kind of guru artist, or a prisoner painting landscapes. Your fruit and flower curtains replace the winter view when everything outside appears dead. Your curtains remind you of better times. Lonely people watch lots of television.

     Having plenty of visual substitutes of what we can’t have makes us feel better.

      That’s why having art is so valuable in Thunder Bay, especially for young people. In our little community what we don’t have we can get surreptitiously through art.            

Witness the modern version of cave painting at the Definitely Superior Art Gallery currently on display in gallery two created by the Die Active Art collective. The imagery is a cross between graffiti and cave art where the art allows for a perfect blend of two desires most important for young people, acceptance and variety.

     The need for acceptance by ones peers and the need for freedom to be oneself may seem contradictory, but here at the DEFSUP gallery both meet perfectly in an expression of organized anarchy.

     Around thirty-five artists were involved in one week of work, which included two workshops to teach graffiti and how to use wheat paste. The only limit to the creative individual expression of the members was the colour palette. Limiting the colour helps give the show some cohesiveness.

     A few members to note are, NoHart, a graffiti artist with ten years experience, Vivike Knutson, a recent grad from OCAD, David Hotson, a talented low-brow artist, and new members, Nick Van Skahl, Sam Piche, otherwise known as “Fish,” and Saskia Pateman, who at fourteen years of age also did a musical performance piece at the show’s opening last week.

     Two former Thunder Bay residents, returning from Montreal, Adam Waito and Tyler Rauman, who have their work in Gallery 3, also contributed to the show.

    Die Active is in its fifth year of operation, coordinated by the talented Laura Northway. Membership is free. They always welcome new members.

     This Tuesday Die Active is having a yarn-bombing workshop at 3:30, and on Thursday, July 11, from 1 – 4 they are working on their Cook Street graffiti project. Lora can be reached at 344-3814. You can get more info from their Facebook page by searching the Web with “Die Active Art Collective.” 

Damon Dowbak: Meditations on Colour and Form

     Damon’s work at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery is immediate and fresh, combining professional craftsmanship with brilliant presentation. He worked for three years on the stained glass pieces and two months on the design and creation of the panels for this show.

     Damon states, “Rather than a boring square frame, I tried to take some of the elements from the pieces themselves. Some of the pieces were irregularly shaped and needed to be tied into something.”

     So the stained glass pieces are set away from the walls. The light from the overhead spotlights bounces off the walls and is captured and reflected by the panels that hold the works.

     “Light traversing through glass produces a colour you can’t get anywhere else,” says Damon. “It’s so vibrant and alive. It really speaks to me, more so than painting. Paint reflects light and isn’t as immediate.”

     Damon used kiln form and fused glass, which is ordered from France and Germany, cut, assembled and fused together in his kiln. This glass is mouth blown/hand made glass, which is silica, soda ash, and lime with metal oxides, which gives it unique colours. Iron is added to make green glass, cobalt and manganese for blue, cadmium, selenium and gold to make yellows, reds, and oranges. He doesn’t make the glass himself. In Europe the glass is made into sheets that are 2’ X 3.’ There are very few companies in the world that produce this kind of glass. “It’s called Antique Glass because the methods of making it go back hundreds of years,” says Damon

     He also painted directly on some works to modify the colours and to diffuse the light with varying thickness of paint. Some of the black and white textures are similar to etchings and there are influences from filmstrips, with amber and red colours glowing, and framed in black. Damon’s influences come from all over, primarily nature, but also from urban settings.

     Damon loves working with glass. He’s created glasswork for more than 35 year, running his Kleewyck Stained Glass Studio on Simpson Street since the late 1980s. “Glass is a unique medium, an amorphous material, not a crystalline substance, so it can be a rigid liquid and change from a molten state and back to a solid state. But it’s not actually changing, it’s always glass.”

    In his works there are hints of 1950s abstraction, a time when art critic Clive Bell’s term “significant form” was used to describe the elements in a work of art that created emotional experiences. The idea was that you could appreciate objects or shapes as pure form and as an end in themselves not requiring recognizable objects in order to influence emotions. This explanation gave artists choices, allowing great freedom to play with different materials. The term fell out of favour because it was all encompassing, and was used to defend some pretty bad art. 

     However the term can be successfully applied to Damon’s work as the forms and colour really are the focus and they really do generate emotional, if not spiritual experiences for the viewer. This is due not only to the forms and colours which are well thought out and planned on paper, but also due to the materials used and their presentation, which is really quite wonderful and very classy.

     Damon is also an accomplished painter, photographer, and musician, having performed with great local and international talent. He has his own Damon Dowbak trio. For the production of work in this show, Damon is thankful for support from the Ontario Arts Council through the Northern Arts Grant. All works are for sale, but you will have to contact Damon directly. This show’s reception opens at 7:30 this Friday, where Damon will give a talk. The show runs from June 14 to September 8. 

Figure Drawing Sessions at the Baggage Building

     Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, had trouble when it came to artists. He hated Wagner’s mega-opera, The Ring, and he had a lot to say about painters, including wondering why they had nude models. Why couldn’t they be drawn with their clothes on, he wondered.

     The answer is quite simple. For most, it is very difficult to draw the human body. As a result there are lots of benefits in attempting to do. One major benefit is that if you can learn to draw the human body, with feet and hands and face and figure, you can draw ANYTHING!

     Why is it so challenging? Because a normal object of any shape is rather predictable. A square, a circle, a triangle, a tube shape, etc. can be depicted easily in your mind and as result is fairly easy to draw. If we picture a hand, a foot, a face, a belly, an arm, etc. what comes to our minds will vary dramatically. And we know that the shapes are complex, so when we try to translate body parts in two dimensions by drawing on paper, our minds revert to preset ideas, something like a template of what the parts should look like. Yet perspective, reflections and the ability to measure with your eyes get in the way of translating 3D into 2D.

     This is why some artists pretend that drawing doesn’t matter. They hate that being able to draw a human figure acts like a discerning element in the arts, that it separates those artists who can do art from those who talk about it.

     Some contemporary artists say emotional expression is more important, or new and modern aesthetic challenges are more interesting than the old human body. For decades one particular director of the National Gallery of Canada had a hate-on for drawing. The Gallery purchased not one drawing during his tenure.

     For most of us that template of what a person is supposed to look like is too strong to overcome. For example: draw a nose. You will most likely draw a line from a corner of the eye to the nostril. Take a look in the mirror and tell me if you see a line. You might see a line if you turn your head at an angle and there is a harsh shadow cast on your face. That line is evidence of the template, because in most instances there is no line, but very subtle shadows. And of course, shadows are difficult to draw.

     Thomas White, a professional artist and a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design is running a figure drop-in session Tuesday nights beginning at 7pm at the Baggage Building in Prince Arthur’s Landing. It’s open to everyone, and he’s willing to give instruction, so if all you’ve ever drawn were stick people this would be a great opportunity for you.

     Thomas has built the studio “horses” in which to sit with a board to accommodate up to ten students. Unlike other drop-in sessions he provides the boards, the paper and the charcoal, but you’re welcome to bring your own materials. He’s built a professional model stand and has lights set up to cast interesting shadows. He can teach a variety of approaches, and he’s very proficient with the “deep anatomical” approach to drawing “where the bones are like the foundation of a house,” he says.

     More than just rendering an accurate likeness, Thomas sees drawing as a way of “Exploring the human condition through the act of drawing.” He believes that similar to the way a human face tells a story of a person’s life, so does the body where there is also a great deal of expression involved. 

     Thomas, who once worked in the area as a tree planter and crew boss, moved to Thunder Bay from Toronto five years ago, graduated from teacher’s college and bought a house in the country with his wife. He has two children. He loves the accessibility to the forest and laments the distances from nature in Toronto. Locally he’s become more involved in the arts, doing auto body painting as seen on his own motorcycle. He’s also producing fine art, working towards an art show in the future.

     Thomas prefers the models avoid static poses, which results in the models being more animated. The drop-in students start with warm-ups of 30 second poses to a minute, then five minute and up to half an hour.

     His model for last Tuesday night, Julia Postigo-Rombola has modeled for 3 years at LU and at the Painted Turtle. Julia got into modeling inspired by a fictional book character who did the same. Julia thought it was incredibly brave. Challenging herself she gave it a try.

     “I don’t really mind being naked. It’s not sexualized. And everyone has the same body. Our North American culture is pretty afraid of nudity. I never really understood it.”

     Julia says she constantly fidgets, so she enjoys the challenge of sitting still. She uses the time to meditate and think of the next pose. “It’s fun and it’s like you get paid to learn, because you listen to the instructor and you can try it at home.”

     Julia studied sculpture and is now an outdoor recreation student.

     Thomas is still looking for more students, and looking for people of all body types and ages to pose for the sessions. It’s a paid gig for the model. Portraiture is also taught in his sessions. You can email him if you would like to join the group, or pose for the artists, at disorder@fastmail.fm. You can also register through the Baggage Building Arts Centre: 684-2063.

Great High School Work at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery

    What to do, what to say, how to react, and how to interpret how others treat them as either a child or as an adult can confuse young adults, caught in the child/adult stage of development.

     When it comes to painting, sculpting, printing and being generally creative, they relax a little, and the ratio of the child/adult mix is often obvious in the art. Some young students revel in their childhood interests and paint copies of Johnny Depp, Disney characters, Batman, etc. Others explore a bit of the mix with Goth images, culture mixes (South American, aboriginal), figure studies, faces that drip and clothes that explode with colour.

     And then others leap forward with outright adult work, both in terms of skill and subject matter. A few manage to pull off work that even professional artists would be hard pressed to reproduce.

     As in the case of grade eleven student, Santana Paleske from Queen Elizabeth District High School, in a work called, You’ve Had Enough Sugar. Here you can see the amazing drawing skills of a professional artist, taking advantage of a common theme, and making a wonderful and very human statement about our inability to control our childlike desires. The thrill in the little girl’s face is awesome. We immediately pick up on the feelings she must have, sinking her teeth into that most awesome cupcake. The girl has entranced and startled eyes, and although we don’t see her mouth, the marshmallows mimic giant teeth and the pink of the cupcake resemble lips, as if the cupcake itself were a surreal distorted mouth representing the uncontrollable animated delight of emotions related to eating. Here’s an artist who has used that knowledge of one positive aspect of being a child, and capturing it masterfully. Santana! Do not sell this drawing for less than $2,000.00!

    Whatever stage of maturity these students are at they have the desire to stretch their skills, to see what they can accomplish, and although the subject matter might not be original, as when copied from a photograph, the excitement is genuine.

     Being part of a big show is fun too, and the students get a confidence boost by having their work on display, and a taste of what it’s like showing work. They also get to share and learn what other students are up to in terms of technique, skill and subject matter.

     Crammed on the walls of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery are the works of students from the majority of high schools in town, both public and Catholic, along with Geraldton Composite High, Marathon High, and Nipigon-Red Rock. There are noteworthy young up-and-coming artists from each school.

    

A particularly rough acrylic painting by Willa Ratz (grade 10 from Superior CVI) called, Don’t Look Back, is very reminiscent of the artist Maxwell Bates. Bates overcame skill troubles by representing the human condition. Messy art with worthwhile subject matter can have associations with us emotionally messy people.       

     Willa picks up on this aspect of our human condition by painting a young man who loves speed, loves life and a little danger. As the road blurs ahead of him he looks behind, but he is not worried. His image in the mirror is also blurred as if speed blurs one from truly looking at oneself. He doesn’t need to look back, but he does for the viewer’s benefit, so he’s not all about himself. He’s taking account of you, the viewer, as a rider on the back of his ATV. He’ll keep you safe. What a great painting. It’s as good as any of Bates’ work.

     There are lots of great works and young artists worthy of attention. This is most definitely a show worth checking out. You will be impressed. It’s filled with humour, talent and surprises in a variety of mediums ­– painting, sculpture, glasswork, printmaking, and more. And this says something about the art teachers in the region as well. Good on you for inspiring so many young artists.

    This show is highly recommended. 

Thunder Bay's Culture Plan

     The creation of the newly developed Culture Plan has quite the history, which involved teams, committees, community groups, city staff, senior city staff, mayors, city counselors, and many others. It’s a wonderful thing to see so many people of different stripes come together to collaborate and share ideas, form an agreement and act on it.     Culture can be difficult to define.

     Culture, simply put, is what we celebrate. What is remembered, what is repeated and what is loved is culture. This could be our ethnic history, hockey, favourite TV shows, War Craft, dancing, scuba diving, art, green fields in which to picnic, trees, greasy hamburgers, pot luck parties, LGBT dances, shags, Christmas, bonfires – culture is just about everything that you like to do regularly. That so many were able to discuss what culture means to the City, and how to move forward is very commendable.

    A plan that looks to accentuate what this city has and to give to it what is needed can be complicated by what we think is important or not worth celebrating, and of course whatever political or economic ramifications are involved. So a plan will not be perfect for everyone, as complaints have and will continue to surface, but at least the start taken and the plan made is an exceedingly excellent one, something that other cities can only dream of.  

     The plan that is the “strategic document” for the City was initiated in 2010. It is intended to help build the city, to make Thunder Bay more culturally relevant for its citizens and for the City’s future prospects.

     The Office of Urbanism in association with AuthentiCity worked with two decades worth of arts, culture, and heritage policy developed by the city and many others in order to form this plan.

     The plan is broken into six parts, describing that those involved will:

     1. Foster Capacity in the Culture Sector, which means developing partnerships with corporate entities to obtain funding and figure out the who, how, where and when, of the finances.

     2. Develop Tourism Potential in the Creative Community, by “supporting collaborative efforts for enhancing tourism opportunities,” etc.

     3. Activate Culture in Urban Places and Spaces, which means supporting year round festivals and other events, with a schedule and resources for both ends of the city.

     4. Enable Cultural Participation in Neighbourhoods, by bettering programming, public policy, and coming up with new initiatives.

     5. Nurture Cultural Interaction and Exchange in Public Spaces, by bringing all kinds of different people together in communal spaces, whether of different ethnic backgrounds, income levels, ages, etc. (i.e., traditional Town Square functions).

     6. Foster the Potential for Creative Entrepreneurship in Youth, by providing “small business support for artists and creative entrepreneurs” and finding spaces for such creative activities in order to activate development programs and create potential cultural industries. An example of this might be the film students who are sticking around in town to create their own film businesses.

     The plan has passed the “Assessment and Visioning” stage and has implemented many of the policies created as it moves forward. Policies go back as far as 1991, with the Arts and Heritage Policy. Policies get revised over time and others are created as new challenges come up.

     It can sound rather complicated, but such is the nature of democracy, that in order to keep most everybody happy rules have to be made. If it were up to a dictator, things would move faster. When Napoleon III decided to beautify Paris he and his “prefect” Baron Haussmann razed entire neighbourhoods without giving the poor people who lived there any other option than to get out of the way. Democracy, by its nature, works a little slower.

     Presently, the “Inspire Thunder Bay Culture Plan Strategic Implementation Team” met a week ago to start implementing the plan. Jennifer Morin, (Cultural Services Coordinator) who works with Leah Bayly, (Supervisor of Cultural Services and Events) was hired this year for this new position to help direct the plan. Their names will crop in future articles on culture in Thunder Bay, as will many others involved in the Culture Plan.

     Writing on this topic is a bit overwhelming as the plan encompasses so much that is of cultural value to the city, and involves all kinds of notable locals. Over the summer I will endeavor to write more about the people involved. The plan itself can be seen at www.thunderbay.ca/cultureplan.

City Beautiful: A True Story leading up to an article about the Culture Plan

   Over thirty years ago, advice from the Ontario government about diversifying the economic structure of Thunder Bay and the region was ignored. During a resource boon for the forest, pulp and paper, and grain shipping industries, this advice was taken to be a holier-than-though attitude towards the North. “Diversity” was a word spoken by a cultured Toronto elite.

     But they were correct. A region, let alone a city, cannot rely solely on its resources. The world progresses and regresses in economic waves from unpredictable international forces that have nothing to do with the good will or hard work of the people in this city.

     Relying on only a few industries is very risky. A city can go from Boom, Bust, Echo, and then to Ghost Town rather quickly. Think of Detroit or many other large dilapidated American cities.

     And Thunder Bay was getting ugly. Real ugly.

     Here’s a true story that might upset you. The couple will go unnamed.

     Seven years ago, a young man from the USA got a good job in Thunder Bay. His wife was under contract at her job in the U.S. and couldn’t move for a couple months. The husband bought a house here. After the wife’s contract ended, she hopped on a plane for Thunder Bay. The husband was unable to meet her when she arrived at the airport, because he was busy at work. “No problem,” she said over the phone. “I will find my way.”

     And she did. She got a taxi at the airport and was driven quickly to her new home from where she called her husband. “I like the house,” she said and added with excitement in her voice, “I’m taking the car to see the city.”

     Half an hour passed, and the husband’s cell phone rang while he was at work. It was his wife. She was crying. He asked, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” worried that something serious had happened. She responded, yelling, “WHY DID YOU MOVE TO THIS F*#@ING UGLY CITY!!”

     His wife had driven from her home, down Arthur Street, along Simpson, Water and a long stretch of Cumberland Street, to stop at a motor hotel, short of the Boulevard Dam.

     Her husband had to restrain himself from laughing. He met up with his wife and drove her to see Boulevard Lake, the Bluffs, Chippewa, Hillcrest Park, some of the old decorated homes and other beautiful locations in the city. She was calmed enough and decided she could stay.     

     You can only rely on nature to provide beauty for so long in order to describe a city as beautiful. A well-traveled, and slightly despondent man once said of Rio de Janeiro, that if it wasn’t for the long beaches, the picturesque hills and mountains, the city would be as much a dump as any other big South American city. 

     While Thunder Bay stagnated over the years, Grand Mirais and Duluth expanded and beautified themselves enough to become serious tourist destinations and economically vibrant. Thunder Bay didn’t follow suit, and politicians would visit both cities and ask, “How did you do this?”

     These cities had a plan.

     Thanks to all sorts of forward thinking people, we now have a Culture Plan. The Culture Plan is but one aspect of diversifying the city, but a major one for attracting tourism, business and other economic development. Last week I lied. I will go into details of the Culture Plan next week.