Countdown to Culture Days: Historic Paintout in Miramichi
Chatham’s historic downtown will be pulsing with the creative passion of artists this Saturday as members of the Miramichi Art Core take to the streets for a Paintout in celebration of Culture Days.
This is the second year the Miramichi Art Core will participate in Culture Days with a Historic Paintout in and around Chatham’s Water Street on Saturday, September 29th, from 11am to 3pm. Passersby will be treated to the rare behind-the-scenes opportunity of observing several artists working in various visual mediums as they create their art.
While the general theme of the Paintout is history for this Culture Days’ event, that is just a guideline and artists are free to work on any subject they wish. The Art Core would also like to invite any artists, whether they are members of the group or not, to join them in the street to participate and create.
About The Miramichi Art Core
The Miramichi Art Core was founded in 2007 by a group of Miramichi visual artists interested in promoting fine art in the region. The group’s aim is to associate with other artists and those interested in art or the appreciation of art. Their members create artwork in a variety of mediums including watercolour, acrylics, oils, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, encaustic, wood carvings and mixed media.
What began as a group of like-minded individuals meeting regularly to discuss their passion, has evolved into a legally registered not-for-profit organization with a definite vision for the future. They hope to promote the value of art in the Miramichi and to expand the role of the arts in the region. They want to host more art workshops, artist talks, and art events; and also help budding artists to connect with more experienced mentors.
Poster from the “Art Tells Stories” exhibition from Miramichi and Bathurst.
Currently they have between 25 and 30 members who operate a seasonal art gallery at Ritchie Wharf in downtown Newcastle from July through September, meet monthly year-round at the New Brunswick Community College in Miramichi, and host Paintout events during the summer months, as well as the Historic Paintout for Culture Days in autumn. In June the Miramichi Art Core partnered with another artist group in Bathurst for a joint exhibition. “Art Tells Stories” presented over 40 works depicting the historical past and the present day in Northern New Brunswick. The travelling exhibit was viewed at galleries in both Bathurst and Miramichi.
The Art Core is working hard to become more active in the community. They want to help people appreciate art and artists more, to understand that art is everywhere—it’s in the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the furnishings with which you decorate your home.
In the Miramichi Art Core brochure they include an excerpt from the MacArthur Foundation on the “Value of Art” which really sums up the group’s vision:
“There is no better indicator of the spiritual health of our community and the region than the state of the arts. The arts deepen our understanding of the human spirit, extend our capacity to comprehend the lives of others, allow us to imagine a more just and humane world, through their diversity of feeling, their variety of form, and their multiplicity of inspiration. As a region we must learn to cultivate environments that will attract and retain artists and cultural organizations. We must understand the role of the arts and artists in economic and community development – how they help articulate a sense of place and identity and how they help attract new business.”
New members are always welcome in the Miramichi Art Core. There are a lot of really talented artists living in the area, many who are members and many more who perhaps haven’t been aware the group exists. Just by attending the monthly meetings existing members say they learn so much from one another, they feed off each others creativity, come up with new ideas, and further develop their own unique voices. The group is open to visual artists working in all mediums or non-practising artists who have an enthusiastic interest in art and arts development in Miramichi.
Members of the Miramichi Art Core at the “Art Tells Stories” exhibit in Miramichi.
For more information about the Miramichi Art Core visit their website at www.miramichiart.ca or join their group on Facebook.
About Culture Days
Culture Days is a collaborative coast-to-coast-to-coast volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. With the support of a National Steering Committee and volunteer Provincial and Territorial Task Forces, thousands of activity organizers self-mobilize at the grassroots level to present and coordinate free public activities that take place throughout the country over the last weekend of September each year.
The third annual Culture Days weekend will take place September 28, 29 and 30, 2012, and will feature thousands of free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind-the-scenes,” to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, designers and other creative people in their communities. For more information about Culture Days events happening in New Brunswick visit nb.culturedays.ca.
Giv’er Miramichi is about “What’s up, what’s new, what’s happening”. We are focused on building people up, supporting one another and celebrating our successes.