The UNB Art Centre kicks off the school year with the exhibit Beneath the Surface, featuring members of Craft NB.
The exhibit curated by Maegen Black, Director of the Canadian Craft Federation, features work by artists from Craft NB who participated in a residency at Fundy National Park this past summer. In partnership with Parks Canada, artists stayed on site for a 5-day period interacting with nature, park interpreters, scientists, educators and each other. Inspired by their explorations of the natural landscape, these artists brought their curiosity and their creativity to bear on such matters as the Fundy tides, the flora and fauna of the Acadian Forest, and wetland ecosystems.
In celebration of Canada’s 150th Anniversary, this project hearkens back to an earlier association of craft and nature when Dr. Ivan Crowell gave workshops and classes throughout the summer at Fundy National Park in the 1950s. Dr. Crowell, who died in 2003, is remembered as a pewter smith and tapestry weaver, but also for his lasting cultural legacy, as the founder of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.
Beneath the Surface, will also provide inspiration to a young generation of artists as students from schools in the Anglophone West District will visit the exhibit as part of a Canada 150 educational project. While at the UNB Art Centre, students will draw inspiration from the display, interact with some of the artists, learn more about their own part of the world, participate in hands-on art-based activities and then in turn create their own works of art that will be displayed at their own schools.
Beneath the Surface opens September 22 and runs through October 20, 2017 at the UNB Art Centre but will make stops at a number of venues in the province throughout the year. A catalogue has been produced documenting the residency and creative process and will be available for sale throughout the exhibition.
Beneath the Surface Opening Reception | September 22, 2017 | 5 p.m. | Memorial Hall, 9 Bailey Drive, Fredericton
The galleries are open 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. weekdays and for special events. Admission is free to members of the public.
