A woman checks out one of the dazzling oil paintings. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Local events

Framed to perfection: the return of the Winter Festival Art Show & Sale

Feb 12, 2024 | 8:00 AM

What’s become known as the Prince Albert region’s premiere community art exhibition, has made a triumphant return.

The 48th Annual Winter Festival Art Show and Sale officially kicked off on Friday night with a reception and awards night at the Mann Art Gallery. Lana Wilson has been a part of the show for the past nine years and curator for the past two.

“It is absolutely our highlight of the year,” she told paNOW.

This year’s exhibit, which runs until March 23, features 133 artworks from across the province. Wilson explained the biggest trend she’s noticed is the size of the pieces.

“So many of the artworks are so much larger, and so I’m just thrilled to see people experimenting with working at a larger scale,” she said, adding there’s also more three-dimensional artworks.

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A woman admires John de Padua’s drawing. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Mann Art Gallery members may submit, show and sell one artwork (providing eligibility requirements are met) and while the largest medium category is painting, there’s also photography, wood carving, and beadwork.

“And several of the photographs are really pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a photograph,” Wilson noted.

When asked to elaborate, she cited a close-up photograph of a bouquet of flowers and the artist then altered the photo using digital means, paint and pencil crayons, to make it appear as if the flowers were dripping.

Artist Chris Danserau tours the exhibition. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Chris Dansereau was only 13 years old when he submitted his first piece for the Winter Festival Art Show and Sale 35 years ago.

“I’ve always supported this show because it does promote local artists,” he commented.

A proud representative of the woodworkers guild in Prince Albert, Dansereau also explained what makes this exhibition different from other shows he has attended is that it is a smaller show and feels far more intimate and interactive.

“It’s a little bit more special when you see the pieces here, people have put a lot more thought in the pieces that come into the show I find anyway,” he said.

The primary, but not only, criteria are that works be recent (finished within the past two years), original (your own work which is not from a kit or commercial pattern), and suitable for professional display in the Mann Art Gallery. This year was John de Padua’s first time submitting a piece.

“I was really surprised at the number of people participating and just putting up a piece of art for people to see has been a great experience,” he said.

Commenting on how he was asked by a friend to draw, he said as he was completing the work, he learned about the exhibition and thought why not enter?

“Everything just worked out perfectly,” he said.

This “found items” piece caught a lot of peoples’ eye. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Each year, a Guest Curator from outside the community is invited to select the 21 award winners and arrange the works in the two gallery spaces.

This year, Bevin Bradley, Assistant Curator of the Remai Modern in Saskatoon, accepted this role. On Saturday spoke about notable artworks and themes andprovided valuable feedback for the artists. Here are this year’s results:

(Submitted/ Lana Wilson)

(Submitted/ Lana Wilson)

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell