(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Local artists

Return of High School Juried Art show provides new flavor for Mann Art Gallery

Apr 15, 2022 | 1:12 PM

Each year, for the past ten years, the Mann Art Gallery has presented a variety of art by local high school-aged students.

This year marks the 11th annual High School Juried Art Show and is among three new exhibits opening at the gallery on Saturday. Show Curator Lana Wilson told paNOW they had 77 submissions this year and will be displaying 51. Those artworks include graphite, charcoal, ceramics, and paint.

“A lot of the comments we get from the teachers is that they are really happy their students have a chance to have their art showcased. It’s nice to be able to bring their families to show them their art in a professional gallery space,” she said.

A reception and awards night has been scheduled for April 28 and includes cash prizes of $75.

“I feel like it just really elevates and helps spotlight the hard work the students have done,” Wilson said.

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A piece submitted grade 12 student Tia-Lee McCallum is an early favourite to win. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Elizabeth Babyn’s exhibit Her Industry, Reclaimed explores a variety of textile processes that women have historically advanced, such as embroidery, mending, sewing, crocheting, and more recently needle felting, through the creation of tapestries made of up-cycled textiles.

“There was no paycheque in those days but they helped the family survive,” she explained when providing a tour to paNOW on Thursday.

The project is an homage to Babyn’s late mother Rollande, who lived in an orphanage until the age of 9 and learned skills such as needlepoint, sewing, and knitting that she would later pass on to her daughter. Babyn explained each of her hanging pieces actually represents an ancestor.

‘There’s beauty in torn and tattered and they were difficult times and beautiful times,” she said.

Babyn says crocheting factors large in all her pieces because it’s a means to bring everything together in a layering.. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Another o Babyn’s pieces is a large, ongoing suspended textile piece that was started in 2019. Named “Eve”, Babyn explained it represents a collaboration of a number of artists, both new and experienced at crocheting.

“The beauty of this piece is the stories and the sharing of ideas,” she said.

Babyn will be on-site from April 19th to 21st to host a collaborative workshop, and those involved with help build on Eve.

“‘It keeps growing and it’s going to keep growing here as well,” she said.

Also on the gallery floor are a trio of suspended 3-D pieces which Babyn appropriately named her goddesses and each clearly has its own personality. Babyn explained it was initially her vision to have them all on some sort of catwalk, as part of a fashion show, but due to COVID restrictions, that wasn’t possible. One of the freestanding pieces is named “Dumpsy.”

‘She’s the goddess of the dump … land and sea,” Babyn explained.

“Dumpsy” is made or recycled products including spun newspaper, water bottles, and vegetable bags.

“I think I could do a whole show with her. She’s gonna have children I think,” Babyn joked.

Dumpsy is truly a goddess in her own right. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

The third exhibit opening at the gallery was created Negar Devine-Tajgardan. The Reunion addresses memories of absent spaces and missing objects through furniture miniatures.

Devine-Tajgardan uses dissolvable fabric for its fragile quality and ability to speak to the vulnerability of life. This project focuses on the physical spaces of memory, beginning with the artist’s own experiences of displacement and immigration.

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Noting the diversity of the three exhibits, Gallery Director Marcus Miller said it’s an exciting time for everyone involved.

‘When we put the new exhibits up, everybody is dancing around,” he said.

Miller also noted Babyn and Devine-Tajgardan are known to each other, as both are graduates from the University of Saskatchewan.

The exhibits can be viewed until May 28.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell