There's a new show in town

Right now there is an exhibition at the Saint John Arts Center that is well worth seeing. It's called "Pride of Place" and it consists of works by artists who you may or may not have heard about, and it's not because they aren't talented, but because they sacrifice much of their creative time pouring into the next generation of artists and makers. They are the faculty and staff of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. Each of them is a professional artist in their own right and has put forth a piece of their work made especially for this show, which shows off the incredible talent that is probably our area's best kept secret: the artists behind the artists.

The personal work of teachers is often put on the back burner as they plan lessons and spend time passing on the skills they have acquired over a lifetime of making art. As any artist will know, you still have to exercise those creative muscles in order to stay sharp and stay inspired. This exhibition does just that, and reminds us all that you have to make room for creativity in every stage of life, whether you are working a day job, teaching art or even parenting young children.

Karen Ruet is the organizer of the show and did a fabulous job of pulling together the work of 35 people! This is the first traveling exhibition of the work of NBCCD faculty, and the beginning of a collaboration between the College and the Saint John Arts Center which will see an annual event representing artists from the College. Karen says, "We are extremely proud of having such a beautiful facility where we can show this work outside the George Fry Gallery (in the College) and Fredericton. It is really critical to the exposure of the college. We are so grateful to Bernard Cormier for his help in putting this show together". When I asked her what was special about this show, she said, "what I find really fascinating about this show is that a lot of artists went outside of what people would expect to see them producing."

There is certainly a lot of variety, with drawings, paintings, woven wall hangings, jewelery and ceramics and everything in between.

I'm going to do a mini-series on several of these artists, as part of the #100NBartists project.

Here are some shots of the show, "Pride of Place" by Rod Stears. You'll just have to go see it in person to get the full experience!