Exhibitions

  • Denouement

    Department of Visual Arts Honours Exhibition
    March 25 – April 30, 2017
    Opening Reception: Friday, March 24, 2017 at 7 pm
    Artist Talk: Friday, April 21, 2017 at 7 pm
    Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Crescent, St. Catharines
    Gallery hours: Tues.-Fri. 10 am – 5 pm, Sat./Sun. 12 noon – 5 pm
    Free community event

    This exhibition displays the work of selected graduating Brock University Visual Arts students. Occupying Rodman Hall’s third floor studios during the academic year, students in the Honours Studio course are mentored by gallery staff and professors Murray Kropf and Shawn Serfas, and learn to develop a focused body of work from concept to public exhibition.

    Such exhibits from the Department of Visual Arts are a key part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate to build connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock University.

    Image: Kylie Mitchell, bracelets, 2017, video still

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  • Common Groundz

    Department of Visual Arts Exhibition
    March 14 – April 7, 2017
    Opening reception: Wednesday, March 15 from 6 – 9 pm
    Art Gallery, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines
    Gallery Hours: Tues. – Sat. from 1 pm – 5 pm
    Free community event

    Image 1: Cold Feet by Stephanie Handy

    Image 2: Venezia by Stephanie Rogers

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  • Upcoming exhibition at Rodman Hall: Donna Akrey’s “Also Also”

    (Source: Rodman Hall Art Centre)

    DONNA AKREY
    Also Also

    Curated by Marcie Bronson

    February 11 to April 30, 2017

    Opening Reception: Saturday, February 11, 3 pm

    HOT TALK: Thursday, March 2, 7 pm
    Donna Akrey in conversation with Marcie Bronson

    Donna Akrey is interested in how habit shapes the way we experience and engage with the world around us. Rooted in her astute observation of patterns of communication and consumption, her work humorously intervenes to raise discussion about social and environmental issues, often responding directly to a particular site or community. Using common, surplus, and discarded materials to construct sculptures and installations that she describes as “ruminations on the spectacle of the unspectacular”, Akrey draws attention to the futility of the notion of “the ultimate” and the richness in the space between intention and result. Akrey explains: “I imagine the absurd as real, because sometimes the real is so absurd.” Alongside selected works from the last 15 years of her practice, this exhibition presents a site-specific outdoor installation created in collaboration with neighbourhood residents.

    Donna Akrey, Middle Ground, 2016, mirror, wood, foam, casters.

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  • The Contemporary Body: A Photo-Based Exhibit

    February 4 – 28, 2017
    Opening Reception: Saturday, February 4, 2017, 7 – 10 pm
    Mahtay Café and Lounge, 241 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines

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  • Dropped Threads

    VISA 3F99 Independent Study
    February 9 – March 10, 2017
    Opening Reception: Thursday, February 9 from 6 – 9 pm

    A Fibre Arts installation created from community donations – come out and be a part of the opening reception and see how the donations have been recycled!

    The opening will be held in the Art Gallery in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts on Feb 9th from 6 – 9 pm. The exhibition will be installed until March 10th, 2017. Gallery Hours: Tues. – Sat. from 1 – 5 pm

    Want more information? Connect with us at our Facebook event page.

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  • ART BLOCK: BAC ON THE BLOCK

    ART BLOCK showcases the artwork of Brock University students and is hosted by the Brock Art Collective. All artwork has been created on 6″x6” panels in a variety of mediums and will be for sale starting at $40.
    January 10 – February 3, 2017
    Opening Reception: Thursday, January 12, 2017 from 6 – 9 pm
    Art Gallery, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines
    Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday from 1 pm – 5 pm
    Free community event

    See a preview of the exhibition courtesy of TVCogeco:

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  • Abstract/Abstracted: “This is not a tree”

    December 3, 2016 – February 12, 2017
    Opening Reception: Thursday 8 December (18:00/19:30)

    Location: Rodman Hall Art Centre,
    109 St Paul Crescent, St. Catharines, ON
    Curators: Catherine Parayre and Shawn Serfas

    Reflecting on the exhibition A Painter’s Country: Canadian Landscape Paintings Selected from the Permanent Collection (curator: Stuart Reid) presented at Rodman Hall during the summer of 2016, Abstract/Abstracted: ‘This is not a tree’ presents works by Karel Appel, Frederick S. Coburn, Hans Hartung, Kazuo Nakamura, Carl Schaeffer, and Tony Tascona. Put together, these artworks, also from Rodman Hall’s permanent collection, explore a different problematic. How much abstraction is there in representation? In turn, to what extent is an abstract work abstract? Abstract/Abstracted highlights, but also questions the contrasts between abstract and figurative art.

    Brock University students in “Intermediate Painting” respond in selected artworks, while students in “Interpretive and Critical Writing in the Arts” provide critical texts that explore these questions.
    The catalogue will appear in the 2017 issue of A Journal of Text-and-Image Criticism/Creation

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  • In Light and Darkness: A Camera Obscura Project with Artist Liz Sales and Brock Visual Arts Students

    November 22 – December 9, 2016
    Artist Talk: Thursday, November 24, 2016, 6 – 7 pm, Foundation Studio (MW 151)
    Opening Reception: Thursday, November 24, 2016 from 7 – 9 pm

    Location: Art Gallery, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts,
    15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON
    Art Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 1 – 5 pm
    Free community event!

    The Walker Cultural Leader Series presents work by Brock University Visual Arts students in response to workshops with New York artist Liz Sales, from the International Center for Photography. Also featured are photographs from Liz Sales’ Camera Obscura series, The Weather Inside. Students worked alongside Liz Sales to construct a Camera Obscura for the production of their work on the grounds of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

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  • Lorène Bourgeois: Large Drawings

    Media Release
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    906.688.5550 x 4765

    Lorène Bourgeois: Large Drawings
    October 18 – November 18, 2016
    Opening Reception: Thursday, October 20, 5 – 8 pm

    The Art Gallery at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is pleased to present “Large Drawings” by Lorène Bourgeois.  The artist and Brock University instructor will present a series of large-scale representations of humans, animals, clothing and nakedness. The exhibition will include 10 – 12 highly detailed drawings mounted directly on the wall. The artist will attend the opening reception and thereafter be available by appointment.

    Born in France, Lorène Bourgeois completed her training in Paris, Philadelphia, and Halifax. A Fulbright recipient, she holds an MFA from NSCAD University. Her artwork has been exhibited widely in Canada as well as in France, Korea, Russia, and the United States.  Her work is held in numerous collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the National Bank of Canada, the Richmond Hill Public Library, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Ernst and Young, Senvest, Hart House, and the Donovan Collection.  Lorène Bourgeois lives and works in Toronto, and she teaches drawing in the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University.

    To view Lorène Bourgeois’ website, click here
    Free Community Event
    Art Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 1 – 5 pm
    Lorène Bourgeois gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council.

    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 
15 Artists’ Common,
St. Catharines, ON L2R 0B5

    – 30 –

    Media inquiries:
    Marie Balsom, 905.688.5550 x 4765,
    or email: mbalsom@brocku.ca

    Visit our website: brocku.ca/miwsfpa


    Video Coverage:

     

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  • Remnants: Visa 2f05 sculpture exhibition

    remnantsREMNANTS: Exhibit presented by the Department of Visual Arts
    July 7 – September 16, 2016

    Opening Reception: July 7, Noon – 3 pm
    Free food & refreshments

    The students of the summer sculpture course have delved into the site-specific exhibition, REMNANTS, creating works inspired by the traces of history that remain in the refurbished building.

    Over a century ago in the heart of downtown St. Catharines, the Canada Hair Cloth Co. functioned as a beneficial part of the community by bringing jobs and growth throughout the Niagara Region. Today it is known as the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, an extension of Brock University.

    Originally, the factory was built in 1888 and was founded by the McSloy brothers who saw the potential for industrial growth within their community. They worked hard towards building a company that centralized around trading and selling their products from Halifax to Vancouver. In the traditional style of the New England Mills, the Canada Hair Cloth Co. was built with the intention of allowing as much natural sunlight into the factory as possible. With its open concept and large windows, the building was easily illuminated before the era of electricity. Eventually, the McSloy brothers purchased a generator to provide electricity, which was powered by the Millrace.

    At the time the factory was built, horses, railways, and ships were the common means of transportation and all three were critical to the early success of the company. Waterpower played an essential role in regards to the growth of the factory as it was the primary source of energy to run the machinery. The canal flowed behind the buildings and the fast-flowing water produced power for the mills. Horses were used for providing raw material for the actual haircloth itself as the hair was gathered from their tails. The fabric produced was used in a vast variety of things ranging from the railway seats to the interfacing of fine suits. During this time, the majority of industrialized manufacturing was produced around this part of town, especially close to the Welland Canal. This enabled goods to be easily shipped and sold to other markets from around Canada.

    In the fall of 2015, the Canada Hair Cloth Co. was reopened as the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and welcomed the students of Brock University to work and create within a building that already embodies so much creativity. Keeping in mind the artistic process, materials and tools that went into the many things produced by the company, the summer sculpture class has worked hard in collaborating an exhibition to pay tribute to what was and still is a lively building full of artistic innovation.

    We welcome you to come and join us in celebrating the birth and continual growth of this beautiful building.

    REMNANTS will be held in the Learning Commons, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines.

    Free community event

    Limited paid parking onsite

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