An experiment with text and imagery that allowed regular Joe’s the chance to work with artists is now on display in the foothills.

Calgary artists Brian Queen and Carolyn Qualle made this truck from cardboard and acrylic to hold a book of prints made by various people.

The Leighton Art Centre is hosting an exhibition of prints and books until March 2 that incorporates words and images exploring the concept of community.

Rosemary Brown, an organizer of the art project, said artists worked with members of the public to help them create artworks using traditional printmaking and bookbinding techniques. The project took place over three weekends in September, 2008.

“It was a lot of work to organize the project, but once the public was involved, their excitement fed our excitement,” said Brown, a member of the Alberta Printmakers Society. “It was exciting to see how many people from the community wanted to be involved with making art.”

Thirty-six artists from the Alberta Printmakers Society, the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society and the Calgary chapter of the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artist Guild came together to show 440 people various ways of using ink to transfer an image onto paper.

During the weekend workshops, non-artists between the ages of preschool to retirement worked in teams with the skilled artists. The exhibition at the Leighton Centre features 75 of the finished prints.

“The goal was to build links between the writers society, the bookbinders and the print makers and the larger community and to increase an appreciation for collaborative projects like this,” said Brown. “And we really wanted to increase an appreciation of printmaking as a fine art form and book binding and the use of text and storytelling.”

The collaborative art project introduced members of the public to traditional printmaking techniques.

Using paper, linoleum, wood along with print blocks and ink people were able to communicate in both direct and abstract ways about community. Themes of home, homelessness, friends and family, animals and nature and a sense of place emerged.

“There was a little kid who did one called My Mom and Me,” said Brown. “He had a big stick figure and a little stick figure and then he scratched in the words My Mom and Me in the plexiglass plate, rolled it with ink and ran it through a printing press. It was very touching to see something like that.”

The exhibition is in the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition program and over a year’s time will be shown in approximately 10 communities in southern Alberta.

tneely@okotoks.greatwest.ca

0 Click Here to 'Like' this post

 Email This Post  Print This Post