In an Arts and Heritage in Canada Access and Availability survey done back in 2012, two thirds of Canadians surveyed said arts and culture plays a significant role in their own and their family’s quality of life. In that same survey, 92 per cent said they feel arts and culture make communities a better place to live.
That was the start of the pitch by Campbell River Art Gallery curator Janelle Pasiechnik and executive director Vicky Chainey Gagnon at the most recent meeting of Campbell River City Council.
They were there to ask for council’s support in putting on a youth engagement workshop this coming September with visiting Montreal artist Dominique Pétrin.
Pasiechnik also cited a 2006 study that showed the implementation of youth arts programs at five Canadian sites targeting youth from low-income communities led to “improvements in the participating youths’ artistic and social skills,” as well as “a significant decrease in emotional problems amongst participants,” and said Canadians who are artistically engaged tend to be healthier and give back more to their communities.
Which is why, Pasiechnik says, they are looking to engage more often, and more intently, with local youth – especially those from under-represented and under-privileged demographics.
“Our specific focus is on supporting artistic projects from underrepresented positions within contemporary art practice,” Pasiechnik says. “We care about diversity and believe whole-heartedly that everyone should have access to art and culture. It’s our vision to become a critical space for thinking, producing and sharing knowledge about contemporary visual and media art and the issues addressed by it within society.”
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The September workshop, Pasiechnik says, will be both a learning experience for the youth involved, as well as a temporary art installation on the poles of Spirit Square.
“We are delighted to offer the opportunity to the young people of Campbell River to meet, interact with and learn from an exemplary Canadian woman working within the contemporary art field,” Pasiechnik says.
Pétrin will be in town in advance of her show at the gallery, which opens Sept. 20, on a residency courtesy a BC Arts Council grant, allowing for the workshop to take place. The gallery is currently awaiting word on another grant opportunity that would allow them to pay for the kids’ supplies, but Gagnon says even if that grant doesn’t come through, “it shouldn’t be cost prohibitive” for the participants.
The installation will get the youth to use a potato-starch-based glue – which is biodegradable and completely reversible – to wallpaper the poles of the downtown gathering area. Pasiechnik and Gagnon would just need the city to donate some staff time to cleaning the artwork off the poles before the the artwork degraded “beyond a certain quality,” Pasiechnik says.
The intention, Pasiechnik says, is to “bring art beyond the gallery space,” while engaging with youth who may not otherwise have the chance to engage with it on this kind of level.
Coun. Charlie Cornfield, before considering the request for staff time to remove the art after the installation, wanted to know what kind of resources would be required of the city.
“Do you have some idea about the cost of this?” he asked Pasiechnik. “How difficult is this stuff to take off the poles?”
Pasiechnik says it shouldn’t be too difficult. “Maybe a couple of hours of labour time and a pressure washer,” but added that the time frame of the work may be slightly variable.
“If the quality of the installation dips because it’s exposed to extreme weather, it would have to be removed early, but if we have a nice long dry autumn, it may be able to stay up right until November,” she says.
Coun. Colleen Evans said she was in favour of the project, calling it “a great opportunity to engage our youth and have an opportunity to inspire emerging artists.”
She was also interested to know, however, how the gallery was planning on attracting the youth they were hoping to get involved in the project.
Pasiechnik says they have launched a social media campaign and are also visiting with local youth organizations and groups. They will also be using the project as a “kick off party” of sorts to launch their new youth art program they are marketing at the same time.
Council agreed that the project is worthwhile and committed to pressure washing the poles at a time that makes sense once the installation has run its course, in collaboration with the gallery.
