Ben Bonner and Laura Magnusson Sculptures to Enliven Campus

School of Art students Laura Magnusson and Ben Bonner are the winners of the first CPAM (Collaboration to Promote Art and Music) contest, Sculptural Experience. On November 17, 2009 contest entrants and judges convened amid 14 entries installed in GOSA to hear the announcement of the winning sculptures. Magnusson, a fourth year student majoring in sculpture, and Bonner, a special topics in sculpture student, will each receive $5,000 to complete their proposed sculptures which will be installed on campus in early 2010.

Ben Bonner, maquette for Golem’s Pelt

Bonner’s sculpture, Golem’s Pelt, depicts an unthinking creature that mindlessly carries out its assigned task. Magnusson describes her piece, Goodnight Gutenberg, as a repository for the memory of books. It is perhaps an elegy for the loss of book as a physical object. Each sculpture, in its own way, addresses concepts important to education; the golem is the antithesis of the informed, critical thinker universities aim to produce, while the book, symbolizing the dissemination of knowledge, represents the core of learning and communication.

Laura Magnusson, maquette for Goodnight Gutenberg

CPAM is a new partnership between the University of Manitoba Student Union and the University of Manitoba. Its stated goal is to improve the artistic and aesthetic environment of the University in a way that promotes the creative talents of students and encourages celebration and promotion of student engagement. Besides Sculptural Experience, CPAM is sponsoring two other initiatives: Tunnel Vision, the creation of art and murals in the University tunnel system; and Random Acts of Music, performances of music by five soloists or groups around the campus. The winners of these two contests will be announced on December 18.

Posted in:  School of Art, Uncategorized

Elizabeth Roy Wins Public Art Award

On September 21, 2009 School of Art Instructor Elizabeth Roy, formerly of Vancouver, received a Public Art Award from the City of North Vancouver for her sculpture, “Launch.” This is the first year that these public art awards have been made by the city’s Public Art Program. They are intended to honour individuals and organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to public art and played a pivotal role in making public art a reality for the City of North Vancouver.

Installed in 2007, Ms Roy’s sculpture “Launch” is situated in residential complex that borders a waterfront site in North Vancouver. It faces disintegrating buildings that once housed shipworks factories. During World War II, its primarily male workforce was dismantled as conscription required men to serve in the armed forces. Their jobs were filled by women who more than capable of taking on the work required to repair and build seagoing vessels. In both its proximity to domestic and work spheres and its intent, “Launch” refers to those women and their multiple roles in both spheres.

Elizabeth Roy, who has one Winnipeg winter under her belt, is currently the Acting Chair of the Foundations area at the School of Art. She teaches basic design, drawing and printmaking.

"Launch" by Elizabeth Roy

Posted in:  School of Art

House on Fire: Sarah Anne Johnson at the AGO

After winning the Art Gallery of Ontario and Aeroplan’s inaugural 2008 Grange Prize for contemporary photography, Sarah Anne Johnson is attending the AGO opening of her solo exhibition, House on Fire. Within the sculptures and photo-based works in this exhibition, Johnson delves into the story of her grandmother’s involuntary participation in mind-control experiments conducted in Montreal by the CIA in the mid-50s. The experiments deprived her grandmother of the ability to function normally, removing her capacity to raise her children and relate to her family and friends.

“Johnson’s ability to combine media, working fluidly between sculpture and photography, is part of what has drawn so much attention to her work,” says Michelle Jacques, the AGO’s associate curator of contemporary art. “In her previous work, her focus was on public and environmental issues. Now, with House on Fire, she’s gotten personal and her unique approach yields disarmingly affecting results.”

House on Fire opened at the AGO on July 4 and will run until August 23. It will also be on view at Julie Saul Gallery in New York September 17 to November 14, 2009.

A number of pieces included in House on Fire appeared in Gallery One One One’s fall 2008 exhibition Revolver Uptown One. This body of work was in development while Johnson was 2007-09 artist-in-residence in the School of Art’s sculpture area. (See Sarah Anne Johnson’s work from Revolver Uptown One at:
http://www.umanitoba.ca/schools/art/content/galleryoneoneone/sarahjohnson.html

Sarah Anne Johnson graduated in 2002 from the University of Manitoba with a BFA Honours  and received her MFA from Yale University in 2004. Her work is included in numerous collections including those of the National Gallery of Canada and the Guggenheim Museum of Art in New York.

Posted in:  School of Art

Abramson is a gallery pioneer, teacher, and grad

One of the pioneers of the University of Manitoba Gallery of Student Art (GoSA) is ready to become an art educator. Stacey Abramson, who is graduating this year from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Education has a strong passion for fine arts.

Over the last few years the Gallery of Student Art has become a fixture in University Centre.

“I was honoured to be GoSA’s first director and curator. Being able to see something I had always wished for and worked so hard at developing, was one of the high points at my time at the University of Manitoba,” said Abramson. “I believed, along with the UMSU executive at the time, that the students at the University of Manitoba deserved a free gallery space in which to show the creativity and artistic talent that exists across all faculties, specifically at the School of Art.”

Abramson majored in video in 2004, and has a great appreciation for traditional media as well.

“I love the idea of having something so easily accessible and relatable as video to work with. In today’s society, most people can relate to a moving media such as video - it’s a common component of culture around the world,” said Abramson.

Abramson also enjoys the history of video art.

Through her time at the University of Manitoba, Abramson became involved with The Manitoban student newspaper, where she developed her journalistic career.

“The Manitoban staff gave me the chance to try out writing and develop my skills as a journalist. This led me to many different freelance writing opportunities across the country over the last eight years or so,” said Abramson.

Abramson is currently employed with the Winnipeg Free Press as an art critic. She said this is something she always dreamed of.

“Being given the incredible opportunity to discuss the strong and diverse art exhibitions and community in the city influences the way I see, make and teach art,” she said.

Now that she is an art educator - graduating from the Faculty of Education - Abramson strives to keep current with art movements and trends, and to bring that knowledge to the classroom.

“I am very much looking forward to my new career as an educator in Winnipeg. I’m fresh off my second life as a student at the U of M Faculty of Education, and have had two fantastic practicum experiences in the inner city and hope to continue work in this area,” said Abramson.

“I plan on returning (once again!) to the University of Manitoba to continue to upgrade my studies in education throughout the next several years.”

Posted in:  School of Art

School of Fine Arts

With an approach that encourages intellectual inquiry while developing knowledge of art and design, students express their personal creativity through specialized studio and research programs.

Posted in:  School of Art