In the AX gallery May 7 – 28, 2022

Launch: May 12 at 7:00 p.m.

Curated by Bonny Hill

Join us at AX for the return of the Student Art Show! We are pleased to once again be hosting work by Sussex Regional High School students. The exhibition is curated by professional artist and AX volunteer, Bonny Hill. We will showcase emerging talent in a variety of mediums.

There will be an in-person launch in the AX gallery on May 12 at 7:00 p.m. Come celebrate with us and meet some of the artists.

Putting Down Roots

On December 2, join us at AX as we welcome Mug Shots to the gallery. Mug Shots is a group show that supports our charitable organization and features eight New Brunswick ceramics artists and potters. From emerging artists to internationally-celebrated names, this show features works by:

• Peter Thomas 
• Ghita Levin 
• Darren Emenau 
• Megan MacKinley 
• Linda Homenick 
• Maria Guevara
• Danika Vautour (inaugural participant in AX’s ceramics emerging artist program funded by RBC Foundation)
• Matt Cripps (AX’s ceramics centre coordinator)

There’s something for everyone – Mug Shots features small works that make the ideal gift for yourself or family and friends, while showcasing the top tier pottery and ceramic wares made right here in New Brunswick by professional artists and craftspeople.

A portion of all proceeds will go to supporting the AX charitable organization, and the gallery will be open extended hours—Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings until 8:00 p.m. 

The eight participating New Brunswick artists are: Peter Thomas of Gagetown, Ghita Levin of Baie Verte, Darren Emenau of Saint John, Megan MacKinley of Fredericton, Linda Homenick of Sussex, Maria Guevara of New Maryland, Danika Vautour of Quispamsis, and Matt Cripps of Sussex.

About the Artists

Peter Thomas is an experienced potter who is internationally known as both an artist and a teacher. He has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Scotland and England. Peter works as a consultant and teacher in the Design and Ceramics Department at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in Fredericton. A native of Montreal, he obtained his first art degree at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland and his Masters of Fine Art in ceramics and printmaking in California in 1967.

Driven by her creativity from an early age, Ghita Levin attended Cantebury High School in Ottawa, Ontario, to take advantage of their special arts program. Her love of pottery soon took her to Halifax and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. After 2 years in their pottery program, Ghita began her full-time career as a potter. Ghita’s strong affinity for nature and the living things around her is evident in all her creations. One only needs to visit her rural studio to get a sense of just how important nature is to her work.

Darren Emenau was raised in New Brunswick, Canada, and is a graduate of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. Rooted in contemporary art, his work pushes the traditional boundaries of ceramic sculpture through the exploration of surface treatment, form, abstraction and installation. Over his twenty-year career, Emenau’s work has been recognized through awards, grants and exhibitions. Shows include the International Craft Biennale in South Korea and the International Ceramic and Glass Exhibition in Turkey. His work has been featured in the book Wood-Fired Ceramics: 100 Contemporary Artists, as well as in periodicals such as Ceramics Monthly and Canadian Art. 

Megan MacKinley is a studio potter living and working in Fredericton, New Brunswick. After completing the Ceramics and Graduate Studies programs at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design she opened her own studio where she can be found making functional and decorative pottery as well as teaching.

Many years ago, Linda Homenick was gifted a perfectly handcrafted pottery mug that stirred her interest in ceramics. That interest has stayed with her and she now makes functional pottery in her studio “Pottery on the Pond,” located just a few minutes drive from the heart of downtown Sussex. Her formal training consists of a ceramics major in the Fine Arts program at the University of Saskatchewan, many courses at NBCCD, numerous workshops and online study. After many years of research and observation, she realizes how much there is to learn about clay and its endless possibilities, and how very little she knows.

Maria Guevara was born in Mexico City. She graduated as BA in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage and later completed a MA studies in Archaeology in Mexico City at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She graduated summer 2013 as a Ceramic artist in the Diploma of Advanced studies in Ceramics at the NBCCD in Fredericton NB. As a potter, she most enjoys two aspects of the creative process: the previous planning and the execution in clay. She can spend hours thinking of new designs to decorate her pieces and transmit different ideas to the public. She has a small studio in New Maryland, NB, where she has dedicated herself to creating Sgraffito on porcelain.

Danika Vautour is a Canadian visual artist, who returned from England last autumn. She specialises in ceramics and has been working with the material for over 5 years. In her studio practice, she uses a variety of mediums to create pieces that reflect the way she sees everyday life. Her work is profoundly influenced by minimalism and her ties to the sea. Over the years, she has been involved with numerous exhibitions and collaborations both nationally and internationally. In 2019, she was recognised for her work and awarded a Creation Grant from ArtsNB. She can usually be found teaching workshops while exploring creatively and developing her portfolio.

Matt Cripps was born and raised in Miramichi, NB. After completing highschool he moved to Fredericton where he completed a BA in fine arts at St.Thomas University. Following his undergrad, he began employment at Gallery 78 in Fredericton, NB. He then completed the Fine Craft: Ceramics Diploma Program and Advanced Studio Practice Program at the New Brunswick College of Craft of Design (NBCCD). He is currently the Ceramics Centre Coordinator at AX, the Arts and Culture Centre of Sussex.

The vision for this show comes from thinking about the work of women’s hands over the last century. Coburn, Paterson, and Woolsey are inheritors of that history and practice, and will bring this show together to celebrate their connection to those women of the last century who took what chance they had to produce quilts and clothing of both beauty and use.

Peggy Woolsey’s prints on cloth using botanicals, or eco-printing, which has no harmful dyes or chemicals and is a developing new art form around the world. Stephanie Coburn’s work explores traditional quilt making with her original patterns, and ReBecca Patterson showcases contemporary techniques in working with textiles.

A Conversation with Stephanie, Rebecca, and Peggy

Date: July 7

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Join us for an online artist talk hosted by AX Board Members and professional artists Peter Powning and Erin McKenna, featuring fibre artists Stephanie Coburn, ReBecca Paterson, and Peggy Woolsey. Coburn, Paterson, and Woolsey’s work is currently displayed in the AX Gallery as part of a textile exhibition entitled Stitch Riff. The one-hour online artist talk will provide more insight into the work of the three fibre artists, their artistic practice, and how they came together to put forward this exhibition.

We hope you’ll join us to hear directly from the artists, and attendees can pose questions during the chat. Remember to contact us directly for the Zoom online meeting link: please email info@axartscentre.ca or call (506) 433-8351 by 4:00 p.m. the day of the talk so we have time to send you the information.

About the Artists

Stephanie Coburn works with colour and shape in quilt making in order to lift the heart and bring joy to herself and others. She began creating quilts 40 years ago to reflect the local interest among farm women in making warm coverings for the cold New Brunswick winter nights. They would use found materials such as old shirts, flour bags and torn curtains to create quilt pieces by lamplight, firelight and eventually electric light, and would then finally stitch the squares together. New, colourful fabrics inspired Stephanie to make her own designs, lovingly hand-quilted for family and friends alike.

ReBecca Paterson experiments with a tactile medium and offers a unique perspective to the manipulation of fibers and images. Her enthusiasm to make art with a threaded needle, either in hand or with a domestic sewing machine, allows her to investigate when her imagination runs wild to see what will happen to the multitude of materials that she uses. Basic skills learned at an early age from her mother, and the knowledge and skills acquired from several years of study, allow ReBecca to explore this artistic expression.

Peggy Woolsey transplants the wild energy of leaves and flowers through botanical printing and dyeing on her yardage and clothing designs. She combines botanical cloth with materials from her stash of new and old fabrics, trims and laces, and creates clothing with conscience and beauty. Following her retirement from teaching art in public schools, Peggy focuses more on her art, often centred around themes of cloth and clothing. Her artistic practice has given her the opportunity to learn new skills in order to create botanical surfaces on cloth and then turn that cloth in clothing.

To learn more about Emilie Grace Lavoie, visit her website.

As Time Goes By explores slow processes; in particular, the emotional shift between the stages of grief and healing. Through feelings of vulnerability and fragility, Lavoie relates her personal environment to a local ecology in constant metamorphosis, allowing her to draw connections between the visuals as time goes by.

Nous sommes fiers de présenter l’exposition, As Time Goes By – Avec le temps à la galerie d’AX. Cette exposition solo présente des œuvres de la céramiste néo-brunswickoise Emilie Grace Lavoie, dont les pièces détaillées en céramique sont inspirées par ses expériences personnelles et des éléments naturels. 

Avec le temps explore des processus lents, en particulier le passage émotionnel entre les étapes du deuil et de la guérison. À travers des sentiments de vulnérabilité et de fragilité, Lavoie relie son environnement personnel à une écologie locale en constante métamorphose, ce qui lui permet d’établir des liens entre les visuels au fil du temps.

A Conversation with Emilie Grace Lavoie

Date: May 19

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Join us for an online artist talk with ceramic artist Emilie Grace Lavoie whose work is displayed in the AX Gallery as part of the current exhibition, As Time Goes By ​– Avec le temps. ​​Hosted by Peter Powning, AX board member and AX Ceramics committee chair, and Sarah Jones, co-founder and curator of Jones Gallery, this one-hour event will provide more insight into Lavoie’s work as well as her artistic practice. This event will be a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from Lavoie, and attendees can pose questions in the chat.

Please email info@axartscentre.ca to request the Zoom information for this online artist talk.

About Emilie Grace Lavoie

Emilie Grace Lavoie is an artist, curator, and member of 3E Collective, from Edmundston, New Brunswick. Lavoie holds a college diploma in fashion design from LaSalle College (2011), a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Université de Moncton (2016) as well as a Master of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2018). Lavoie received the silver medal at the VIIIth Games of La Francophonie in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) for sculpture-installation category, representing Canada-New Brunswick.

Emilie Grace Lavoie works mainly in ceramics and sculpture. Her practice interrogates the space between an object and its ecology; the relationship between material practice and complex systems, such as living ecosystems, and the environments in which they are situated. This growing awareness of the fragility of the natural world, its biodiversity, life processes, and interactions among organisms, transform Lavoie’s view of the world and inspires her research.

To learn more about Emilie Grace Lavoie, visit her website.

À propos d’Emilie Grace Lavoie

Emilie Grace Lavoie est une artiste, commissaire et membre du collectif 3E, originaire d’Edmundston, au Nouveau-Brunswick. Elle détient un diplôme collégial en design de mode du Collège LaSalle (2011), un baccalauréat en arts visuels de l’Université de Moncton (2016), ainsi qu’une maîtrise en beaux-arts de la Emily Carr University of Art and Design (2018). Lavoie a reçu la médaille d’argent aux VIIIes Jeux de la Francophonie à Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) dans la catégorie sculpture-installation, représentant le Canada-Nouveau-Brunswick. 

Emilie Grace Lavoie travaille principalement la sculpture de céramique. Sa pratique interroge l’espace entre un objet et son écologie ; la relation entre la pratique matérielle et les systèmes complexes, tels que les écosystèmes vivants, et les environnements dans lesquels ils se trouvent. Cette prise de conscience de la fragilité du monde naturel, de sa biodiversité, des processus de vie et des interactions entre les organismes, transforme sa vision sur le monde et inspire ses recherches.

Pour apprendre plus à propos d’Emilie Grace Lavoie, visitez son site web.

walking the periphery / la bouche pleine de terre is also available as a virtual exhibition. This exhibition features an audio component and visitors are encouraged to bring their own headphones to the space.

AX est fier de présenter l’exposition walking the periphery / la bouche pleine de terre, mettant en vedette sept artistes de divers horizons vivant au Nouveau-Brunswick. Les notions de communauté, de relations et d’interconnectivité ont inspiré la commissaire Maryse Arseneault, dans une investigation sur la marche comme processus d’appartenance. Ces œuvres d’art textile, de sculpture, de poésie et d’art vidéo exploreront les endroits où les frontières se rejoignent. walking the periphery / la bouche pleine de terre est également disponible comme exposition virtuelle. Cette exposition inclut une composante audio et les visiteurs sont encouragés à apporter leurs propres écouteurs dans l’espace.

Supported by the Government of New Brunswick’s Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.
Soutenue par le Gouvernement du Nouveau-Brunswick.

A Conversation with the Artists

Date: March 25

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Join us for an online conversation with curator Maryse Arseneault and the seven New Brunswick artists whose work is displayed in the AX gallery as part of our current exhibition, walking the periphery / la bouche pleine de terre. This one-hour event will allow us to hear from each artist individually in a panel discussion led by Maryse, and attendees can pose questions in the chat. This event will be a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from the curator and the artists featured in the exhibition. 

Please email info@axartscentre.ca to request the Zoom information for this event.

About the Curator / Présentation de la commissaire

MARYSE ARSENEAULT

Maryse Arseneault loves the wind in the leaves, the sound of crackling ice, and sea shanties. She holds an MFA in Studio Arts (2015) from Concordia University and she is recently a lecturer in media arts at the Université de Moncton. Grounded in eco-feminist theory, Arseneault pursues her artistic interventions through multiple disciplines, such as performance, drawing and audio-video. Her curatorial practice examines notions of storytelling and psychogeography, in relation to our sense of belonging and our experience of place.

Maryse Arseneault aime le vent dans les feuilles, la petite glace cassante et les chants marins. Diplômée de l’Université Concordia (MFA Studio Arts, 2015), elle est récemment chargée de cours en arts médiatiques à l’Université de Moncton. En conjonction avec une pensée écoféministe, Arseneault poursuit ses interventions artistiques, entre autres au moyen de la performance, du dessin et de l’audio-vidéo. Sa pratique de commissariat examine les trames narratives et la psychogéographie, en relation avec notre sentiment d’appartenance et notre expérience du lieu.

About the Artists / Présentation des artistes

Emma Delaney / Linda Dornan / Xavier Gould / Emma Hessencahl-Perley / Danielle Saulnier / Clyde A. Wray / Dan Xu

EMMA DELANEY

Emma Delaney is a queer female artist living in rural New Brunswick, whose work fits within a conceptual art framework. She has recently completed her Bachelors of Fine Arts from Mount Allison University, and works throughout the Bay of Fundy region. She has a multidisciplinary practice focusing on performance, installation and daily drawings. Through her work, she is interested in talking about the issues that can arise from poorly taught sexual education, the enforced gender binary, and a lack of representation of lgbtqia+ people in rural places

Emma Delaney est une artiste queer vivant dans les régions rurales du Nouveau-Brunswick, dont le travail s’inscrit dans un cadre artistique conceptuel. Elle a récemment terminé son baccalauréat en beaux-arts de l’Université Mount Allison et travaille dans la région de la baie de Fundy. Elle a une pratique multidisciplinaire axée sur la performance, l’installation et le dessin quotidien. À travers son travail, elle s’intéresse aux problèmes qui peuvent découler d’une éducation sexuelle lacunaire, de la binarité de genre imposée et d’un manque de représentation des personnes lgbtqia + dans les régions rurales.

LINDA DORNAN

Linda Rae Dornan’s art practice is performative and interdisciplinary, inclusive of video, installation, performance, sound and writing. Each feeds into the other exploring how we speak/communicate and connect to each other, and the land around us through voice and body, listening, language, place, memory and being. Her work has been exhibited and screened in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. Dornan is co-creator of PERFform, the biennale performance art tour in New Brunswick.

La pratique artistique de Linda Rae Dornan est performative et interdisciplinaire, comprenant la vidéo, l’installation, la performance, le son et l’écriture. Chaque moyen se nourrit de l’autre en explorant la façon dont nous parlons/communiquons et dont nous nous connectons les uns avec les autres, et avec la terre qui nous entoure à travers la voix et le corps, l’écoute, le langage, le lieu, la mémoire et l’être. Son travail a été exposé et diffusé au Canada, aux États-Unis, en Europe et en Asie. Dornan est co-créateur de PERFform, la tournée biennale d’art de la performance au Nouveau-Brunswick.

XAVIER GOULD

Xavier Gould’s artistic mission is to explore how the plurality of queer realities can co-exist with the diverse realities and Acadian cultural landscapes that have long remained heteronormative and cisgender. Through poetry, stories, and images, Xavier Gould challenges the social norms of contemporary Acadian identity to include people from the queer community. Based in Moncton since in 2017 with a liberal arts degree from Mount Allison University, they are known for their dynamic alter-egos Jass-Sainte Bourque and Chiquita Mére.

La mission artistique de Xavier Gould est d’explorer comment la pluralité des réalités queer peut coexister avec les réalités diverses et les paysages culturels acadiens qui sont longtemps restés hétéronormatifs et cisgenres. À travers la poésie, les récits et les images, Xavier Gould remet en question les normes sociales de l’identité acadienne contemporaine pour inclure des personnes de la communauté queer. Installé.e à Moncton depuis 2017, suite à l’obtention d’un diplôme en arts et lettres de l’Université Mount Allison, iel est connu.e pour ses alter ego dynamiques Jass-Sainte Bourque et Chiquita Mére.

EMMA HASSENCAHL-PERLEY

Emma Hassencahl-Perley is a Wolastoqey visual artist, curator, and educator from Nequtkok (Tobique First Nation), NB. Emma graduated from Mount Allison University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and the J.E.A. Crake Award. Her work explores the term “legislative identity” (how the Indian Act has influence on the identities of Indigenous Peoples in Canada), as well as her own identity as a Wolastoqey woman, through Wabanaki Double Curve motifs often found in beadwork patterns.

Emma Hassencahl-Perley est une artiste visuelle, commissaire et éducatrice wolastoqey de Nequtkok (Première nation de Tobique), au Nouveau-Brunswick. Emma est diplômée de l’Université Mount Allison en 2017 avec un baccalauréat en beaux-arts et le Prix J.E.A. ​​Crake. Son travail explore le terme «identité législative» (comment la Loi sur les Indiens a une influence sur l’identité des peuples autochtones au Canada), ainsi que sa propre identité en tant que femme wolastoqey, au moyen de motifs à double courbes apparaissant souvent dans le perlage wabanaki.

DANIELLE SAULNIER

Originally from Ontario, Danielle Saulnier studied at Colonel By College, Ottawa in Fine Arts / Crafts, with a concentration in drawing, painting, pottery and weaving. She completed her studies at the University of Ottawa in Social Sciences and Theology and finished with a Masters degree from St. Paul University. Since 1996, she lives in Kedgwick, NB, near the Restigouche River in the heart of the Appalachians. In her textile work, Saulnier explores the parallels between the maternal imprint and the scars that result from it in the intergenerational heritage of women.

Originaire de l’Ontario, Danielle Saulnier a étudié au Collège Colonel By, à Ottawa en Beaux- Arts/Artisanat: dessin, peinture, poterie et tissage. Elle a parfait ses études à l’Université d’Ottawa en Sciences sociales et en Théologie et a terminé avec une maîtrise à l’Université St-Paul. Depuis 1996, elle habite Kedgwick au N.B, près de la rivière Restigouche au cœur des Appalaches. Dans son travail de textiles, Saulnier explore les parallèles entre l’empreinte maternelle et les cicatrices qui en découlent dans l’héritage intergénérationnel au féminin.

CLYDE A. WRAY

A native New Yorker, Clyde A. Wray is a full time resident of Saint John, NB. He is the author of five books of poetry, a producer, playwright and director and as he likes to say a sometime performer. He presently is the Artist-in-Residence of the Saint John Theatre Company. His most recent venture was for the Prismatic Arts Festival in Halifax. He writes about everything that surrounds him, from thought up dreams to small events he will overhear in the hustle of the day.

Un New-Yorkais de naissance, Clyde A. Wray réside maintenant à Saint John, au Nouveau-Brunswick. Il est l’auteur de cinq recueils de poésie, il est producteur, dramaturge et metteur en scène, ainsi qu’interprète à son heure qu’il aime dire. Il est actuellement l’artiste en résidence à la Saint John Theatre Company. Son aventure la plus récente était avec le Prismatic Arts Festival à Halifax. Il écrit sur tout ce qui l’entoure, des rêves imaginés aux petits événements qu’il remarque dans le train-train du quotidien.

DAN XU

Originally from China, Dan Xu immigrated to Canada in 2001. She graduated from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in 1992 and now uses the traditional Chinese technique of ink on Xuan paper. She has created many outdoor paintings along the Saint John River valley, the Bay of Fundy, multiple New Brunswick history sites, and the landscape of the Atlantic provinces. Her pieces are both abstract and realistic, as she rediscovers the principles of traditional panoramic views, where the landscape transforms itself continually during the duration of the drawing.

Originaire de Chine, Dan Xu a immigré au Canada en 2001. Elle a obtenu son diplôme de l’Institut de céramique Jingdezhen en 1992 et utilise maintenant la technique traditionnelle chinoise de l’encre sur papier Xuan. Elle a créé de nombreuses peintures en plein air le long de la vallée du fleuve Saint-Jean, de la baie de Fundy, de plusieurs sites historiques du Nouveau-Brunswick et du paysage des provinces de l’Atlantique. Ses pièces sont à la fois abstraites et réalistes, elle y redécouvre les principes des vues panoramiques traditionnelles, où le paysage se transforme continuellement pendant la durée du dessin.

The white glaze used on the vessels helped maintain Danika’s minimalist style while allowing each of the vessels to showcase carefully-selected journal entries from her personal journal in 2020. Each entry documents an important event that Danika experienced over the course of the year, including her marriage, living in England at the start of the pandemic, her return to New Brunswick, and her thoughts on ceramic art.

See a video about Danika’s time at AX.

About the AX One Month Residency – Ceramics
The AX One Month Residency – Ceramics program is a short term residency which allows the participating ceramic artist to move forward in their career upon completion of their formal training. AX’s Ceramics Centre Coordinator, Matt Cripps serves as a mentor with the purpose of guiding these emerging ceramic artists along the path to the next steps in their career.

Thanks to the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artists Project for making it possible for us to launch the AX Emerging Artist – Ceramics Program at our charitable arts and culture centre.

To learn more about the AX Emerging Artist – Ceramics Program, click here!

About Danika Vautour

Danika is a Saint John, New Brunswick artist who has recently returned from Cambridge, England. She specializes in ceramics and has been working with the medium for five years. In recognition of her work, Danika was awarded an ArtsNB Creation Grant in 2019, and she has exhibited her pottery at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, as well as at Project A in Canmore, Alberta, and at multiple galleries in Cambridge, England. In 2017, she received her Diploma in Ceramics from New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.

To see more of Danika’s work, visit her website!

About Matt Cripps – Ceramics Coordinator

Matt Cripps is a potter and ceramic artist. Born and raised in Miramichi, Matt moved to Fredericton where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art through St. Thomas University, and a Diploma in Fine Craft: Ceramics, and Certificate in Advanced Studio Practice from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.

Rughooking is an ancient fibre art that involves pulling strips of cut wool, yarn or fleece through the weave of burlap or linen backing, reworking old fabrics into new use and allowing for artistic expression with practical ends. “Our mats and wall hangings are an expression of a love of fibre, texture, and colour, and a demonstration of the joy of taking the time to make something by hand that can be both practical and beautiful,” said Caddell. This intricate fine craft has a rich history in Atlantic Canada, and specifically in New Brunswick; the first dated Canadian hooked rug was made in New Maryland, New Brunswick in 1860 by Abigail Smith.

The hooked rugs featured in the exhibition were created by members of the Carnegie Rughookers, who have been hooking for months, years, and even decades. Each artist had created or adapted an original hooked mat that showed some aspect of Andrew Carnegie in his time, or of the influences his life and philanthropy have had on the current day.

AX was honored to display these beautiful mats in our gallery, and we planned this exhibition to coincide with the colder, darker time of the year – this art form naturally creates a feeling of warmth, which we hoped would draw people into our gallery out of the cold and bring some comfort and light to our community.

Curator Talk with Tzigane Caddell

The curator of The Carnegie Legacy Tzigane Caddell spoke with us at AX Gallery about the exhibition and the art of rug hooking. She explained the tools needed, how to get the rug on the frame, techniques and terminology of rug hooking, and demonstrated her skills on her vibrant multi-coloured arabesque rug.

We would like to thank Tzigane for speaking with us and would also like to thank the Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Fund, Community Foundations of Canada with the advocacy of the Sussex Area Community Foundation, and the Sheila Hugh Mckay Foundation whose financial support made this digital project possible.

About the Carnegie Rughookers

The Carnegie Rughookers, founded in September 2004, meet every Friday morning at the Saint John Arts Centre to hook rugs. Members are of all ages, from many backgrounds and interests, and work in a variety of styles and techniques. The rughookers named their group after Andrew Carnegie, benefactor of the construction of the Saint John Free Public Library, which was built in 1904 and is now the home of the Saint John Arts Centre. The Carnegie Rughookers have exhibited their works at the Saint John Arts Centre, Saint John City Market, Imperial Theatre, Sunbury Shores in St. Andrews, and the Hooked Rug Museum of North America in Hubbards, Nova Scotia.

About Tzigane Caddell

Tzigane Caddell is a fibre artist from Rothesay, New Brunswick. She has been rughooking for 15 years and joined the Carnegie Rughookers in 2007. Tzigane designs her own rug patterns and dyes the wool for hooking them. Tzigane has organized three group shows on behalf of the Carnegie Rughookers, and has also shown rugs in the Covered Bridges of New Brunswick (2014) and the Ganong Chocolate Boxes (2017) exhibitions; both rugs are now in the permanent collection of the Hooked Rug Museum of North America. Tzigane was the owner/ designer of Tzigane Caddell Garden Design for 20 years, until 2017. Upon retiring from landscape gardening she began exploring natural dyeing. Indigo dyeing quickly became a consuming passion and is now the central focus of her new small business – Tzindigo.

Gordon Dunphy’s work turns the ordinary wood burls from various New Brunswick trees into the extraordinary, while showing great respect for the original material’s distinct characteristics.

Jennifer Pazienza, accomplished professor, painter, and co-curator of this exhibition had this to say about the collection that highlights Dunphy’s decades long career, “I invite you to experience the ways in which these works compel us to breathe them in, to engage with and beyond their surfaces. To consider how it is they oblige us to read between their lines and shapes, the distinctive bird’s eye maple, or the fluted pore stained grain, and the blushed heartwood. How they gently insist that we be present with them in order to receive the ideas, emotions, memories and a poetics of space, they so generously seek to give. This is the transformative gift that is the art of Gordon Dunphy.”

This exhibition was curated by John Leroux and Jennifer Pazienza, and organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. A special thanks to Brent Rourke Cabinetmaker for sponsoring this exhibition.

Virtual Curator Talk – John Leroux and Jennifer Pazienza
Dr. Jennifer Pazienza and Dr. John Leroux discuss New Brunswick artist Gordon Dunphy’s wood turned vessels, currently on exhibition at the AX gallery in Sussex. Visit the gallery from now until October 24 to see Gordon Dunphy: Vessels, generously supported by Frank McKenna. This exhibition is sponsored by Brent Rourke Cabinetmaker. The AX Online Arts and Culture Initiative is supported by the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund and Community Foundations of Canada.

About Gordon Dunphy

Gordon Dunphy spent his early life in Nashwaak, NB where he was a fifth generation dairy farmer. In his 40’s, as what he described as a ‘mid-life crisis’ Dunphy decided he wanted to start wood turning. Following that decision, he set himself up in a studio in Taymouth, NB where he began turning wood burls into breathtaking vessels.

Although he had no formal training, Dunphy quickly became one of the best wood turners in North America. He has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including the New Brunswick Craft Council Premier’s Prize, the Deichmann Award for Excellence in Craft, and the Srathbutler Award for Excellence. His accomplishments as an artists don’t stop there, as his work has been collected by many important people, including premiers from across Canada and the British Royal Family. Sadly, Dunphy passed away from cancer in 2008, at the age of 74. However, his artwork lives on, with a career-spanning collection finding a new home at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery thanks to a generous donation by his estate.

About John Leroux
An art historian, author, and award-winning architect with a Bachelor of Architecture from McGill, a Master of Arts in art history from Concordia, and a PhD in history from the UNB, John Leroux is successful in many fields. He is a published author having written many books about architecture in New Brunswick. John is also the manager of collections and exhibitions at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.

About Jennifer Pazienza
Jennifer Pazienza, who holds an MEd and PhD in art education at The Pennsylvania State University, taught at Texas Tech University and the University of Wisconsin before she relocated to New Brunswick to teach art, education, and philosophy classes at the University of News Brunswick in 1989. She retired from teaching in 2014 and is now a full-time painter with a studio at her home in Keswick Ridge, NB. Her gorgeous oil paintings have been sold everywhere from Fredericton, to New York and Italy.

Several portraits were on display in a variety of mediums including pastels, charcoal, pen, pencil, and monoprint. The subjects, ages five to twenty-five, are all from Dr. Wendy Stewart’s paediatric neurology practice, which is primarily based in Saint John. The portraits reflect in detail and sincerity the rich interactions witnessed between children and young people living with epilepsy and their families.

In Dr. Gilbert’s own words, “living with epilepsy can be isolating for both patient and their families … Yet the time I spent with the families who so generously gave their time, were permeated with conversation, laughter, dancing, singing and sometimes silence, as I drew. At other times, there were tears brought on by tiredness and frustration, and then there was the profoundly moving experience of watching the person I was drawing have a seizure and the deep compassion and care of the families as they quietly comforted their child and held them throughout the process.

“I hope that this small community of portraits will offer those who participated, and many who did not, a platform with which to express the challenges and joys of their experience and the richness, resilience and compassion of the relationships I had the privilege to witness.”

Virtual Curator Talk – Wendy Stewart with Bonny Hill
As AX adapts to the ever-changing situation of the pandemic, we’re looking for ways to maintain engagement with our community while keeping staff, volunteers and visitors safe. To that end, we’re migrating some of our programming online, beginning with this curator talk with Dr. Wendy Stewart, curator of our current exhibition, Seeing the Patient. In AX’s first-ever online curator talk, Bonny Hill, visual artist and volunteer member of AX’s Board of Directors, sat down with Dr. Stewart to discuss this exhibition, a series of portraits by artist Dr. Mark Gilbert. Wendy and Bonny talked about everything from the importance of representation in the art community to the intersection of people with careers in medicine and the arts. AX thanks Bonny for volunteering her time to host this online talk, and a big thank you also goes out to Wendy for taking the time out of her busy schedule to travel to Sussex, as well as for all she has done to bring this exhibition to our gallery.

Wendy has also prepared a survey to receive feedback from gallery visitors about the “Seeing the Patient exhibition.” If you had the opportunity to visit this exhibition, please fill out the survey here.

About Mark Gilbert
Scottish researcher and artist, Dr. Mark Gilbert graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1991. He has exhibited at numerous venues in Europe and North America. His doctoral dissertation explored the experience of portraiture in a clinical setting for both artist and a small cohort of head and neck cancer patients at the UNMC. He continues to explore the relationship between art and medicine and its application in medical education, and is currently a research associate with the geriatrics program and the Medical Humanities (HEALS) program at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada.

About Wendy Stewart
Dr. Wendy Stewart is a pediatric neurologist caring for children throughout New Brunswick. She initiated the Humanities Program in New Brunswick, and is very involved in the undergraduate medical program at DMNB. Music is her passion outside medicine and she is a member of a number of diverse musical groups. Dr. Stewart is interested in how music and the arts impact the brain and specifically how they influence the developing medical professional. She has a number of projects in process that combine the humanities with medical education, and will develop and evaluate a longitudinal integrated humanities curriculum.

The exhibition features artwork that has been created through laborious and time-intensive processes, and includes sculpture, textiles, sound, photography, and quillwork created by eight contemporary New Brunswick artists. The artists featured in this exhibition are: Jim Boyd, Janice Wright Cheney, Jud Crandall, Tara Francis, Emilie Grace Lavoie, Alana Morouney, Karen Stentaford, and Anna Torma. Together, they celebrate the pace of life in New Brunswick and the awakening that transpires when we are fully present in ourselves and our surroundings. Circadian transformed the AX gallery into a decelerated space where we could pause, look, and listen as the world unfolded around us.

Amy has also, with the help of AX, produced our first, full-length catalogue, which is based on the Circadian exhibition.

Circadian was curated exclusively for AX by Amy Ash, and the exhibition and catalogue are all made possible through the generous support of the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation. AX is especially pleased to have been selected to receive this grant, as it was a highly competitive process. Click here to view the digital copy of the full-length catalogue, Circadian, curated by Amy Ash and supported by a grant from the Sheila Hugh McKay Foundation. Please note that we have hard copies of the catalogue for sale at the centre for $15. Contact AX for details.

Curator Talk and Tour – Amy Ash
As an extension of Circadian, curator Amy Ash generously did a presentation about the exhibition and the history of the slow art movement. She talked more about the artists involved in the exhibition, their painstaking and laborious art techniques and how they exemplify the slow art movement. Attendees got a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to curate an art exhibition.

Amy Ash reflected that “I feel privileged to live here, in New Brunswick. We have access to forested areas and coastline — places where the world still seems quiet and lacking the hustle and bustle of many urban areas. In a way, we have more autonomy over our own time because of the rurality of most of the province. This seemed strikingly obvious to me when I moved back

from London, UK, and I was inspired to explore this regional characteristic through the contemporary art practices happening here.”

About Amy Ash
Amy Ash is an interdisciplinary contemporary artist engaged with processes of meaning-making leading to a sense of belonging. She traces connectivity through the intersections and overlaps between memory, learning, and wonder to incite curiosity. Her practice flows between curatorial projects and writing to teaching, socially engaged action and hands-on making. Amy has exhibited and curated programmes internationally, with projects recently commissioned by the British National Gallery, London, the NB International Sculpture Symposium, and Third Space Gallery. Her work has been generously supported by Arts Council England, ArtsNB and the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation, among others. Of settler ancestry, Amy currently lives and works in Saint John, New Brunswick, a small coastal city, which sits on the unceeded territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples. To learn more about her work, visit her website.

What draws people to purchase original fine art? What do people think and feel about living with artwork daily in their personal environments? Buckland has examined these issues through a series of conversations with New Brunswickers who have made the acquisition of fine art an important part of their lives. Objects of Desire consisted of comments from participants and works selected from their personal collections.
Peter Buckland also gave a curatorial talk associated with this exhibition on November 16, at 2:00 p.m. Thanks to the NB Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture for their support of this exhibition.

About Peter Buckland
Peter Buckland has represented Canadian contemporary artists in Saint John since 1981: Windrush Galleries (1981 – 86), Peter Buckland Gallery (1998 – 2015) and Buckland Merrifield Gallery (2015 – 2017). He has curated over 250 exhibitions of fine art during his career, promoting New Brunswick’s top professional artists here in the Province and through international art fairs, and he has written numerous articles on the visual arts.
Peter co-founded the Saint John Gallery Hops in 2000 and was one of the founding members of the Saint John Community Arts Board in 2002. He co-authored Portraits: New Brunswick Painters in 2009. In 2010 he served as Chair of Saint John 225, Saint John’s year as a Cultural Capital of Canada. He served as Chair of The Originals (2012) and as Vice Chair of Sculpture Saint John in 2012. Peter was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in September 2012 for his work in the arts. He was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at The Originals (2017). He lives in uptown Saint John with his wife, Judy Halassy.

Tom Smart, Art Director at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, remarked of Sackville’s work that “getting the light right is one of the more difficult aspects of painting. Atmospheric effects can create depth and mystery in a composition, lending a subject a believable, luminous cast that is a quality of uncanniness. A landscape’s essential truths are often due to the way in which its artist lays down colour and tone. Done properly, an interpretation of a streetscape or a house, an alley or an urban vista can come alive, telling a tale that is both about the scene, but also about the radiance that wraps it… In fact, several times while I was viewing [Sackville’s] chromatically rich paintings, I found myself squinting as if the light radiating from the canvases was too brilliant. Her technique dazzles.”

Artist Talk – Shannon Merrifield and Tom Smart
Shannon Merrifield, curator and operator of the Buckland Merrifield Gallery, and Tom Smart, director of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, discussed the latest paintings by Sussex artist Sarah Sackville, whose exhibition was displayed in the AX gallery August to October, 2019.

About Sarah Sackville
Sarah was born in Sussex, New Brunswick and left in 1997 to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, as one of two recipients of the Centennial Entrance Scholarship. She spent the summer and fall of 2001 travelling throughout Europe, painting. In 2002, she returned to Canada and settled in British Columbia, painting the forested West Coast landscape and the urban street life of Vancouver while becoming a journeyman cabinet maker. Sarah traveled to Jamaica in 2007 for the first time and fell in love with the people and its lush, tropical landscape, which she captured in several paintings.
In June 2013, Sarah returned to Sussex to pursue her career as a full time artist. Since returning, she has held multiple solo shows, including two shows at the Sussex Art Gallery in May 2014 and 2015, followed by an exhibition of Saint John Landscapes at the Saint John Arts Centre in 2017, “Nocturnes” exhibition in February 2018 and “A Continued Study of Saint John” in February 2019, both at the Buckland Merrifield Gallery.

About Shannon Merrifield
Shannon Merrifield is a potter, an arts entrepreneur and a committed arts advocate. With over 15 years in the arts business and Merrifield currently curates and operates the Buckland Merrifield Gallery, a showcase of New Brunswick fine craft and art. Merrifield feels strongly about community building and her engagement includes Co-Founder of FUSION, past Chair of the New Brunswick Museum, and has sat on the Saint John Arts and Community Board, and the Chamber of Commerce Board. Mostly though, she is a mom to her two boys Felix and Finnian.

In early 2015, Shannon recognized the need for a centre of excellence in fine art and craft in Saint John. With a resurgence in the uptown area, Shannon along with well-known fine art gallerist, Peter Buckland, established The Buckland Merrifield Gallery located in the historic Canterbury Car Park, focuses on representing the regions’ best artists and crafts people. Shannon has won numerous awards for knowledge of the industry and curatorial excellence including: The Board of Trade Silver Award, the Uptown SJ Award and the Atlantic Craft Alliance Best Gallery Award.

About Tom Smart
Tom Smart has worked in art galleries across Canada and the United States as a Director, Curator of exhibitions interpreting the art of contemporary and historical artists, and engaging wide and diverse audiences. He has authored many catalogues and books on art and the contexts in which artists have lived and worked. His bi-monthly column on art appears in the Telegraph-Journal. Tom is currently the Director and CEO of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.

This exhibition featured the work of New Brunswick artists Ned Bear, Christian Demmings, John Dougan, Gillian Dykeman, Steve Jones, Timothy ‘Bjorn’ Jones, Brock Jorgensen, Justin Sappier, Phil Savage, Ralph Simpson, and Jack Symonds. Each artist adopted their own process to pay homage to wood as a dynamic material and the many roles it plays in the lives of New Brunswick residents. Through their application of traditional crafting practices, conceptual exploration, and everything in between, the artists depicted histories, communities, lifestyles, and concerns related to this vital natural resource. PROCESS: New Brunswick Artists Working with Wood is sponsored by the NB Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

About curator Christiana Myers
Christiana Myers is a Saint John-based curator, writer and artist. She holds a BFA from Mount Allison University and an MLitt Curatorial Practice from the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Christiana has completed internships with the New Brunswick Museum, Sculpture Saint John and at art galleries in Montreal. Locally, she has curated exhibitions at the Saint John Arts Centre as well as through her position as the programming coordinator at Third Space Gallery, Saint John’s artist run centre. In the winter of 2018, Christiana was selected for an editorial residency at Canadian Art magazine in Toronto, for which she continues to write critical reviews.

At the exhibition launch on March 9, 2:00 p.m., Deanna was joined by Andrew Reed Miller in a musical performance sponsored by Resonance New Music. Deanna would like to acknowledge ArtsNB for the grant that enabled her to research Emma Kunz and create this body of work.

Artist Talk with Deanna Musgrave
On April 13, AX welcomed artist Deanna Musgrave for a presentation about her exhibition Channel: A Conversation with Emma Kunz. Deanna exhibited her work inspired by Kunz, a Swiss artist who used her artwork as therapeutic tools in her healing practice. AX is proud to have hosted this collection of Deanna’s work and her artist talk. This talk was sponsored in part by the New Horizons Seniors Program, funded by the federal government.

Slow Art Day at AX with artist Deanna Musgrave
On Saturday, April 6, AX was one of approximately 120 galleries across the world who participated in Slow Art Day, a global event with a simple mission: help more people discover, for themselves, the joy of looking at and loving art. When people take time to look carefully at a piece of art, they make discoveries, one the most important being that they don’t need professional “expertise” in order to see and experience art. On April 6, people all over the world visited local museums and galleries to look at art slowly. At 1:00 p.m. artist Deanna Musgrave joined participants in the AX gallery and observed art with participants for a period of time. A short clip of Deanna Musgrave’s Hypno Appreciation can be viewed here. Thanks to The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation for sponsoring Slow Art Day at AX.

Storytelling Night at AX with Gerard Collins
Friday, March 1, 6:00 p.m.

When the sun goes down and the sky darkens, storytellers will gather at AX on the first night of March to entertain us with tales of long ago and far away, or yesterday on the farm just down the road. As in days of old before technology ruled the world, we’ll gather around a “campfire” on a late-winter night to bring some warmth to your soul. You, your friends, and your family are welcome to join us – and maybe tell a tale: of your town, your family, school days, or whatever else you please. “Storytelling Night” is part of Gerard Collins’ exhibition, The Book That Wrote Itself. An award-winning author and professor of literature, Gerard pays homage to his Atlantic roots, sitting around a woodstove or campfire, when his elders would tell stories of days gone by. This was a free event, thanks in part to funding from the NB Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

About Gerard Collins, Author
Dr. Gerard Collins is a New Brunswick-based writer, originally from Newfoundland. Gerard’s first novel, Finton Moon, was nominated for the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2013 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, the 2014 NL Heritage and History Award, and has won the Percy Janes First Novel Award. His short story collection, Moonlight Sketches, won the 2012 NL Book Award. Dr. Collins’ Doctorate is in North American gothic fiction, and he has taught English at Memorial University of Newfoundland for two decades and continues to teach by distance. Gerard also offers mentorships and hosts local and international writing workshops and retreats.

During the exhibition launch, we formally opened the AX Patio and acknowledged those who helped make it a reality. The space will provide much-needed additional room for spillover during events, and is already proving to be a visual draw to the arts and culture centre.

About Gerard Collins, Painter
Gerard Collins was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and he has chosen to remain and make his art in the city he calls home. Collins’ influences and the self-imposed rules which govern his art, however, were drawn from the currents of twentieth century contemporary art. Considered to be one of the finest contemporary painters in the region, Gerard Collins has displayed his work in numerous exhibitions since 1977. His work can also be found in many important collections.

About Gerry Collins, Ceramist
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Gerry Collins obtained a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from University of Manitoba, followed by a Fine Arts degree from l’Université de Moncton. She taught Sculpture and Ceramics courses as a sessional lecturer at UdeM from 1999 to 2016 and was guest artist in public schools through the program “GénieArts.” Gerry has had numerous group and solo shows and has exhibited her work in the Maritimes, Quebec, Manitoba, France, and Italy. Her work is inspired and informed by her interests in the natural world, particularly topics in evolution, and in the nature of human consciousness.

Participating artists were Tara Audibert, Paul Austin, Edward (Ned) Bear, Angela Beek, Kim Brooks, G. Wayne Brooks, Francine Francis, Tim Hogan, Liz Kain, Belinda Levi, Mary Mersereau, Cindy Narvey, James Narvey, Sarah Sacobie, Vienna Sanipass, Lois Solomon, Sgoagani Wecenisqon, and Pauline Young. The art works were chosen by a jury, Catherine Anne Martin, Nancy Oakley, and Natalie Sappier.

Participating artists included Amanda Dawn Christie, Lee Horus Clark, Charline Collette, Elizabeth Grant, Catherine Hale, Sarah Jones, Steve Jones, Victoria Moon Joyce, Melissa LeBlanc, Vicky Lentz, Jennifer Macklem, Bob Morouney, Andrea Mortson, Deanna Musgrave, Sylvie Pilotte, Peter Powning, Lucille Robichaud, Guy Vézina, and Dan Xu.

The former-students who studied in the program formed a special bond fueled by their mutual enthusiasm for photography, its history, and its production. The collective also serves as a sounding board for the artists to critique their work. SilverFish Photography Collective has exhibited at multiple venues across the maritimes, and we were pleased to host them at AX. Participating artists include Rob Blanchard, Jeff Crawford, Oliver Flecknell, Burton Glendenning, Peter Gross, Mike Meade, Beth Powning, Peter Powning, Lori Quick, Denise Rowe, Karen Ruet, Roger Smith, and Mandy Wright.

In partnership with Parks Canada, artists stayed on site at the Fundy National Park for a 5-day period, interacting with nature, park interpreters, scientists, educators and each other. Inspired by their explorations of the natural landscape, these artists brought their curiosity and their creativity to bear on such matters as the Fundy tides, the flora and fauna of the Acadian Forest, and wetland ecosystems.

Artist Panel – Peter Powning, Alyson Brown, Jamie Brown, and Joe Pach
AX was pleased to host a panel featuring these four artists as part of this extraordinary exhibition.

Exhibited artists include Rudi Aker, Josée Bolduc, Mario LeBlanc, Katie Melanson, Sylvie Pilotte, Dawn Stevens, and Bonny Hill.

Artist Talk with Bonny Hill
On Friday, November 10, at 2:00 p.m. Bonny Hill gave an an Artist Talk at AX about her series “I Don’t Know Anything about Art, I Just Want Something Nice to Hang over my Sofa to Match my Living Room” on display as part of the exhibition. The talk was attended by her High School art students and the public.

About Bonny Hill
Bonny Hill is an artist and educator from Sussex, New Brunswick. She completed a Bachelor of Art in Art Education at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1984. was recently recognized by the Canadian Society For Education Through Art as “Art Educator of the Year” for her work at the Sussex Regional High School. She is active in theater and sits on the Visual Arts Curriculum Committee. Bonny Hill is also a board member of AX Arts Centre.

After months of extensive renovations and improvements headed by the Town of Sussex, our beautiful building was transformed and the gallery was made ready to showcase AX’s first exhibit. Jeepers Peepers was a spring-themed collaboration between AX, the New Brunswick Museum, and 17 artists from across the province. It featured many different media including textiles, ceramics, glass, and paint.

Artist Talk with Don McAlpine
Don McAlpine, Head Curator of the New Brunswick Museum’s Department of Natural Sciences, spoke about New Brunswick’s amphibians in conjunction with the Jeepers Peepers exhibition.
Don’s talk focused on the museum’s amphibian collection, some of which is on loan to AX as part of the spring-themed collaboration between AX, the New Brunswick Museum, and 17 artists from across the province. The exhibit features many different media including textiles, ceramics, glass, and paint, as well as a collection of the museum’s resin frogs, toads, salamanders and snakes.