Alex Colville's homecoming

Mount Allison is marking the 70th anniversary of Alex Colville's ('42) graduation with an exhibition at Owens Art Gallery of his earliest works. Alex Colville: Student Years is a collection composed of his works completed during his time at MtA, many of which have never been exhibited before.

The exhibition is composed of paintings borrowed from the National Gallery of Canada and Colville himself. Photos and materials are on loan from the Mount Allison archives and from the Owens collection.

During the run of the exhibit, visitors are encouraged to drop by Colville House, located one block from Owens Art Gallery.

Works on display in the new exhibit include three of his earliest self-portraits and sketches of decorations for the 1941 "Above the Clouds"-themed junior prom, along with archival photographs of the junior class at the prom.

"...This is a wonderful opportunity to view never before seen works by the young artist during one of the most formative periods of his career."
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Check out Alex Colville: Student Years from now until Sept. 2 at Owens Art Gallery, 61 York St., between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free.

See full story: Alex Colville's homecoming (Here Magazine)

Allisonian made Member of the British Empire by the Queen

Congratulations to respected educator Shirley Pearman ('62) who has been made a Member of the British Empire [MBE] by the Queen for decades of service to teaching and the arts.

News of the awards came today as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. 

Mrs Pearman devoted 35 years of her working life to the education and training of young Bermudians in the classroom. She retired in 1997 after serving 16 years as First Assistant at Warwick Secondary School. 

With degrees from Mount Allison (BFA) and New York University (MA Ed), she was the first Bermudian to obtain a Master's Degree in Art Education.

Her service as a teacher and art specialist have been rewarded with recognition from the Sandys Rotary Club, Spring into the Arts and the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, which in 2007 named her as one of its 100 Wonder Women.

She served on various boards and committees including the Bermuda Arts Council, National Library, Stamp Advisory Board, Emancipation Committee and Bermuda National Gallery committees.

She participated in the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington, DC in 2001, which she described as “one of the highlights of my life” and has also contributed exhibits to the Bermuda National Museum.

As one of the first black Bermudians to serve on the Executive of the Bermuda Historical Society, Mrs Pearman was instrumental in conceiving, organising and administering postgraduate awards for Bermudian scholars engaged in research projects related to Bermuda’s history.

Artist reveals all

Picture this: Stephen Harper casually reclines on a plush chaise lounge wearing a wry smile - and nothing else. A scruffy dog rests by his outstretched leg, while a woman among a group of hovering men serves the lumpy, hairy prime minister a Tim Hortons coffee.

It's called The Emperor Haute Couture, a painting by Miramichi-born artist, and Allisonian Maggie Sutherland that's received an avalanche of commentary since it made headlines last month.

Sutherland, self-described as a "social realist," credits her beginnings in New Brunswick for helping focus her artist's eye. "I wanted to learn anatomy and make people look right. I was really hung up on it. It was kind of an obsession for me," she said, recalling a suggestion by a Mount Allison art mentor that she sharpen her drawing skills.

In 1985, Sutherland enrolled at Mount Allison to study art. While she was most interested in classical, representational portraits, the school's Fine Art program was, at the time, geared toward abstract art. Though she left the university after two years, she credits printmaker David Silverberg's critique for pushing her to improve.

While she doesn't consider herself particularly political, she began the painting out of frustration with the government in late 2010. Harper didn't pose for the portrait, which Sutherland modelled after a 19th century work by French painter, Edouard Manet.

Public response to Sutherland's work has been both enormous and curiously polarizing, the artist says. While positive feedback dwarfs the negative, people either love it, or REALLY hate it.

The painting drew interest from potential purchasers all across the country. After a few low-ball offers, her dealer sold the piece for its $5,000 asking price to a man in Quebec.

To see the painting, ready the full story: Artist who painted Harper reveals all (Here Magazine)

Allisonian, Artist wins national honour

A national honour was bestowed on painter Mary Pratt ('61) last week at The Rooms when the Society of Canadian Artists recognized her with an honorary life membership into the SCA.

The CBC's Beth Macdonell recently paid her a visit at her St. John's home. See video

Alum Exhibition in Vancouver

 

 

RANDALL STEEVES :  S O M A 

JUNE 5 - 20

 

Reception: Saturday June 9, 2 - 4pm

Elissa Cristall Gallery

2239 Granville Street, Vancouver BC

  

Randall Steeves' ('88) thickly painted, textured paintings invite the viewer to reconsider the gesture of painting itself. The canvases explore the relationship between the photographic index and the painterly trace with a wry nod towards conceptual art practice. 

The exhibition features six paintings, all of which have been completed over the last two years. The subject of the canvases is the fingerprint. Steeves had himself "processed" by the Vancouver Police Department in preparation for this work and the pieces are made up entirely of his own prints. 

The paintings are all made from encaustic, a beeswax based paint that is heated and brushed onto the canvas where it hardens immediately. The process results in a complex surface that can be read as a chronology of the painting's construction and as a record of the painter's physical presence and actions. The physicality of the paintings is reinforced by the fingerprint imagery. For Steeves, the fingerprint is "a metaphor for painting... for what I'm doing when I'm making paintings, and what we're doing when we look at paintings. It's about the examination and categorization of human marks, of the traces we all leave behind. Painting can be thought of in similar terms."

Randall Steeves was born in Saint John, New Brunswick. He studied at Mount Allison and received an MFA from the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. Since then he has been based in the Vancouver area. He has lectured and led workshops at art galleries, colleges and universities across Western Canada and has exhibited his work internationally.

Allisonian, new lieutenant-governor

Congratulations to Brigadier-General The Honourable John James Grant ('56), the new Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, who was officially installed on April 12, 2012.

Born in New Glasgow, N.S., in 1936, he joined the Pictou Highlanders in 1951, and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce at Mount Allison in 1956. He went on to serve in a number of senior positions before retiring from the military in 1989. He has been active in a number of community organizations, including the Nova Scotia Army Cadet League and the downtown development association in his hometown.

His Honour joins a distinct group of Allisonians who have also served in the capacity of Lieutenant Governors, including:

• Josiah Wood (1863)
• Margaret McCain ('54, LLD '95)
• Marilyn Trenholme Counsell ('54, LLD '00)
• Herménégilde Chiasson ('72, LLD '04)
• Barbara Hagerman ('65)
  

Young alumnus looking to lead next village municipal council

Sandenn Killoran ('09), marketing and public relations coordinator for Sancon Commissioning, officially launched his candidacy for mayor of Belledune last Sunday at the Royal Canadian Legion in Jacquet River. The 25-year-old graduate of Bathurst High School said he offers a fresh approach.

"I'm thinking that Belledune and the entire province is at a crossroads right now with the economy with the way it is and having to look towards new ideas and new possibilities for industry. I think if we have an educated person with new ideas and a new approach in to how we conduct our business, in going after different industries and helping out with the training of our people, it would be something very important to the village of Belledune. I think a new voice and new ideas is something that's been lacking in the previous councils for a few years now."

Municipal elections will be held across the province on May 14. The mayor's seat in Belledune is currently vacant following the resignation of long-time mayor Nick Duivenvoorden in January, with deputy mayor Emmie Flanagan serving as interim mayor.

Killoran, son of Dennis and Roxanne Killoran of Belledune, was born in Grand Prairie, Alberta, and spent time living in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, and North Tetagouche. He graduated from BHS in 2005 and studied history, English and commerce at Mount Allison.

Killoran said he's always had a great deal of interest in politics and municipal affairs.

"My family is Old Liberal. Basically, from when I was knee-high to my grandfather, it's been Question Period at three o'clock in the afternoon and discussions all night and all day my entire life. I've always been actively engaged in the political process," said Killoran, who is engaged to Mallory Kaye of Belledune.

"Municipally, I've always been involved. I'm the president of our minor soccer club here in Belledune - we have about 80 kids who have joined minor soccer in the summer. We've done a number of charity events that I've organized...and politically, I'm fairly involved in provincial politics as far as the Liberal party, and I know a good number, and have worked with some PC members as well."

If voted in as mayor, he would push for English trades training courses in the village. He said these could be offered online at locations such as the local recreation centre.

"I think it's a bit of a travesty that there's no full-time English courses region except for the few that Dalhousie gets to offer ad-hoc. Anyone who wants to take a full time NBCC (New Brunswick Community College) course in English has to drive as far as Miramichi.

"I really view the potential to have some courses offered, and they don't have to be anything in depth, any two-year courses to start off with. Eventually, I would hope that we could start looking at having full training programs for trades...but something as easy as scaffolding is a couple months course."

Killoran said providing professional training for local residents would help curb the continuing problem of a declining population in the village.

"For the jobs that we do have left, we can look at local people first and have them qualified."

Killoran said he doesn't feel his youth is a negative in being able to do the job of mayor. He said he has a fresh outlook on issues and he feels he can connect with the younger generation to entice youth to move to or stay in the region.

He said his willingness to improve the region gives him the drive to keep moving forward.

"I've always been under the understanding that you should try and make a place better than the way you left it," he concluded.

Bathurst Northern Light, by James Mallory
March 6, 2012