There will be a lot more original artwork in Westlock and area homes following the Alberta Culture Days events over the weekend — pieces both purchased from professional artists and created as residents discovered “the artist within.”
The two main components to Westlock’s Alberta Culture Days celebrations, being the grand opening of the Westlock Community Art Club’s gallery at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre and a series of workshops at the Westlock Library, were both well attended and by all measures successful.
Wendy Hodgson-Sadgrove, the assistant director of the library and the organizer of the participatory events, said she was pleased with the turnout and participants’ reactions.
“I don’t know that anybody left today without seeing something different,” she said.
While many of the participants in the three workshops were children, many adults came to try to discover the artist within themselves as well. The first workshop focused on using recycled paper — in this case surplus books from the library — to create sculptures.
Many, including a Westlock News reporter, walked away with a unique hedgehog created from an old hardcover book. While it was difficult to adjust to folding pages instead of putting words on them, the experience was a reminder that it doesn’t have to take a long time or cost a lot of money to do something creative, to make a piece of art — even if it was less than perfect when compared to the work of the talented young artist who also made sculptures.
Isabell Redding, one of the adults who took part, said she appreciated the opportunity to get creative.
“I think it’s great; I love to do artistic projects,” she said. “This was very simple and easy to follow. It’s something everyone can do.”
Cathy Rondeau took part in the activities with her children, and said while she’s no stranger to the library’s programs, the hands-on demonstrations for Alberta Culture Days was a great activity.
“I never would have thought you could make things out of old books,” she said. “It feels sacrilegious to fold the pages and cut a book.”
Everyone involved, it seemed, would be happy to come back and try something similar again. For Hodgson-Sadgrove, it was nice to be able to put a different spin on Alberta Culture Days and get more people involved in the creative process.
“It can take you all sorts of places, and it allows you to open up,” she said, adding art is one of the hallmarks of any great civilization. “What remains from civilization are not usually pieces of war, they’re pieces of practical art.”
At the art gallery, meanwhile, more experienced artists were displaying the results of all their hard work and treating visitors to demonstrations including painting, linoleum block printing, sculpting, belly dancing and scratchboard art.
Many pieces done by members of the club were sold, and an overflowing door-prize draw container attested to the large number of visitors who came to celebrate the grand opening.
While Hodgson-Sadgrove said she was not sure what sort of form next year’s Culture Days events would look like, she emphasized the importance of hosting these kinds of events as a way to promote art in the community.
“A community that has a strong art ethic tends to be a vibrant community; people are aware of their surroundings, they’re concerned about what’s happening, they take the time to smell the coffee,” she said.
