Thursday, May 25, 2006

Call me an A-I-R

That would be Artist in Residence, not air head, although some may disagree. I received word last night that I have been selected to do an Artist in Residency week for the Fredericton Arts alliance. My week is July 8 - 14. I will mostly be weaving, but will do a little warp preparation and dyeing during my week. I had asked for two weeks, but they had such a number of applicants that few people were granted two weeks. I have done residencies before and I love it! The whole point of them is to get artists out and accessible to the public and to the all important tourists. They are held in the "casemates" of the old soldiers barracks in the "Garrison District" of Fredericton's downtown. Fredericton was an important military base in the late 1800's and there are still a few military buildings from this time remaining. I think that the casemates, as they are called, were used to store the ammunition. I am sure that Liz will correct me if I am wrong. She spent a few years working at the local Museum (home of the famous Coleman frog), and knows some of the history better than I do. In any case, they are a series of 8 or 10 brick arches that are about 10' wide and 20' deep (all measurements are approximate, based purely on guess work and my faulty memory). During the summer they are transformed into storefronts or workshops, and the Arts Alliance Residency location. The series runs from early June to late September. If you are around during that time, stop by and say hello to the artists and check out all the great things that are for sale by local crafts people.


And here are todays weaving offerings. This is a warp that alternates between stripes of rayon and stripes of silk. This is hand dyed and very soft. It has a wonderful hand. This is the sort of thing that I shall be doing this summer.


4 comments:

Leigh said...

Congratulation on your artist in residency! What wonderful news and what a wonderful opportunity.

I love your painted warp weaving. Lovely colors. I'll have to add warp painting to my list of things to learn to do someday. :)

Liz said...

well actually, the exhisting buildins were built earlier than that. the casemates, former soldiers barracks, and the Museum former officer's quarters were built between 1840 and 1852. before this there were wooden structures.The buildings are very similar to those built around the colonies by the British colonial forces. They housed the British military until the mid 1860's when they were turned over to the Canadian government. They then became the birthplace of the Canadian Military. The officers quarters were turned into the infantry school along with two other buildings one located in Kingston Ontario, and the other in Quebec. History ggek leaving now. all in all they are being put to good use now.
See y'all!

Jay said...

Congratulations! What great news... and the venue sounds wonderful! I'd love to see piccies of the arches, once you are set up and doing thang!

Unknown said...

Congrats on the awesome news Jackie! I love the shawl; you are on a groove girlfriend.