November 24, 2017 · 0 Comments
By Avery Park
The president and vice president of Club Art have excitedly announced that Club Art is making a comeback, with a couple of sessions to start the year, and will be reopening in 2018
Before the grand reopening of Club Art in 2018, they have found a temporary home to get everyone involved prior to the reopening with some special sessions. This will be Club Art at the Library, once a month until their original space is open again. Feel free to come, bring supplies, and get creative.
Starting tonight (Nov. 23) from 6 to 8 p.m. at 1 Mill Street (the Orangeville Library), there will be an open studio in the meeting room in the basement. Additional dates include Dec 14, Jan 18, and Feb 15, all at the same place and same time. Club Art President Jacklyn Hancock, Vice President Ricky Schaede, and a member of their committee Heather Scott, will all be there working on their own pieces, and also helping others create their own.
When the space for Club Art does reopen, they will have created a membership program for those who would like to use the space more then once a week on the open studio nights. This is free to join, and it only requires you to follow a few rules. If you have this membership, you can bring supplies at anytime and work in the space during Koros Games store hours.
This is an amazing opportunity for artists of any age, and everyone at Club Art is hoping for an amazing comeback into the Orangeville community.
“It was an initiative that was started by myself, Wayne Baguley, Dufferin Arts Council, DARE arts and Shawn of Koros Games,” Ms. Hancock says, explaining the origins of Club Art. “We hold events that focus on showcasing the youths art in our area.”
“It is a safe, free space for people in the community to make art,” adds Mr. Ricky Schaede. “Our mission is to be able to provide this space for people to come, use materials, and make art, because a lot of people just don’t have the space.”
Focusing on youth and their artwork, they are trying to create a new ‘hub’ for young artists to come to, connect with others, and create their artwork. Having a space to be free to make what you want can be a relief for those struggling with mental health issues, and it can create a local culture, and a sense of community.
For those who don’t have the space at home or can’t afford the supplies, there are supplies donated to this space for this cause that everyone can use. Along with the visual art aspects, Club Art would love to incorporate all types of creative arts. Their love of all the arts is contagious, and they hope that everyone catches it.
Having started her journey very young, Jacklyn says she has always loved art. “In high school I got more into it and took some specialty classes. I ended up going to Sheridan College for 3 1/2 years in Oakville for my advanced visual creative arts diploma, which then lead into a job as a gallery manager and junior executive director of a non-profit arts organization. In the midst of all my employment, we started Club Art. I’ve just kind of been on a roll. In the meantime, I’ve also been creating, promoting, selling and exhibiting my own artwork across Ontario. I’m always busy.”
Jacklyn has recently started assisting with teaching art classes, and enjoys sharing her passion for art with others, hoping she can continue to share this passion with others in the sessions in the library.
For Ricky, he started in his artwork a little later. “Out of high school, I did a little bit of painting but not a lot. Then I took this trip to Guatemala where I witnessed a series of fire ceremonies at Mayan temples and it was really inspiring. When I got home I started painting and in September, I saw this call for a mural competition in the paper and I got really excited. I went to that and it was at the space we now use for Club Art, it was that spark that inspired me to pursue art as a career.”
Ricky now has a very successful career as an artist, and gives his thanks to Club Art. He has exhibited work in Austria and New York, hoping to continue expanding his ideas, and showing them to others.
Both of these different journeys have led them to Club Art, and to help create a wonderful program for the people in the Orangeville community. They don’t provide lessons, there are no set plans on what you do, they just provide the space and some materials that have been donated.
Everyone should feel free to try anything, and explore their own voice. This is the main focus of Club Art, and they feel that having this program is going to benefit the community greatly. Having this program come back in 2018 in their original space will be highly beneficial for the striving artists in our community.
“This gives the youth an opportunity to further explore what they maybe couldn’t be doing in school or somewhere else,” says Jacklyn. “And also to give them the space where they are free to make whatever they want,” adds Ricky. “A lot of art classes are structured, but we want them to do whatever they want and explore their own creative voice.”
To learn more about Club Art at the Library, you can look online at their website www.clubartorangeville.com or their Facebook page, “Club Art Orangeville”.