Pictures at an exhibition: School of Art open house

All this year the School of Art has been celebrating its 100th anniversary. Several events at the end of April marked the milestone — one of which was the School of Art’s open house, held this year from April 19 to 26. Held Annually, the BFA Graduating Exhibition showcased the artwork of 4th year, Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours students.

Art in the exhibition reflected the broad range of student interests, from traditional to new media, including painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, photography, video and installation pieces.

“We celebrate the hard work and talent of our students, where risk-taking becomes second nature to the messy business of creating interesting and thought-provoking artwork and design.” said the school’s director Paul Hess.

Established in 1913 as the Winnipeg School of Art, the school joined the U of M in 1950, moving to the Fort Garry campus in 1965. 2013 saw the opening of the brand new ARTlab facility, a spectacular new building located at 180 Dafoe Road, on the corner of the Duckworth Quadrangle. The school still has additional facilities in the ‘Art Barn’ and sculpture/ ceramics buildings west of ARTlab.

On Saturday, April 26, the School of Art hosted a 100th Anniversary symposium featuring talks by Robert Houle, Michelle Lavalee, and a round table discussion on Indigenizing the Campus Through Art: Past and Future Perspectives and later that evening, hosted a gala fundraising dinner to support a new MFA entrance scholarship. It also opened the exhibition On Principle, which traces the history and evolution of the School of Art through a focused presentation of work created by the Principals and Directors both past and present. The exhibition runs until May 23.

>> For a sampling of School of Art student work, click through the gallery below by hovering over the image with your mouse and using the arrows on either side of the image to navigate.

Thank you to Donna Jones for the photos.