Fibre Artist, Teacher, Mentor - Meet Sandra Brownlee and Watch our 75th Anniversary Video

Sandra Brownlee is a practicing fibre artist, teacher, and mentor. She’s one of the seven Talent Trust scholarship recipients who appear in our 75th anniversary scholarship campaign video, which was created to help us double our scholarship funds for emerging Nova Scotia artists.

Artist Sandra Brownlee at the loom.

She began weaving in 1971, and received a Talent Trust scholarship in 1980 to support her studies in textiles. She received her BFA from NSCAD University, and continued her education at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where she completed her MFA in Fibers.

A scholarship can be an important part of a budding career. "It was thrilling, and it made what I was doing seem more real, and viable", says Sandra about her Talent Trust scholarship. "It put me on a really good path."

Sandra has received numerous awards, including the 2014 Governor General Visual and Media Arts Saidye Bronfman Award, a Canada Council B Grant, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

She’s one of the ten artists in our 75th anniversary visual arts exhibition, which opens at Mount Saint Vincent Art Gallery in Halifax in May of 2019, and travels to Cape Breton University Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Yarmouth.

Believe in the creativity of Nova Scotians. Sandra Brownlee created this piece for our 75th anniversary video.

Sandra’s work began with weaving, and now includes working in notebooks and stitching words onto cloth. She created the “Believe in the creativity” piece for our 75th anniversary scholarship campaign video, which is part of our “Believe in the creativity of Nova Scotians” Talent Trust tag line.

You can find Sandra’s work in the Nova Scotia Art Bank, Canada Council Art Bank, Massey Foundation Collection at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, and Cranbrook Art Museum.

Sandra is a highly respected teacher. She currently offers her Tactile Notebook Workshops internationally, and has taught at NSCAD University, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Maryland Institute College of Art, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

We’d like to thank Sandra for allowing us into her studio and being so generous with her time to help us create our scholarship campaign video.




Be part of the campaign to double Talent Trust scholarship funds! Click here to donate. And thank you!

Shauna MacLeod in Nova Scotia Potters Guild Exhibition QUAFF: To Drink Deeply at Government House in Halifax

Nova Scotia ceramic artist Shauna MacLeod.
Photo credit: Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

Shauna MacLeod and colleagues from the Nova Scotia Potters Guild exhibit their work in  QUAFF: To Drink Deeply at Government House in Halifax. The show runs from September 20 - October 27.

Shauna graduated from NSCAD University in 2011, and founded Black Crow Pottery in 2012. She’s one of the few ceramic artists who work with red Nova Scotia earthenware clay as her main ingredient.

While studying at NSCAD, Shauna received a number of scholarships, including one from the Talent Trust, as well as honourable mention in an art competition for the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation. 

She’s shown her work in solo and group exhibitions, and participated in the Summer Professional Development Residency with the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design. 

This past summer Shauna was artist in residence at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

The works in QUAFF will be presented on plinths throughout the public rooms at Government House, displayed amongst the historic furniture. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to pick out a touchstone, which is a small fired-clay memento, made by members of the Potters Guild.

QUAFF exhibition dates include Nocturne, Halifax’s annual celebration of art at night. Artists from the Potters Guild will be on hand to demonstrate throwing on a potter’s wheel and hand-building throughout the evening.

Exhibition details
September 20 - October 27, 2018
Government House
1451 Barrington Street, Halifax

Tuesdays 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. September 25 and 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. October 16
Thursdays 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. September 20, 27; October 11, 18
Saturdays 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. September 22, October 6, 20, 27
Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. October 7
NOCTURNE, October 13: 6:00 p.m. - midnight


Check the Nova Scotia Potters Guild website for schedule changes.

An illustrated talk will be given by the Potters Guild on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 - 7:00 p.m. Admission is free. Visit the Government House website to register.

Barbara McLean in On & Off the Wall, a Peer Gallery Exhibition at the Chase Gallery in Halifax

Barbara McLean at the opening of
her solo exhibition Timelines in 2017

Barbara McLean and her colleagues at Peer Gallery celebrate their 17th anniversary by presenting On & Off the Wall, an exhibition at the Chase Gallery in Halifax.

Barbara studied at NSCAD University, where she earned her BFA (she received a Talent Trust scholarship to help further her studies as a painter). She also holds a Certificate of Design from Sheridan College. Barbara has taught painting classes for NSCAD Extended Studies and workshops across Nova Scotia.

Her abstract paintings are in corporate and private collections in Canada and abroad, and have been purchased by the Nova Scotia Art Bank.

Peer Gallery, founded in 2001, is a registered cooperative gallery in the town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The gallery features established Nova Scotia artists who work in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, mixed media, coloured fused glass, wood turning, and printmaking.

Exhibition details:
September 8 - 28, 2018
Chase Gallery, Nova Scotia Public Archives
6016 University Avenue Halifax

Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday - 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 
Saturday - 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday - closed

Member artists will be in attendance at the gallery from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Peer Gallery member artists: Zalman Amit, Jennie Carton, Jacqueline Cohen, Regina Coupar, Bob Hainstock, Anke Holm, Susan Hudson RCA, Barbara McLean, David Pember, Anne Tweed, George Walford, Tom Ward, Sally Warren, Jane Whitten, and Lisa Wright.

Helah Cooper Hosts Open Studio, Workshop, Show in Lunenburg

Helah Cooper will be hosting a series of events in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, where she’s participating in the NSCAD Community Studio Residency Program.

Open Studio

July 31, 2:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Old Fire Hall, 42 Duke Street

Rope Walk
(Free drop-in rope-making workshop)

August 6, 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.

The Boardwalk, Lunenburg waterfront

Year End Show & Reception
August 21, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Old Fire Hall, 42 Duke Street

Helah is an interdisciplinary artist from Toronto who incorporates costume, drawing, sound and craft in her practice. She creates tactile sculptures that are made to be played with and touched, and collaborates with other artists to facilitate play and performance. She constructs non-linear networks between objects and people to find unexpected points of connection and create queer narratives.

A recent graduate of NSCAD University, Helah received a Talent Trust scholarship to participate in the 2018 Residency Program. 

NAT chantel and Lux Habrich in VANS Mentorship Exhibition

NAT chantel and Lux Habrich are among the artists in Conversations, Visual Arts Nova Scotia’s 2017-18 Mentorship Exhibition. 

NAT chantel is an African Nova Scotian emerging artist in multimedia, textiles and sculpture. Her work speaks to imposed societal structures that inform identity, and the erasure of body and self through communication, and conditions within the environment. 

NAT was a contributing artist and instructor for the Peace Warriors Art and Wellness Festival in 2015, and participated in the group installation The Unkindness at IgNight the Night Art Festival that same year. 

She received a Talent Trust scholarship in 2017 to study privately with interdisciplinary artist Kate Ward. NAT had her first solo exhibit MUD at Afterglow Bridgewater Festival on September 30, 2017. 

Lux Habrich moved to Atlantic Canada from Montréal in 2012 to complete an Interdisciplinary BFA at NSCAD University. She received the NSTT Charlotte Wilson-Hammond/VANS Award in 2016. 

Lux finds frequent inspiration in her urban upbringing, mixed race identity and immigrant legacy. While at NSCAD, she discovered the immense narrative potential in craftwork, with its highly political nature as a domestic, feminine and often undervalued form of production. 

Founded in 2006, the VANS Mentorship Program pairs emerging artists with established artists in a 10-month mentorship. This working relationship provides emerging artists with an exceptional opportunity to develop both their creative process and professional skills, enabling them to build a foundation for a successful career in the visual arts. 

Conversations 
The Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing, Dartmouth, July 12 - 29 Opening reception: Wednesday, July 11, 6 - 8pm 
Mentee Artist Talk: Saturday, July 14, 2pm

This story originally appeared in the Talent Trust June newsletter. Click here to subscribe!

Where do Artists Come From? Visit Artist for a Day on May 12

Photo: Centre for Craft Nova Scotia

How do artists get their start? Does it begin in childhood? Do they come from artistic families?

Maybe they stumble upon their creative passions in high school, if they're fortunate enough to attend a school with a thriving art program.

Sometimes it happens later on, after the kids are grown and it's time to trade in the day job for a committed creative practice.

Whatever your age or artistic ability, there's an event on May 12 on the Halifax waterfront: Artist for a Day. It gives everyone a chance to see and even try various art-making media.

Activities take place at NSCAD University's Port Campus and at the Centre for Craft Nova Scotia, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's free to attend, no registration is required, and the weather promises to be friendly.

For more information, see the Centre for Craft online newsletter and NSCAD's website. (And if you catch the art-making bug, you can come talk to us at the Talent Trust about scholarships.)