Resilience Art Project
Resilience Art Project’s Exhibition Journey
2023
- Calgary International Airport: currently on display until August 16, 2023. Location: Domestic Arrivals, between doors 4 & 5
- Calgary Municipal Building: May 2023
- Telus Convention Centre: March 2023
About the Project
Uniting artists to celebrate strength and inspire transformation.
The Resilience Art Project brings together a diverse range of artists from Alberta to express their unique perspectives and experiences, contributing to a larger message of resilience and hope.
The Project included an open call inviting artists to submit their proposals for painting a surface design on one of five sculptural canvases. HAS received a high volume of applications from emerging and established artists from all over Western Canada. After a rigorous selection process, the independent jury selected five artists to participate in the project.
The five selected artists received $1,200 plus $300 for material expenses to bring the 3D canvases to life.
The 3D canvases are identical in form, creating a heart-shaped silhouette when viewed from front and back angles at a distance of at least 15 feet. The form of the sculpture becomes increasingly abstract as the viewer moves closer and around the sculpture. This playful illusion required detailed planning by HAS’s in-house design team led by Daniela Szeoke. The team created the design in a perceptual style to invite viewers to contemplate the endless variations in the way we see and experience resilience.
Visual Arts: one of the Hispanic Arts Society's four core areas!
Through the Resilience Art Project, we celebrate the indomitable human spirit and the ability of art to heal, uplift, and unite.
– Hispanic Arts Society’s Board
The Artists
The jury of the Resilience Art Project selected five talented visual artists to paint the five sculptures the Hispanic Arts Society designed. The jury chose Michelle Ku, Layla Folkmann, Alana Halliday, Autumn Whiteway, and Jorge Antonio Fuentes to participate in the project. These artists were selected based on their portfolios, proposals, letters of intent and demonstrated ability to create meaningful and impactful art.
The community attended the Sculptures Revealing Ceremony at the Telus Convention Centre on Friday, March 31st, at 7:00 PM. This was an excellent opportunity to celebrate our resilience through the arts and witness these talented artists’ transformation of the sculptures.
In addition to the ceremony, an artwork showcase occurred in the pre-function area of the Macleod Hall rooms. Over 20 artists also exhibited their artwork, providing guests an exciting opportunity to explore the diverse range of talent within the community.
Bio
Michelle Ku is a Canadian artist creating paintings, murals, and animations. She’s diagnosed with Complex PTSD (CPTSD) and paints as a way to process and heal her trauma. Her current series focuses on exploring the mind-body connection through acrylic paintings. She’s inspired by somatic healing, parts work, and meditation.
In 2017, she graduated with a Graphic Design BA from Central Saint Martins and currently works in animation alongside her painting practice. Michelle has worked with Cartoon Network, Blink Ink, Golden Wolf and FX among others.
Resilience
My current direction in my work aligns with the theme of resiliency, and I’d love to create something to reflect the strength of people in our community as we went through the lockdown together but apart. I am currently exploring the mind-body connection through my acrylic paintings. I want people to know they are not alone in their struggles with mental health and trauma. I’m not so good with words, but through painting, I’m able to get across more nuanced and complex messages.
I like to balance serious subject matter with cute characters and fun colours. During the lockdown, I think many of us faced mental health challenges, and it was quite a dark time. I think darkness is part of life, but I want to express it always with some sweetness so that things are balanced. Through painting, I can connect with my inner child while healing myself, and hopefully providing some healing for the viewer too. For me, painting requires a balance of conscious reflection and trusting my intuition. Balance is a key word for me, as I’ve struggled with moderation my entire life. Through balancing my composition and colours, I am reminded to balance my life in all areas. I’m Chinese-Canadian and also diagnosed with Complex-PTSD (C-PTSD). Advocating for representation and mental health awareness is an important part of my art practice. Ultimately, the magic of art is that it can turn negative experiences and emotions into something positive and beautiful that may even help others. I see painting as a kind of alchemy!
I would love to participate in this project because I feel the theme really aligns with my personal practice, and I would love to contribute my skills to a good cause. I’d also love to continue to gain more experience in public art, and this project would really help with adding to my portfolio as well.
For potential concepts, I’d like to reflect on my time during the lockdown and create something to represent this feeling of being isolated but connected online in a different way. I’d love to use a vibrant colour scheme and involve little characters to represent the different moods/emotions I felt throughout.
Bio
Autumn Whiteway (Night Singing Woman) is a Saulteaux (Ojibway)/Métis archaeologist, artist, traditional craftworker, and curator based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta). She is a member of Berens River First Nation in Manitoba but grew up in Treaty 7 territory.
As an archaeologist, she has always been curious about the material culture produced by her ancestors, in addition to traditional knowledge passed down through the generations. This curiosity led her on a path of discovery, to learn to make different types of traditional Indigenous crafts.
Autumn also explores Indigenous themes from a contemporary perspective through painting, digital art, and photography. Her painting and digital art is primarily focused on the heavily symbolic Woodland Style of art, while her photographic practice is used as a form of activism to highlight Indigenous issues. Her curatorial work concentrates on elevating the voices of Indigenous creatives through a series of Indigenous focused exhibitions. Additionally, she is a teaching artist and facilitates various types of Indigenous art workshops.
Resilience
Working in the colourful and symbolic Woodland Style of art, grandfathered by Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau, I intend to depict representations of Indigenous resilience and interconnectedness with “All Our Relations” (our kin [family, community, animal and plant nations, Mother Earth]). The painting will be completed with acrylic paints mixed with different types of ground up Indigenous medicines (ie. tobacco, cedar, sage, sweetgrass). Indeed, the Woodland Style of art is also known as “Medicine Painting” for its ability to heal the viewer. The addition of plant medicines will further promote healing and resilience amongst those viewing the sculptural piece.
Bio
My name is Jorge Fuentes. I am a Chilean Canadian artist. I was born in Santiago Chile and moved to Calgary as a teen in the early 80s. Calgary was the city I arrived in and has been my home ever since.
If I had to describe the type of artist that I am, I would say an Urban Artist. I love the city. The buildings, the walls and all the sights and sounds. Walking through the streets of any city, Calgary, Vancouver, or Santiago, the walls speak and tell a story. And they inspire me to be part of that story.
My artistic practices are varied. I have a great love for art in all its many shapes and forms. Therefore, I dedicate much of my free time to researching and exploring different mediums of art. Online, Instagram and Facebook allow me to follow various artists from different genres. I also really enjoy perusing art books and magazines like Juxtapoz. I love discovering new (to me) artists, which I find incredibly inspiring. Lastly, I cannot speak about art without mentioning the music. Music plays an essential part in my life. There is little creation that happens without music to inspire and motivate. All this art inspires my creations, and they get my creative juices flowing.
Some new artists I have enjoyed are Robin F. Williams, Heather Benjamin and Amoako Boafo. Artists that have been inspiring me for a long time are Picasso, Oswaldo Guayasmin, Frida Kahlo, Roberto Matta, and Alejandro Gonzalez. To only name a few.
My process is simple, I visualize in my mind and heart (sketch) and then find the suitable surface to create. And then, I let the creativity flow out. I have painted/drawn my art on walls, guitars, chairs and pieces of vinyl. I have also enjoyed sculpting and carving but generally fall back to painting, with acrylics as my go-to medium.
Resilience
As a Chilean Canadian artist who has had to overcome adversity, forced to leave Chile and emigrate to an entirely new country. I believe my vision for this mural can easily draw upon my and others’ life experiences and will be reflective of the community it serves. The proposal theme will be resilience and also incorporate elements of both Chilean and Canadian culture. COVID has provided me with new perspectives on my art, and the project that I aim to create would be beautiful, and inspiring, and celebrate the strength and resilience of the community.
I am committed to working closely with the community to ensure that my proposal reflects their values and vision. I will also, be seeking input from local organizations and stakeholders to ensure that the final product is both respectful and representative of the community as a whole.
In conclusion, I am excited to propose a community artwork that celebrates the theme of resilience. As an artist with a Chilean Canadian background, I believe that the concept of resilience is deeply rooted in my heritage and is an important value that we should all strive to embody. Through this project, I hope to create a beautiful and meaningful piece of art that inspires and uplifts the community and celebrates the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
Bio
My name is Alana Halliday. I am a twenty-six-year-old, bisexual, emerging artist based in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2020, I graduated from MacEwan University with a Bachelor of Sociology. Currently, I work as a full-time legal assistant and a part-time artist. I specialize in the creation of detailed portraits through black ink in a pointillist style, and use other assorted mediums to add coloured accents to my pieces.
Nail polish and watercolour are two of my favourite accent materials. Stylistically, I like to utilize simplistic, muted neutrals and subtle shading techniques. The primary aim of my work is to successfully use intricate, small details to create much bigger pictures. I have been working at mastering painting and drawing for over ten years, but have only recently started to show my work on a public scale. I grew up in very conservative surroundings while also holding close, personal ties to the LGBTQ+ community. These two experiences have closely intertwined to give me an immensely sensitive view of the human body and experience, which serves as the primary motivation for my work. I want the humans I draw to be portrayed and understood as large wholes, specifically made up of countless intricate pieces.
Resilience
I admittedly have limited large-scale art experience, but I have been painting and drawing for countless years. I have extensive experience exhibiting my work in several public, professional settings. My work is very detail-oriented, but to comply with tight time constraints, I work heavily with decals (and have a reliable provider that creates environmentally friendly outdoor decals) to fit all required installation time frames.
I want to use my piece “Just Hands” as a starting place for my submission for the Resilience Art Project. In light of the incredibly trying circumstances that have unfolded over the last couple of years, humans have had to be there for each other in a way unique to the current climate. My piece, Just Hands, exhibits the importance of being there for each other, regardless of sexual orientation, race and/or age, and the importance of gifting support to those around us.
Bio
LALA [Lacey And Layla Art] is a professional collaboration of public muralists composed of artists Lacey Jane Wilburn and Layla Folkmann, born in Edmonton, Alberta in the heart of Treaty 6 territory. Since 2010, the duo has completed over 140 public mural interventions across Canada, France, Honduras, Iceland and Uganda. Specialising in site-specific public creations that respond directly to local communities, they have received over $150,000.00 in grants from provincial and municipal funding.
Along the way, the women leave their mark in the form of expressive portrait murals that capture local people, culture and the environment. Utilising both bold colour schematics and heightened light effects, they bridge their portrait art with a contemporary street art aesthetic. Their art is a celebration of everyday heroes from local communities, from a 2021 mural memorialising Vancouver punk legend, Mr. Chi Pig, to a 2020 mural inspired by the artwork of local kids for the StArt Up Underpass Program in Toronto and a 2016 mural at Edmonton’s Rogers Place Arena celebrating the faces of Boyle Street Community Services for the unhoused.
Together, the duo studied Fine Art at Grant MacEwan University in 2009, and completed her BFA’s with Great Distinction at Concordia University in Montreal in 2016 after a semester abroad at the L’École d’Enseignement Supérieur d’Art de Bordeaux in France. Collectively, they have received the Vancouver University Women’s Club Scholarship (2021), The Yves Gaucher Prize in Studio Arts (2016), the D. L. Stevenson Colour Scholarship for Academic Excellence (2014), the Francis Henderson Klingle Scholarship (2009), The Women’s Canadian Club of Edmonton Award (2009), The Edmonton Glenora Rotary Club Award in Fine Art (2009), The Barbara and John Poole Family Endowed Fund for the Arts (2009) and the Jason Lang Scholarship for Excellence (2007). In 2022, Wilburn obtained her Master’s in Fine Art from Emily Carr University of Art and Design where she now works as a professor, and Folkmann was the recipient of the 2021 Artists Trust Fund Award from the Edmonton ArtsCouncil.
Resilience
Our intent with this project is to create something colourful and light-hearted, with our distinct blend of vibrant luminosity and representational natural realism will contribute to a sculpture that is both joyous and inviting and a contemporary artistic collaboration. We have developed dozens of murals across the country that respond to the unique atmosphere and environment of each region we paint, taking great strides and pride in our community-engaged approach to design development, and research into the local history, natural splendours, and community heartbeats.
The painting proposal is of a honey bee and a crocus flower, in short, they represent the resilience of mother nature. The crocus is one of the first flowers to poke through the snow after a harsh Alberta winter, and the honey bee is incredibly tenacious and hearty, working tirelessly, travelling kilometres to collect pollen to survive.
The Jury
Artists were carefully selected by a distinguished panel of jurors comprising Sanja Lukac, Juan Carlos López, and Richard White. Each of these jurors brought a wealth of expertise and experience to the project, and their insights were invaluable in shaping the final selection of artists. The Telus Convention Centre was set to host the unveiling of these remarkable sculptures on March 31, 2023.
The event showcased the artworks of 31 talented visual artists.
Sanja Lukac
Sanja Lukac (she/her) is a visual artist, curator and community activator passionate about equity in the arts and elevating the work of emerging artists. As an immigrant artist herself, Sanja works to create meaningful opportunities in the arts for all artists and is a mentor to many emerging and newcomer artists.
Her passion for the arts extends to her local community as the Visual and Media Arts Curator at Arts Commons, Canada’s 3rd largest art centre. She is actively helping other artists thrive in the Calgary/Mohkinstsis arts ecosystem through her dedicated mentorship and volunteer work for the board of directors of the Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI) and the Exposure Photography Festival.
She is a founder and the Executive Director of SEITIES STUDIO, a traditional photography publication + gallery dedicated to international artists who work with traditional production methods in contemporary photography. In her spare time, she explores nature or is in her environmental darkroom.
Juan Carlos López
Juan Carlos López is a highly qualified art curator and professor, currently working as a curator at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan. He holds a postgraduate degree in Aesthetics and Visual Arts from Essex University in England, a Philosophy degree from Universitá degli Studi di Perugia in Italy, and an Arts Degree from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia.
Juan Carlos López has a wealth of professional experience in the art world, having served as a professor at various universities in Venezuela and Puerto Rico. He has also held various curatorial positions, including Chief Curator at the Galería de Arte Nacional and Museo de la Estampa y del Diseño Carlos Cruz-Diez in Caracas. He has conducted research and curated exhibitions in a range of areas of painting from the ’60s, ’70s, and ´80s.
Richard White
Richard White is a highly accomplished visual artist, curator, and community leader with over 30 years of experience in the arts industry. He has worked as an executive director, commissioned public artworks, and served as a public art and exhibition juror for various municipal projects, art groups, and corporations across Western Canada. Richard has championed Calgary as “Canada’s newest urban playground” and is one of the city’s most respected community leaders, receiving numerous awards and recognition for his contributions.
One of Richard’s notable achievements was his instrumental role in successfully revitalizing Calgary’s signature street, Stephen Avenue, into one of the best pedestrian streets in Canada, earning its designation as a National Historic District.
