Red Deer Museum Blog
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Making History Fundraising Campaign launched…
Exciting details for new permanent museum exhibit announced
Red Deer…. Red Deer’s Museum and Art Gallery announced details about the new permanent history exhibit which is being created to open in time for the City’s Centennial celebrations in 2013.
The $1.5 million project is already in the early design stages by internationally renowned design firm, Reich + Petch of Toronto which has engaged the services of local interpretive planner, Anna Robertson. The public will be invited to see preliminary sketches in late February.
Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery, Executive Director Lorna Johnson, says, “This exhibit will entice all ages, mixing items from the collection of the Red Deer Museum and the Red Deer and District Archives with high tech interactive centres and multi-media that make our City’s history come alive with characters, stories and artifacts from our past.”
The exhibit called The Place Between: Stories from the Heart of the Parkland will utilize more than 40 per cent of the facility space. Ten themed components will bring Red Deer’s history to life, showcasing the diverse heritage of Alberta’s third largest city.
The exhibit will open March 2013 to coincide with the City of Red Deer’s centennial and is expected to become a centerpiece for Red Deer, attracting visitors from all over the province and beyond. It also provides a starting point for discovering Red Deer and a way of building a sense of community by sharing the City’s historic roots.
A fundraising campaign, entitled “Making History” is being launched to invite members of the business community, individuals and groups to participate in making this exhibit come alive. A goal of $500,000 has been set for the campaign.
For additional information, please contact Lorna Johnson. Phone: (403)309-8439. lorna.johnson@reddeer.ca
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Warm Reception for Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking
Uuturautiit Opening Reception
Last night visitors braved the cold to attend to provide a warm welcome at the Opening Reception for Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking. We would like to thank Mayor Flewwelling and Mr. Earl Dreeshan, MP, for remarks and everyone who attended.
Catering was provided by Boulevard Restaurant located in the Holiday Inn & Suites on Gasoline Alley, and featured a fantastic assortment of Arctic Char, Bison Wellingtons and more.
We would like to share a comment with you from Teresa Nueman, Community and Program Facilitator, Performing Arts, City of Red Deer who attended the event.
Uuturautiit Exhibition at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery
Before I do much of anything else this morning, I want to share with you all my excitement over the Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking Exhibition that has just opened at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery and runs until April 1. I was fortunate to attend the opening reception last evening and the exhibition is absolutely beautiful. This is a very important exhibition, organized and circulated by the National Gallery of Canada in collaboration with Dorset Fine Arts. It features the complete 1959 inaugural collection from this famous northern printmaking collective, re-assembled for the first time in five decades. Also featured are contemporary works from the still vibrant Cape Dorset printmaking group, some of who are original members, and many of who are second or third generation family members.
Red Deer is the only Alberta stop for this travelling exhibition. This was made possible by the recent renovations to the Museum and Art Gallery which brought our museum up to the standards necessary to host such an important show. It is an absolute must see. Making this time at the Museum even more exciting will be the addition of Cape Dorset prints from the MAG’s own collection, which will run January 28 to March 4. They have a wonderful line up of speakers, films and activities over the next two months to truly bring the experience of this wonderful Inuit art to life for our community. Visit www.reddeermuseum.com for more information.
I strongly urge you to put a visit to MAG on your calendar and take all your friends!
Teresa Neuman
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Canada’s North Comes South-National Exhibition Pays Tribute to Cape Dorset Artists
January 14- April 1, 2012
Red Deer (January 6, 2012)
Between January 14 and April 1, 2012, the MAG will host Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates 50 Years of Printmaking, organized by the National Gallery of Canada in collaboration with Dorset Fine Arts.
This significant exhibition of some 80 works pairs the most recent and innovative work with the complete inaugural 1959 collection. Extremely rare, the latter has been re-assembled for the first time in five decades. Works represent a mix of elder, established and emerging artists. In 2009, Cape Dorset celebrated the Jubilee Anniversary of making prints, and the creation of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Ltd. Kinngait, as it is locally known in Nunavut, continues to operate, providing an outlet for artists to create and market their art.
"Uuturauqtu", or "uuturautiit"in the plural (pronounced "oo-to-raw-tee"), is the Inuktitut term used for proofing a print, which is the crucial, experimental stage before the print is finalized. It means "to try different things". The artists of Cape Dorset have been combining their skill and artistry in a fascinating and prolific body of work for over 50 years, sharing their personal experiences and cultural knowledge through this vital art form.
From January 28 to March 4, 2012, the Museum will feature Cape Dorset: Selections from the
MAG Collection.Inuit communities and culture are key components in the Alberta Grade 2 curriculum. This exhibition will feature art and artefacts representative of the diversity of Canada’s North. Visitors will explore the geography, language, culture and resources of our northern neighbours.
Dr. Kathleen Swallow, a local collector in Inuit and Native Art donated her collection to the Red Deer and District Museum in 1983. Many Cape Dorset prints comprised a large portion of her donation. Lorna Johnson, Executive Director states, “The depth and quality of Inuit art in the MAG’s collection is of a national calibre. The MAG is very excited to present these works, many by the same artists represented in the National Gallery exhibition.”
During the run of these two exhibitions, the Museum will welcome Inuit artist-in-residence, Tim Pitsiulak to Red Deer. Pitsiulak, an artist from the Kinngait Studios and included in the National Gallery exhibition, will be working in the galleries between February 20th and March 2nd
For more information Contact : Karin Richardson-Mackenzie, Development and Marketing, 403-309-8446
Email: karin.richardsonmackenzie@reddeer.ca
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Central Alberta Rocks!
Central Alberta Rocks!
November 19, 2011 to January 1, 2012
If you lived in Red Deer and area in the mid 1960s, do you remember hanging out at The Sweet Shop or Dog & Suds? Do you have memories of dancing to the music of The Drifters, Ninth Wave, or the Gaetz Avenue Dance Band?
The Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery and Sunny 94 presents Central Alberta Rocks! This “teaser” exhibition will bring a sampling of the history of rock and roll bands that originated in Red Deer, the music they performed, and the places they played.
One of the biggest influences on the youth of Red Deer was music. The social significance of Rock 'n Roll swept into Red Deer the same as anywhere else in the world. “The music styles, fashion, lifestyle attitudes and language around the globe did the same in Red Deer. It was a new point of view,” states Valerie Miller, Collections Coordinator at the Museum.
Seventy three million people watched The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 7, 1964, including many in Red Deer. One Red Deer youngster that watched that night was Harley Hay, “Two words… The Beatles. When I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show in Grade 7, I knew that my marching drum in the Optimist Drum & Bugle Corps would soon turn into a set of drums.”
The project began with a gift of Central Alberta rock band posters and CHED charts from Phil Hallet. Hallet was also instrumental in bringing his cohorts together to produce the project. Over the past year, the group met regularly to share their experiences and knowledge from this era. The Museum is grateful to Phil Hallet, Gary Thompson, Richard Hayhoe, Lorne Hallet, and Harley Hay. “Their enthusiasm has definitely helped bring this exhibit to life,” states Miller
Several former and current band members, including a few from the advisory group, will bring our their instruments once again to perform at the MAG. The goal is to have the community gather, enjoy the music of their youth, and share their personal experiences. Information and material collected will be included in a larger exhibition tentatively proposed for 2014.
The bands will play on Sunday, November 20, and Saturday, December 3, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm., and the First Friday - December 2, 7:00 to 10:00 pm.
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Live Music, Silent Film
Live Music, Silent Film At The MAG
Limited tickets available from the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery. Click here for information about the event and ticket prices.
November 2, 2011 – 7:00pm
For one fun filled night, take your seat in history as you view silent films in the spirit of the Roaring 20s.
The Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery presents Live Music, Silent Film. Enjoy Buster Keaton silent comedies, with live, original piano scores by Canadian composer/pianist Robert Bruce from Hamilton, Ontario. Bruce’s music is widely considered "highly visual" and his scores truly bring the films to life.
The Live Music/Silent Film event offers all the excitement and spontaneity of a live concert blended perfectly together with the charm and nostalgia of classic 1920s silent cinema. This unique program is an experience that any true appreciator of music and the dramatic and cinematic arts will cherish.
Silent films have no synchronized recorded sound; no spoken dialogue. Dialogue is transmitted through gestures with an emphasis on body language and facial expression. Onscreen title cards were used to narrate story points and present key dialogue. Showings of silent films almost always featured live music in order to contribute to the atmosphere and give the audience vital emotional cues.
For the first two decades of motion picture history most silent films were only a few minutes in length, but rose in length and complexity in the early 1910s. Many film scores for early silent films were either improvised or compiled of classical or theatrical music. In the late 1920s the means of recording sound that would synchronize with the recorded image was discovered. After the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, “talkies” become more common. Within a decade, popular production of silent films had ceased.
Attendees can join in the spirit and come dressed in costume of the era. Doors open at 6:30 pm; event will begin at 7:00 pm. Sweet and savory snacks, door prizes, silent auction and prizes for best costume!
Tickets are on sale now, prices ranging from $15.00 to $25.00. To purchase tickets or to learn more about the event call (403) 309-8405.
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