Mentoring Opportunity For Artists
The Wells Artists' Project

by Julie Fowler

The snow is melting and the days are getting longer in the little mountain village of Wells, in BC’s Cariboo country. Soon the pussy willows will dominate the landscape, the fireweed will ignite the mountainsides and the bears will emerge from their winter slumber. Summer is on the way.

Island Mountain Arts (IMA) is an arts organization that has been operating in Wells since 1977. One of the few access points for arts training in central and northern BC, IMA provides quality arts education in visual, literary and performing arts for all ages and levels in a beautiful wilderness setting. IMA is just down the road from Barkerville Historic Town and the Bowron Chain of Lakes.

First led by Norman Yates in 2000, the Wells Artists’ Project for Emerging and Professional Artists (WAP) is an eight-day intensive painting retreat (with a four-day option) held in the large airy studios of the Wells/Barkerville School. This year WAP takes place from July 23rd – 31st, 2005 with BC painter Sherrard Grauer.

A unique creative experience in a unique non-urban environment, WAP is a forum for artists to explore and develop their ideas in relation to painting. With hands-on experimentation as the starting point, artists engage in an exchange of ideas aimed at better understanding the possibilities of the creative act – ideal for artists wishing to hone their craft while in a creative, supportive and nature-filled environment.

Sherrard Grauer, with her vast knowledge and experience from over forty years as a visual artist in Canada, will give valuable keys to those artists keen to forward their artistic practice in the visual arts and spur production of new bodies of work.

Since its inception, WAP has seen some phenomenal artists pass through its studio doors. Visual artists like Claire Kujundzic, Eri Ishii, Meghan Hildebrand, Annerose Georgeson and Paula Scott, to name a few, have all benefited from the experience.

Judith DesBrisay from Quesnel who took part in a past project, and who will be having an exhibition in the IMA Gallery this summer, commented that, “the creative resources shared by all participants heightened our learning and enjoyment. My art practice has benefited greatly as a result of my participation in the Artists’ Project at IMA.”

Lorraine Martinuik from Denman Island who took the program in 2002, said “my experience in the Wells Artists’ Project helped me to shift my practice and helped me to deepen and extend my expression and the thinking that goes into it.”

This summer’s senior artist mentor, Sherrard Grauer, who is currently living in Duncan, has been working as a professional artist since the 1960’s with her art showing in exhibitions all over the world. Born in Toronto, she has studied at the Ecole du Louvre, the Atelier Ziegler in Paris, and the San Francisco Art Institute. She is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, and has been exhibiting in Canada since 1964.

This summer’s WAP will coincide with the 2nd Annual Artswells Festival (July 29th – August 1st, 2005) in Wells. The festival, which is loaded with music, theatre and workshops, also includes an ArtWalk through the town where visual artists display their works in various public places and local businesses. Participants of WAP are encouraged to exhibit some of their works in the festival ArtWalk, as well as through a studio open house.

If you are looking for a change of pace and a unique setting for creative exploration, Wells is an ideal locale. From northern lights and stars so bright, to a quiet so rare that one can hear the ravens’ wings flapping through the sky, an experience in Wells is guaranteed to be a memorable one.

For more information on the Wells Artists’ Project or any of IMA’s programs and events please call 1-800-442-2787, email media@imarts.com, or visit www.imarts.com.

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