Winnipeg’s Noreen Duncan remembers the Turning the Tide Textile Art Exhibition
Introduction
Our Turning the Tide exhibit was set up on Monday Oct 11th, and was packed up Monday, Oct 18th. It was on the 6th floor of the historic Hudson Bay Store which opened in 1926. Event Staff we worked with at The Bay were great 'team players'. We had access to a wide, and appropriately lit exhibit area - with ample room for chairs in the centre, so people could sit to view, contemplate, rest, or share comments with friends. With attendance by donation, the TTT Exhibit was open to the public from Tuesday, October 12 thru Sunday, October 17 , 2010, during store hours each day. Volunteers and guests enjoyed meals and coffee break snacks in the historic Paddlewheel Restaurant that was adjacent to our Exhibit Hall. The Chef prepared daily specials with our event in mind.(Left: Winnipeg's downtown Hudson Bay store - 'The Bay'. Built in 1926, it is now empty)
Promoting the exhibit
Book Marks/ Mini-Posters
In addition to Melanie Bone's wonderful poster, to promote our event I designed "book marks"/mini-posters. There were four different ones. Size of each was 1/4 of an 8.5 X 11 sheet of cardstock. Printing on the back of each was the same "Turning the Tide. one ripple at a time" blurb, as follows. Hundreds of book marks were printed and circulated. They were attractive, and very popular.
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Hanging the Exhibit
It was a gift that Maria and Laurence Box and Gillian Farrow drove the exhibit to Winnipeg, and came with knowledge and experience hanging it. They led this task. To match hers and Gillian's, Maria had even made me a special apron for the job! With TTT Committee plus Manitoba Prairie Quilters members, and some husbands 'on board', we had lots of help hanging the exhibit.
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Viewing The Exhibit
The Bay’s impressive and well-lit exhibit area was a huge plus
We grouped works by our 4 prairie artists together. Signage identified them as having Prairie Roots.
- Judy Morningstar Goodlands MB "Stitching Brighter tomorrows"
- Noreen Duncan Winnipeg MB. "Draw the Circle Wide
- Sheila Clark Saskatoon SK "One Dream at a Time"
- Val Hazelton. Winnipeg MB "One Bowl .One Future."
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At one end of our exhibit space was the historic multi-sectioned dining hall, and at the other end there was ample space for exhibit-related "Gift Shop" vendors -
On Thursday evening, Maria Box made an excellent and very well-received presentation to members of Manitoba Prairie Quilters. Using pieces she brought with her, plus an awesome collection of slides, Maria talked about the North Island Quilters for Community Awareness, and some of their projects and art works.
Maria focused heavily on the techniques used to create art quilts for both "Planting Seeds of Hope" and the current "Turning the Tide" exhibits. There was much interest in having Maria offer a future techniques class here in Winnipeg.
Too bad Courtney is so far away! There were over 80 people in attendance.
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Maria especially appreciated meeting and visiting with the African Grandmothers who visited our TTT exhibit. They were in Canada on an AfriCan Tour.
Maria remembers their saying to them the most meaningful image was Maria's piece "Learning a New Balance", which depicted a Grandmother on her bike waving to someone as she rides by a house.
Thanks to the privilege and support I was given by Comox Glacier Grannies to coordinate and present the "Turning the Tide" exhibit here in Winnipeg, I am now in awe as I look back and retrieve memories of the massive amount of work, and the details we tackled to pull it all together.
