2023 PCI Art Student Exhibition

February 16 to March 29, 2023

Art Gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday, March 25 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Students are PCI who take visual art classes and photography at PCI were invited to display some of their work in the Boardroom Gallery.

The following students have submitted work:

Madison Dack, Paige Bulachowski, McKenna Gair, Jessica Ramachandran, Olivia Krynski, Avery Klyne, Jovie Plett, Neela Pashe, Victoria Zimmer, Ava Smith, Ronin Chalifoux.

Nature is Imagination by Julie Emerson Verwey

November 7 ro December 21, 2022

Art Gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Julie Emerson Verwey is a visual artist and creator. Growing up in Edwin, Manitoba, she showed an early talent for drawing and over time realized her love of painting. She uses acrylics as her medium and nature as the vehicle to express herself. She is inspired by the beauty of the Earth and its ever changing scenery that is the backdrop in all of our lives. Julie lives and works in Portage la Prairie with her four children and her husband Kevin.

Manitoba Arts Network 2023 Touring Exhibitions

October 3 to November 3, 2022

Art Gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

1. Manitoba Wildlife Imaginary | Brian Longfield (Manitoba)
   medium: painting
   number of works: 20

For some time I have been interested in the factors that grant subjecthood, personality, and character to our perception of others. In earlier work, this interest lead to work using masks to create performance-based work with my partner, Charla Ramsey in which performance of characters using theatrical masks was used as the basis for work that became drawings, paintings, videos, and installations. More recently I have been making paintings of animals to explore their subjecthood.

This exhibition encourages seeing animals as beings with thoughts and feelings but it is interesting to note that the personalities and emotions we ascribe to animals are not likely to be their actual feelings but are based on our human perceptions of human emotions. While many animals do indeed have emotions and feelings that can be observed and recorded by behavioural scientists and certainly people who live with pets develop a sense of their pets’ emotional life, this exhibit is not and cannot function as a substitute for that. It does however act as a small stepping stone towards it.

Artist Biography

Over the years, Brian Longfield has exhibited video art, installations, and paintings, as well as exploring performance and theater, and avante garde music. His acrylic paintings are made with original photos and a data projector. His current work incorporates an interest in biodiversity, ecology, science and empathy. Brian has recently returned to painting after focusing on video based work with the now-defunct collective, Viewing Method Group, and performance based work as part of the duo “6.” Through his various projects, Brian has exhibited at The New Music Festival, Nuit Blanche, Video Pool, Graffiti Art Programming, Frame Arts Warehouse, and as part of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

Brian holds a BFA from the University of Manitoba and an MFA from the University of Western Ontario. He has curated exhibitions, both at Frame Arts Warehouse and at his own former Gallery, Tumble Contemporary Art. He lives in Winnipeg with his partner Charla and their children, Aria and Zephyr.

• 2. Mind and Heart | Victoria Prince (Manitoba)
  medium: drawing
  number of works: TBD

Mind and Heart is a series of black ink drawings and alcohol ink paintings exploring the connection between neuroscience and the human heart. Victoria’s work is inspired by the drawings and cell-stained illuminations of neuroscientists Santiago Ramon y Cajal and Camillo Golgi. Golgi created a staining technique making brain cells (neurons) visible under the microscope. Deeply inspired by their illuminations, Victoria began drawing neurons using black ink pens on distressed yellow paper mimicking the cell-stained images of Cajal and Golgi. Victoria’s research of the brain and the formation of neurons and specifically memories caused her to question can one overcome and/or change their negative memories. She became intrigued by the connection between the mind (memories and thoughts) and the heart (emotion). This research of the heart-brain connection led her to the work of Dr. Armour who coined the term ”heart brain”. In 1991, Dr. Armour discovered that the heart has its own ”little brain” composed of approximately 40,000 neurons that are alike neurons in the brain. Thus, Victorias research led her to explore the anatomical heart through drawing and photography.

Artist Biography

Victoria Prince is a multi-disciplined artist who graduated in 2003 from the University of Manitoba receiving a B.F.A. First Class Honours degree. Her work is broad in style and genre from traditional black ink drawings, alcohol ink paintings, and experimental films.

She has won various awards such as the Winnipeg Arts Council’s “On the Rise”, and Best Picture for the Urban Reels Festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Victoria’s work has been shown in film festivals nationally and internationally such as in Egypt, the UK, South Africa, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates.

• 3. Pattern making, pattern mending | Alison Davis (Manitoba)
  medium: drawing, animation
  number of works: 24
  i-pads are included with the exhibit

Nets are patterns that catch and hold. The patterns of our lives also ensnare us. Often, those patterns are beneficial routines, but there are many patterns that hold us back. This series of work is a consideration of patterns generally as well as the work it takes to construct and deconstruct those patterns.
The net drawings are laid out in even grids. Periodically the ordered repetition of the grid is disrupted by extra pieces of string, holes that have been irregularly patched, and places where the nets lose their pattern. There is a tension between the orderliness of the grid pattern and the slight variations that encourage the viewer to come in close to examine each knot and to seek out new patterns in the areas where the regular grid is broken.
The animations and drawings of the hands reference the mundane, day-to-day work that goes into mending and maintaining a routine. Work that is overlooked yet constant and unceasing. Without this vigilance, there are so many ways in which the ordered world can become disordered.
In conflict with this, is the acknowledgment that systems and patterns can also be harmful and require reordering. Sometimes the disruption of a pattern is necessary. And so, while some of the drawn and animated hands work to build and maintain the grid pattern of the nets the other hands take that pattern apart to create spaces that resist the dominant pattern to allow for variation and change.

 This project was created with support from the Manitoba Arts Council.

Artist Biography

Alison Davis is an artist and animator based in Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg. She has created a number of short films with a focus on traditional animation animation that have screened at festivals and venues around the world. Her drawing practice explores the subtlety of fine lines and delicate interactions. Davis holds a BFA in Film Animation from Concordia University in Montreal and has been the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.

• 4. Playing Tag | Karen Schulz (Manitoba)
  medium: photography, collage
  number of works: 10

One golden autumn day, I looked skyward to the honking of south-bound Canada Geese. Reminded of practicing scales on the piano with each bird a note, I envisioned a musical staff superimposed, or “tagged”, over the iconic flying V formation. Suddenly, musical notes and sounds seemed to be hiding everywhere.
I began to photograph such commonplace images as a scattering of leaves, footprints in the snow, and shadows of objects as Earth made its way around the sun.  A notion to stencil symbols over the photos evolved into this suite of ten mixed media prints. In assembling the work, I mimic the action of a Graffiti artist by stencilling my “tags” (musical staffs, clefs, sound effects) onto a barrier of acrylic panels through which the photographs are visible. Their titles painted on the bottom borders reflect my fondness for puns. The works are displayed flat against the wall, although Bridge, Bar, and Refrain are fun to present on the floor with a few dried leaves and pebbles on their surfaces, playfully adding to the score. In this celebration of imagined music, I am inviting viewers to “play tag” for themselves and discover what may be hidden in the gutter, the shadows, or the stars.

Artist Biography

Karen Schulz is a visual artist and art event coordinator who is inspired by her birthplace, the farming community of Grandview, Manitoba, and the Winnipeg urban life where she lives and works. From her studio, maintained for several years in the Exchange District, her practice overlaps traditional and contemporary media with an emphasis recently on experimental drawings.

• 5. Classic Portraits with Movement | The Magic of Still Life | Pepe Hidalgo (Spain, British Columbia) 

medium: painting

number of works: 14

Classic Portraits allow me to present a classic figure in two distinct ways. The image is from the side and from straight on. Combining the side and the front perspective creates movement. The fusion of creating a classic portrait and the movement at the same time is what creates an interesting “Double Vision” of each figure. The clothing worn by the figures contributes to the classic look, dating them to times past. These portraits at the same time as being classic can become deformed with the two faces. In some, there is still, simple beauty, yet in others, they become grotesque, serious, or funny. Each and every one of them are people I have created from my imagination.

Artist Biography

Pepe Hidalgo’s style is narrative in the figurative and abstract genre. His figurative is not related to realism, it is created from his imagination, and his memory of his sense of reality.

Hidalgo’s paintings achieve strength through the glazes or velatures he applies. He will apply them until he achieves a greater sensation of space. Hidalgo displaced oil by acrylic in the nineties. He paints direct sketches on the canvas. There is a distinctive element present in his paintings, a two-coloured cord or string that acts as a reference guide between reality and imagination, which, by remaining in time, has become a hallmark of identity.

His artistic process began in adolescence during frequent visits to the Museo del Prado in Madrid, where he discovered his first teacher, Francisco de Goya. His work is influenced by Velázquez, Zurbarán, El Bosco, movements of the 20th century, Picasso and American artists Francis Bacon, Freud, Esteban Vicente, and Pollock.

Art has allowed him to “free himself” and express himself without prejudice, and to dare to do what he feels without expectations. Many people ask him where he gets his ideas for his paintings. When you know him you realize he mixes his knowledge of astrology, mythology, history, life, and experiences. The ideas for his paintings arise from everyday life, and the search to understand the relationship of past or present events with the human being, in relation to who and what we are. This is reflected, manifested, and expressed in his paintings.

Evolving by Faith Rae

July 27 to August 25, 2022

Art Gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Artist Statement:

Through creating art, I have transitioned towards self-acceptance. My work explores the process of coming out of my shell by forming and reconstructing my understanding of my identity. To examine and deconstruct my own queer existence through art lets me take control of the preconceived shame to empower my diversity. Painting, mixed media and installation have allowed me to explore my evolving identity and metaphorically analyze its ‘layers’ through a variety of media.

The works Defeated, Merely a dream, and Anxiety Waterfall use the technique of action painting and layered abstraction, which requires the spontaneous application of paint and media onto a surface. The layered pattern of each media is a metaphor that connects my alternating emotions from anxiety and depression to self-reflection and self-acceptance. The work, Defeated uses unconventional mediums like baby oil, drywall compound, wire, and hot glue to reference the debris built up over time from my internal demons.

Through mixed media and installation, my working process is versatile to express the complicated aspects of my identity. In my art installation Crumbling, I use surrealism by distorting photographs of my hands to create a new context about my emotional turmoil. Mixed media works such as Transformation, Blanket of Denial and Daily Queer use repurposed materials like a vintage binder holder, dried paint chips, sewn pieces of canvas and aluminum to bring new meaning to the work through unconventional materials. The artwork Daily Queer expresses the vulnerability of my daily emotions translated on canvas strips riveted on black aluminum. In comparison to my vulnerable emotions, aluminum is reflective and durable, becoming a metaphor for my artistic practice.

The sentiment of materials has significant importance to how I connect my art to my life as a queer person. The diptych Why am I? and Maybe I am? uses personal items like paint cloths and my grandma’s tea towels. The artwork Why am I? expresses the mental trauma of questioning myself. The piece is embedded with ink-stamped questions such as ‘Why am I struggling?’. The work examines the act of how I reuse negative thought patterns, in comparison to how I reuse my art materials. Maybe I am? uses my grandma’s tea towels that are embedded with ink statements like ‘I am valid’. The artwork reflects the safe space I have with my family to feel valid as a queer person.

I integrated an audio piece and installation The Opened Closet in a separate space from the exhibition because I want to be transparent about my identity. I wanted to create an intimate experience between myself and the viewer, by speaking to each participant through audio in the space. There are casual undertones used in the construction of the installation by removing the curtain between the exhibition and the installation, as a metaphor of an ‘opened closet.’

Being queer is something I identified with from an early age; however, I was always uncertain of my future as a queer woman. The exhibition displays my development, from experiences of internal shame, fear, and anxiety to the comfort I now feel by acknowledging the truth of my identity. Through art, I have been able to accept myself proudly as a queer individual, and instead of fearing my future, I am motivated.

Journey to Authenticity - Art Exhibition

by Jaclyn Hennan

June 27 to August 11

Art Gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Artist Statement:

This body of work is a mix of abstract paintings and more distinct flora.
Both styles reflect the creative journey I’m on as an artist- shifting away from just creating things that I think people will be impressed by and towards finding my own unique artistic expression.

While I want people to resonate with my art and enjoy it, more importantly I want to create from an authentic place in my own self, a place where my creativity doesn’t need the approval of anyone but myself.

PCI Art Student Exhibition

The PCI Art Student Exhibition will be on display in the Boardroom Gallery from February 7 to March 24. The gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Students from Portage Collegiate Institute, enrolled in the first semester visual art and beading programs created 13 pieces of artwork that are on display in the Boardroom Gallery. This exhibit features a number of different mediums including: Watercolour, oil, and acrylic paint, digital drawing and beadwork.

These students are in grades 9 to 12 and several have participated in past exhibitions here at Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment.

PCI Students in the exhibit are: Tatjana Barabonov, McKenna Gair, René Harder, Charlee Lomonico, Sage Lyall, James Menheer, Madison Dack, and Max Hunter .

View the Virtual Exhibit here.

Winter Pride Exhibition by Reid Boultbee

Artist Statement

Multi-media conceptualists, Reid Gordon Charles (nom du plume), resides in Manitoba. His art education began in 2002; under the tutelage of Perri Gardner. Developing a keen instinct for storytelling and dichotomy.

Consistent playing with themes of self worth, vanity, abuse and reinterpretation. These concepts have been staples, of the Artist, since 2003.

Currently, mainly palette knife work is favoured. The blade, a metaphor for self harm. Allowing therapization of himself. Colour stories, layered paint, and unifying washes all contribute to the realization of self concept. Reference points are The Devine Comedy (mainly inferno, as the artist is a martyr), and Geothe’s Faust.

Defining colours include deep violets and blues, violent magenta’s and neons. Heavy body media alludes to trauma of past and present. Varnishes create textural demons. Visualization of the layers of growth and pain. Crescendoing in a wash, an analogy of acceptance.

Alexander McQueen, Pollock, Warhol and Tolstoy all deeply inspire the Artist. Romanizing of death, disenfranchisement and etherealness being the common talking point of these artists.

 Arbre Généalogique (Throughbred) 

A heavy body series focusing on artistic self therapy. 

Danté’s journey to salvation being referenced. Reid Gordon Charles’s relates to the disturbing enlightenment of the epic poem. Goethe’s Faust being the subplot of the body of work. 

Singular colour stories create allegories. Magenta being violence and rape. Neons:vanity. Mica, textural rock, atonement and Sisyphus. Paradiso pastel work being release, growth and amelioration. Climaxing in metallic leaf, the joining of Id, ego and super ego. 

Subtle nods to Plath, Anna Karenina and 18th century libertinism. Giving beautiful sorrow, creatively cruelty and elegant penance. Edie Sedgwick being a creative muse and thematically similar. 

Conceptualization of abuse, transactional sex, atonement, love and self awareness dominate. The Artist hopes the series connects to an audience seeking growth. To change the world, you only need to connect with one person. 

View the Virtual Exhibit here.

Central Region Juried Art Exhibition

On display in our Main Gallery, May 3 to May 27, 2021.

Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment is pleased to host the 39th Annual Central Region Juried Art Exhibition. Our board members, staff and volunteers would like to extend our greetings to everyone taking part in the 2021 Exhibition and Opening celebrations.

The Central Cultural Council takes great pleasure in welcoming the 16 artists from the Central Region of Manitoba that have entered 37 works of art into the Juried Art Exhibition. We congratulate and thank all the artists who have presented us with a broad spectrum of mediums, styles and subject matter, verifying the diverse talent of our regional artists. 

To continue the tradition of selecting a “People’s Choice Award”, we have created an online gallery that will be open April 28 to April 29 at noon. We ask people to email their vote to pdac@mts.net. You can only cast your vote once! Please include the Artists Full Name, the title and number of the piece and your name. The artwork with the most votes will be announced at the artist reception and that piece will become part of the Touring Exhibition. As well, the artist receiving the People’s Choice Award will have the opportunity to have a photo of their artwork used in the 2022 CRJAE promotional material.

Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the Manitoba Arts Council, the Department of Sport, Culture and Heritage and local sponsors Aspire Dental Centre for all their financial support and assistance. Thank you to the jurors – Carmen Hathaway and Annette Henderson. We would also like to thank the Central Cultural Council members, and all the volunteers who have assisted with the numerous details to make the 39th Annual Central Region Juried Art Exhibition possible. Finally, a special thanks goes out to the artists for sharing their talent with us!

All touring pieces will be available for pick up from the respective depots on or after November 2, 2021. 

Touring schedule:

• MAY 3 to 27 • Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment, Portage 

• JUNE 1 to 29 • Golden Prairie Arts Council, Carman 

• JULY 2 to 29 • Pembina Hills Arts Council, Morden 

• AUGUST 5 to 25 • Tiger Hills Arts Association, Holland 

• SEPTEMBER 1 to 30 • 10 Pieces Selected for MRNJAS, online MAN website

• OCTOBER 5 to 25 • Winkler Arts & Culture, Winkler 

The Manitoba Rural & Northern Juried Art Show is a provincial level exhibition that celebrates the artistic achievements of artists from Manitoba's rural and northern communities. The exhibit introduces Winnipeg audiences to the artistic work generated by visual artists from beyond the perimeter (Eastman, Westman, Central, Parkland, Northern and Interlake Regions). A diverse range of media (painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, ceramics and textiles) is exhibited. All selected artists are sent registration information from the MB Arts Network and can register to participate if they so choose. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the MB Rural and Northern Juried Art Show please contact Nicole Shimonek at the MB Arts Network at 1-866-919-2787. 

If you are interested in purchasing any of the artworks in the exhibit, CLICK HERE