Recent Articles...
Thursday, March 14, 2019
The Flare Stack and the Dragonby Nathan MaderI moved to Kyoto from Regina to take care of my spiritual and psychological health while broadening my knowledge of Japanese culture and history. As someone who tries to make poems, I also wanted to expand the creative potential of my art. And to some extent it’s easy feel as though I’ve escaped myself: I can just walk up the street and stare into the eyes of the dragon painted on the ceiling of Bishamon-do, a Zen temple founded in 703 A.D... Read more »
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Art is the most valued thing in the world...it is the expression of the highest form of human energy, the creative power nearest to the divine. The power is within - the question is how to reach it.Arthur Wesley DowIt’s the creative power of photographic art that gives us energy. Nellie Schnell, who I photographed, says that when she and her husband moved to St. Walberg, SK., she met people of many different ethnic backgrounds. As she got to know these people Nellie said “I f... Read more »
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Guaranteed Annual Income for Artists and Writers? For All?(Note: the term Artist includes Writer in this article. In most legislation. Writers, though, do not always recognize themselves as Artists. So for you writers out there, you are included. )What if artists could focus on art without worrying about where the next rent cheque or the food bill or the next payment for last month's tour would come from? Without worrying about the final report or the next grant deadline? We'... Read more »
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
If you get paid to do something, you’re a professional.It sounds like the punchline to a dirty joke or something scrolled across a bad motivational poster. But it’s also a discussion point when it comes to art. Where do you draw that line between creating because you love to create – and using your talent to pay the bills?As the Chair of the Saskatchewan Interactive Media Association I have been in contact with professional artists across the province, whose particular craft... Read more »
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
What you’re erasing when you’re appropriating: A personal narrative
What you’re erasing when you’re appropriating: A personal narrativeby Nickita Longman It wasn’t until my early twenties that I was able to take pride in my Indigenous ancestry. This was no fault of my hard-working mother, who for the most part, raised us during her resilient pursuit of post-secondary education. A product of the residential school era, my mother, for no other reasons than one part luck and another timing, dodged the government’s initiative to “k... Read more »
Saturday, April 15, 2017
In October of 2016, I graduated from my Masters of Fine Arts in Writing at the University of Saskatchewan. At our graduation, I stood backstage with my MFA friends. Lined up next to us were the Masters of Accounting graduates, in almost uniform glossy heals and dress shoes, pencil skirts and suit pants under the Masters robes. That morning, I had made token attempts to get my curly hair to stop frizzing, but gave up in the end. My friend leaned forward and whispered, “They don’t look... Read more »
Sunday, February 12, 2017
“Art changes people and people change the world” – John ButlerWhen I first came to work with Family Service Regina I took an immediate interest in their Art for the Heart program. The program is dedicated to supporting those in our community who are in need of emotional healing due to domestic violence or other emotional trauma. Art for the Heart grew out of a previous program held at Family Service Regina called “Expression Nights.” Expression Nights were a monthly... Read more »
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
I used to think Simon Cowell was cruel. Now that I’m a music producer, I've cut the man some slack.As a music producer working in a medium-sized Canadian city, I get to record my fair share of “talent.” Singers who cannot carry a tune even if it were in a plastic bag, bands who believe they are God's gift to music and rappers whose studio entourage give half-baked ideas that makes the music worse. Yes, I've recorded them all.On the other hand, I have also reco... Read more »
Thursday, September 15, 2016
The Importance of Scalable, Responsive Funding for Arts Organizations
I am the co-founder of a relatively new arts organization in Saskatchewan. In 2010, while studying printmaking at the University of Regina, I co-founded the city’s only publicly accessible printmaking studio, Articulate Ink. Articulate Ink was born out of the need for a studio for artists working in print media to continue their practice outside of the university studio. When the Saskatchewan Arts Alliance asked me to write an op-ed piece about the importance of scalable, respons... Read more »
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
In the air, I think about selling the building, about moving to Toronto, where the lines between art, business and life are not so clearly drawn.Carle Steel is a writer, journalist and arts administrator. She has worked for many years in the arts in the areas of writing, publishing, film and arts funding. She is a regular contributor to the alternative bi-weekly Prairie Dog Magazine, and writes for other local and national arts publications. Her essay Fat Krause Head was shor... Read more »