February 1, 2020

A Celebration of Life was held on Saturday, February 1, 2020 for Algoma Art Society member Nancy Caldwell at the Art Gallery of Algoma.

Nancy passed away in December 2019. Those attending were honored with the opportunity to view many of Nancy's artistic accomplishments in various media, especially watercolour.  Nancy was always open to experimenting with multiple methods and medias and loved to share her knowledge with others.  Nancy contributed much to the Algoma Art Society and will be greatly missed. Her husband, who has shared over 60 years with her, gave a moving speech of their life together.  One of the highlights was when they biked across Canada to celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary.  Her son, who recently celebrated his 50th birthday, which Nancy attended, also spoke very highly of his mother.  Her son in law talked about when he first met Nancy and her husband and how they introduced him to waterskiing with their daughter and his then future wife on his shoulders. After the speeches family and friends attending were treated to a delicious lunch and were welcomed to take home one or more unframed paintings of Nancy's as a keepsake. It was a wonderful evening and tribute to Nancy who will never be forgotten by Art Society members.

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February 7, 2020

The Winter Festival of Art officially opened at the Art Gallery of Algoma at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 7, 2020.

Dignitaries opening the exhibition were Mark A. Lepore, President of the AGA Board, Jasmina Jovanovic, Executive Director, the Honorable Ross Romano, Sault Ste. Marie MPP and Minister of Colleges and Universities, and the Honorable Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture.  All spoke and distributed awards.  Jasmina and Ross Romano thanked Society member Nora Ann Harrison for being the initiator of the Winter Festival of Art and providing the awards for the previous six years. Prizes this year are sponsored by David Ellis, Member of the AGA Board.

Also speaking and presenting an award was Algoma Art Society president Rutger Becker, who talked about the Art Society's connection to the NOAA, benefits of being a member and the Society's proud past connection to the Group of Seven.  Rutger then presented an Algoma Art Society Award, in honour of recently deceased member Nancy Caldwell, to the artist chosen for having the Most Innovative Piece of art work at the exhibition.  Winner Penny Gabor was presented with a cheque for $50.00 along with a free membership to the Algoma Art Society until September 2020. Members of the Algoma Art Society can be very proud of the number of awards they received.  Member Zoey Wood-Salomon received second prize and top prize at the exhibition went to member Theresa Baic.  Members Pat Caldwell, Cheryl Thomas and Darlene Robb all received Honorable Mentions.  Ken Hagerman's young granddaughter also very proudly received a Participation Award.

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February 12, 2020

Sophie Nash was the featured artist at the February 12, 2020 Algoma Art Society meeting. Sophie displayed several of her art pieces and passed around a portfolio of her work which members enjoyed viewing. Sophie said that she does a lot of drawing and has been working with watercolour and watercolour with ink lately but that her favourite medium is acrylics.  She likes to listen to music while painting.  She is currently experimenting with painting landscapes.

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March 11, 2020

Karin Doleske (Court) was the featured artist at the Algoma Art Society's meeting held on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 in the Thompson Room at the Civic Centre. Karin was born in a refugee camp in Germany. She is well travelled. She has toured many galleries and loves history museums and has an interest in the psychological and in economics.  She is now 70 years old and has many years of art shows and achievements. Says "Art is her Lover".  She doesn't work big anymore and prefers to put together collages of clippings in scrap books which she shared with members at the meeting.

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September 13, 2020 (Plein Air Painting and Meeting)

On Sunday, September 13th, 2020 Algoma Art Society members got together at the Gazebo in Bellevue Park where we proudly displayed our new Algoma Art Society Banner. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Rudy, Sharon, Ken and Valerie worked on Plein Air Paintings exploring various interesting park subjects such as florals and landscapes.

The Algoma Art Society meeting followed.  It was the first meeting held in six months due to Covic-19 restrictions. Fourteen members attended and a number of Agenda items were discussed.  As a feature Rudy discussed and displayed several good quality pieces of framed art that he found and saved from local dump site Share Sheds.

 

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October 14, 2020 (Meeting at Art Gallery of Algoma)

On Wednesday, October 14, 2020 Algoma Art Society members met in Gallery I of the Art Gallery of Algoma between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. The meeting opened with 15 minutes of  figure sketching led by Kathy Godfrey as several members posed. Cherie Ahvenniemi chaired the meeting and then shared several of her paintings that she was currently working on, welcoming feedback. Throughout the meeting members wore masks and self distanced. Algoma Art Society members appreciate the Art Gallery of Algoma providing us this with this artistically inspiring space to meet.

Gallery I featured a display entitled "Wrapped in Culture", a travelling exhibition from the Ottawa Art Gallery. This was a collaborative project that brought together ten Indigenous artists from Australia and Canada. Working over the course of three weeks in November 2017, the artists created contemporary versions of an Australian Aboriginal possum skin cloak and a Blackfoot buffalo robe: two culturally distinct, yet similar, artistic traditions that historically held both sacred and practical purposes. The goal of this project was to encourage an inter-cultural sharing of material history to produce a work reflective of Indigenous traditions, cultures, and communities both past and present. This project was made possible through the Canada Council for the Arts New Chapter and partnerships with the City of Ottawa and Carleton University Art Gallery.

 

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November 24, 2020 (Opening of Christmas Collection Art Exhibition and Sale)

24 Algoma Art Society Artists at L&D's Art Gallery and Framing, 348 Bruce Street, Sault Ste. Marie, ON

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December 09, 2020 (Meeting at Art Gallery of Algoma)

A number of members attending the December meeting displayed and talked about their favorite painting.  It was an opportunity for members to get to know each other better.

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Pat Caldwell spoke about the display case his is creating to display the Algoma Art Society's City Cultural Award received in November 2020.  When completed the case will be on display at the Art Gallery of Algoma.

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Saturday, March 13, 2021 (Meeting at Art Gallery of Algoma)

A number of Algoma Art Society members attended the March 13, 2021 Algoma Art Society meeting held in the Main Gallery of the Art Gallery of Algoma. Members got to view the Winter Festival of Art Exhibition with the theme "Finding Joy!" 

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Desiree Watson won the Most Innovative Award which was presented by the Algoma Art Society in memory of Nancy Caldwell.  Desiree also received a cheque for $50.00 and a free membership to the Algoma Art Society valid until September 2021.

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Algoma Art Society member Mary Stevenson received a Third Place Award and three members received Honorable Mentions in the exhibition. Honorable Mentions went to paintings by Duff Jennings, Penny Gabor and Zoey Wood-Salomon.  Congratulations everyone!

 

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 Society members displayed and talked about their paintings that they were presenting for consideration for the upcoming NOAA Calendar project.  The Algoma Art Society is also considering a Calendar Project.

 

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Following is a close up of those individual entrees:

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Pat Caldwell spoke again about the display case his is creating to display the Algoma Art Society's City Cultural Award received in November 2020.  When completed the case will be on display at the Art Gallery of Algoma.

 

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 September 8, 2021

At the Algoma Art Society meeting held in the Main Gallery of the Art Gallery of Algoma on Wednesday, September 8, 2021 members talked about their favorite art books. Sharon spoke about the Art Magazine that she subscribes to.  The latest one features portrait painting and how to paint winter scenes. Ken said his favorite book is his sketch book and highly recommends the book Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting. Irene finds the book of paintings by the Prince of Wales to be fascinating.  She also recommends the book of paintings by Tony Bennett. Kim displayed the book The Art of Drawing and finds it interesting and helpful. Elizabeth spoke about the painting book by Charles Evans.  She said that it is a good book on mixing colours, techniques and brushes. Kathy finds the painting book by Jeanne Hanes inspiring. Josie said that her go-to book on watercolours is by Gordon MacKenzie. Cherie finds u-tube videos extremely helpful. Rudy spoke about several of his favorite books. 1500 Recipes in Oil, Acrylic and Watercolour by William Powell is his go-to book. Also helpful is his book The Secrets of Composition by Barbara Nuss, as well as the books 14 Formulas of Landscape Painting and Painting Wildlife Step by Step.

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Wednesday, October 13, 2021 (Meeting was held at the Art Gallery of Algoma.)  

Guest speaker was Marnie Stone from Stone's Office Supply who spoke about:

• Interest in art has increased due to Covid
• Stones taking on larger role in providing art supply brands. Can compete with on-line suppliers. Brian Tremblay will head dept.
• Expanding to provide studio space for art community. $250 - $300/month – artists renting would have key, could leave work set up
• Want to offer space for art classes - complimenting what is already offered in community - could be offered once a week or once a month
• There is room locally for enhancement
• Artist of the Month Window has been well received by community – booked to end of 2023
• Contact Marnie at Stones with feedback.
• Final word from Marnie “Keep Creating!”

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  Wednesday, November 10th, 2021

Algoma Art Society members met in Gallery I of the Art Gallery of Algoma between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.

The beautiful display case featuring Algoma Art Society's 2019 Cultural Award and created by talented Algoma Art Society member Pat Caldwell was on display in the Art Gallery of Algoma foyer.

Part way through the meeting members took time to view the paintings by Franklin Carmichael in the Gallery I and talk about which painting inspired and affected them the most.  At the end of the meeting Valerie Hurdle proudly displayed her award winning painting selected in this year's NOAA.

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Algoma Art Society Christmas Art Exhibition - L&D's Art Gallery and Framing - November to December 2021

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Wednesday, February 9, 2022 - 4:00 p.m. (Meeting at Art Gallery of Algoma)

Fourteen members attended the meeting held at the Art Gallery of Algoma. NOAA rep Kathy Godfrey did an excellent presentation on how to display a watercolour without framing and glass which are now accepted at most art exhibitions.  Kathy explained the steps involved which are featured in the current Watercolour Artist magazine.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2022 - 4:00 p.m. (Meeting at Art Gallery of Algoma)

At our meeting Nora Ann Harrison did a very interesting presentation on different types of salt combined with watercolour paint to achieve different effects using plastic wrap and bubble wrap. Nora emphasized playing around with colour and textures. Lots of samples of her work were passed around to view.

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As part of Show & Tell members presented their art pieces from the studio floor that were never finished and explained the trial and tribulations of the piece.

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Virtual Opening at Art Gallery of Algoma - March 10, 2022 - Winter Festival of Art - I Share My Love of ...

The Most Innovative Award in Memory of Nancy Caldwell and a one year membership to the Algoma Art Society was presented to Hanna Ellis for her Portrait Dress done in cotton.

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Awards were received at Virtual Opening of the Winter Festival of Art entitled "I Share My Love of.. " held on Thursday, March 10, 2022 by the following Algoma Art Society members:

3rd Place - Warren Peterson

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Honorable Mentions - Hilkka Pellikka, Mary Stevenson, Nora Ann Harrison and Zoey Wood-Salomon.

• Oil by Hilkka Pellikka Oil by Hilkka Pellikka
• Fabric Collage by Mary Stevenson Fabric Collage by Mary Stevenson
• Watercolour by Nora Ann Harrison Watercolour by Nora Ann Harrison
• Acrylic by Zoey Wood-Salomon Acrylic by Zoey Wood-Salomon
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The following u-tube videos were taken in March 2022 of Algoma Art Society members at the Art Gallery at the Winter Festival of Art - I Share My Love of ..:

Rutger Becker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR3CV6oFNFM

Kathy Godfrey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R3xaNWzc4w&t=147s

Ken Hagerman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34WEbhriWs4&t=101s

Duff Jennings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dSjASLQcb4&t=111s

Sharon Mulligan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXcI3qXr6ms

Sophie Nash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72AbMpuNcmQ&t=8s

Lotte Steube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofl_zp5Kw8A

Zoey Wood-Salomon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmp3JiHe9Wo&t=27s

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 - 4:00 p.m. (Meeting at Art Gallery of Algoma)

Members brought paintings and explained why that painting held a special meaning to them. Kim showed works she did on Ukraine.  Other members who displayed art works that held special meaning for them were Cherie, Pat, Rudy, Nora and Sharon.

• Cherie Cherie
• Kim on Ukraine Kim on Ukraine
• Nora Nora
• Pat Pat
• Pat Pat
• Rudy Rudy
• Sharon Sharon
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Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - 4:00 p.m. (Meeting at Art Gallery of Algoma)

Members submitted paintings for the upcoming NOAA 2023 Calendar.  Three oil paintings by Ken Hagerman, Wendy Easterbrook and Judy Henderson were selected as finalists.  The oil painting by Wendy Easterbrook shown in the middle was selected as the Algoma Art Society painting entry for the NOAA Calendar.

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Meeting with New NOAA President, Lois Cookman - Friday, June 3, 2022

Algoma Art Society member and NOAA Rep Kathy Godfrey, Cherie Ahvenniemi and Judy Henderson enjoyed their visit with Lois Cookman, new president of the NOAA who was in Sault Ste. Marie visiting family.

• Kathy, Cherie, Lois and Judy Kathy, Cherie, Lois and Judy
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Algoma Art Society Plein Air Painting Get-together at Bellevue Park - Saturday, June 18, 2022

Several Algoma Art Society members enjoyed their social and plein air painting get-together at Bellevue Park.

• Judy Judy
• Ken Ken
• Elizabeth Elizabeth
• Rudy Rudy
• Sharon Sharon
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66th NOAA Juried Exhibition - September 2022 to September 2023

Congratulations to the following eight Algoma Art Society members:

Rutger Becker who had his acrylic painting entitled "Lily Pond" accepted, Ken Hagerman who had his oil entitled "The Mighty Mississagi" accepted, Judy Henderson who had her oil entitled "Artistic Legend" accepted, Dawn Jennings who had her Coloured Pencil and Ink entitled "Nothing Gold Can Stay" accepted, Mary-Lou MacDonald who had her Mixed Media entitled "Commissioned-Decommissioned" accepted, Gary Manzo who had his acrylic entitled "Figure in Motion"  accepted, Hilkka Pellikka who had her acrylic entitled "March in Hiawatha Park" accepted, and Warren Peterson who had his Acrylic entitled "White Water Rapids Pukaskwa National Park" accepted.

• Best in Show - Commissioned-Decommissioned - Mixed Media - by Mary-Lou MacDonald Best in Show - Commissioned-Decommissioned - Mixed Media - by Mary-Lou MacDonald
• Honorable Mention - The Mighty Mississagi - Oil - by Ken Hagerman Honorable Mention - The Mighty Mississagi - Oil - by Ken Hagerman
• Honorable Mention - Artistic Legend - Oil - by Judy Henderson Honorable Mention - Artistic Legend - Oil - by Judy Henderson
• Nothing Gold Can Stay - Coloured Pencil/Ink - by Duff Jennings Nothing Gold Can Stay - Coloured Pencil/Ink - by Duff Jennings
• Figure in Motion - Acrylic - by Gary Manzo Figure in Motion - Acrylic - by Gary Manzo
• March in Hiawatha Park - Acrylic - by Hilkka Pellikka March in Hiawatha Park - Acrylic - by Hilkka Pellikka
• Lily Pond - Acrylic - by Rutger Becker Lily Pond - Acrylic - by Rutger Becker
• White River Rapids, Pukaskwa National Park - Acrylic - by Warren Peterson White River Rapids, Pukaskwa National Park - Acrylic - by Warren Peterson
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Algoma Art Society Monthly Meeting - Sept. 14, 2022 at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

Following the meeting business, members Cherie, Valerie, Katie, Ken, Sharon and Rudy talked about and displayed their plein air paintings.

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Mary-Lou MacDonald, who won Best in Show in the 66th NOAA, explained the artistic process in achieving her award winning painting.

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Algoma Art Society Monthly Meeting - Wed. Oct. 12, 2022 at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

Guest Speaker – Lucia O’Connor(legal name), Lucia Laford (artist name) told us about herself as a Woodland Style Artist and her experience as co-juror for the 66th NOAA hosted by the Algoma Art Society.

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• Woodland style artist, went to Ryerson University, teaches at Algoma University
• Indigenous artist John Laford’s daughter, John passed away last November
• John had hard time talking about his past - shared his art with her, he painted every day
• Her dad always said to her – “Pick up your paint brush”. Painted with bold colours, black lines.
• Lucia started teaching 5 years ago in Toronto, 2 years ago in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
• Her work was formed by her father’s work, evolved into her own Woodland style
• Lucia was co-juror with Taimi Poldmaa for 66^th NOAA, shared her jurying process
• Marks as follows: Top = 47-50, Honorable Mentions=44-46, Selected = 39-43, Not selected = 38 or lower. Taimi and Lucia agreed on Top and Hon Mentions, some discussion on selected
• Proportion looked at, purposeful or not purposeful, atmosphere important
• Presentation – problem with jurying online
• Critiques – focused on positive comments
• Loved Top piece – (Title: Commissioned – Decommissioned) - created most interest, great composition
• Overall Lucia spent 25 to 30 hours
• Bad photo can be a problem
• Titles can help the viewer and should help the art piece

Opening of Christmas Art Show & Sale at Sault Ste. Marie Museum - Friday, Nov. 18th, 2022 - 7 to 9 p.m.

The Opening was well attended by membersd and some were accompanied by their spouses.  Along with viewing the beautiful display of paintings, members socialized and enjoyed the delicious refreshments.

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Meeting with Lucia Laford at Art Gallery of Algoma in December 2022

Judy Henderson and Doug Iles met with Lucia Laford at the Art Gallery of Algoma where she spoke about her Woodland painting style and talked about her paintings which were in a display along with those of her recently deceased father and mentor, John Laford.

• Lucia Laford Lucia Laford
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Algoma Art Society Monthly Meeting - Wed. Dec. 14, 2022 at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

Members enjoyed an assortment of Christmas goodies at the meeting.  Nora Ann Harrison displayed and talked about her sketches which she found to be a very calming project with all the busyness that the Christmas Season can bring.

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January 2023 - Featured Artist - Kim Conway-Capell - in the Gift Shop at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

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February 2023 - Featured Artist - Judy Henderson - in the Gift Shop at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

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 Algoma Art Society Monthly Meeting - Tues. Feb. 07, 2023 at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

Nora Ann Harrison shared and displayed a multitude of creative artistic ideas using cardboard toilet paper rolls.

  

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Taking Chances Art Exhibition at Art Gallery of Algoma - Official Opening - Thursday, February 16, 2023

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"Congratulations" to the following new, former and current Algoma Art Society members received Awards and Honorable Mentions at the Taking Chances Art Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Algoma:

• Best in Show by former AAS member Carol Holmberg Best in Show by former AAS member Carol Holmberg
• 2nd Prize awarded to Josie Jones 2nd Prize awarded to Josie Jones
• Honorable Mention awarded to Lucia Laford Honorable Mention awarded to Lucia Laford
• Most Innovative Award + Free AAS Membership awarded to Tammy Fiegehen Most Innovative Award + Free AAS Membership awarded to Tammy Fiegehen
• Honorable Mention awarded to Nancy Norman Honorable Mention awarded to Nancy Norman
• Honorable Mention awarded to Penny Gabor Honorable Mention awarded to Penny Gabor
• Honorable Mention awarded to Zoey Wood-Salomon Honorable Mention awarded to Zoey Wood-Salomon
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March 2023 - Featured Artist - Marcella Whillans - in the Gift Shop at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

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Algoma Art Society Monthly Meeting - Wed. March 08, 2023 at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum

Highlight of the meeting was selecting a painting from the Algoma Art Society to go in the next NOAA Calendar.  A beautiful painting by Valerie Hurdle was chosen. 

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