Annual Report

Message from the Board

President

Contents

1

Canadian Crafts Federation

Update on Activities 3

(Above) Heather Komus, Untitled, work from Neurocraft, a collaboration between MCC members and neuroscience researchers co-sponsored by the Winnipeg Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.

August 1, 2015-July 31, 2016 AGM November 20, 2016

Message from the Board President

Another successful year for the Crafts in Manitoba and for the Craft Council; lots of exciting programming completed, craft talks attended, and continuing sales at the CRAFTED Show and Sale. We have tucked away another small surplus for future projects, and fundraising from events and individual member donations has raised over $12,000.00 towards the new C2 Centre for Craft. Thanks to out-going board members David King, Jade Troost and Grace Nickel for their service and also to Chantel Mierau for her ongoing help on the Finance Committee. Many thanks also for the cheerful dedication of our Director, Tammy Sutherland, and talented staff members Corrie Peters, Chelsey Thiessen and Jessica Hodgson. A special thanks to Dana Kletke for stepping into the breach and serving as Acting Treasurer when called upon. Last but no means least, thanks

Programme Coordinator’s

Report 4

2

Board Members 2015-2016 Keith Oliver (President) Seema Goel (Vice-President) Jade Troost (Treasurer) Chris Pancoe (Secretary) Alison Norberg (Past-President) Grace Han Dana Kletke David King Grace Nickel Sherri Van Went Melanie Wesley

Message from the Board President (continued)

are in order to the Board and the volunteers who help make the Manitoba Craft Council the success that it has become. We continue to raise the money needed for our future home at C2 and hope to be moving in early in the New Year. It has been a longer and more arduous process than we envisioned, but we are very hopeful that the hard work will all be worthwhile in the end. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration with the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library. Here’s to more Craft in 2017. Keith Oliver

Thank you PARTNERS! Thank you to the generous groups that partnered with MCC to bring craft to life during the 2015-2016 fiscal year:

aceartinc Art Support MB

Canadian Crafts Federation Cloverdale Forge

Craft Ontario Cre8ery Gallery

Culture Days / Nuit Blanche First Fridays in the Exchange

Manitoba Crafts Museum & Library Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art

School of Art, U of M U of M Ceramics’ Club

Video Pool West End Cultural Centre

Winnipeg Art Gallery / WAG Shop Winnipeg Chapter of the Society for

Neuroscience

(Above) Board President Keith Oliver with friends at an exhibition opening of Play, Precarity and Survival.

(Left) Work by Lisa Schroeder shown as part of MCC’s First Friday Office Gallery mini-exhibitions.

3

The Canadian Crafts Federation / Fédération Canadienne des Métiers d’Art is the national arts service organization that represents provincial and territorial craft councils and the Canadian craft sector. It advances and promotes the vitality and excellence of Canadian craft nationally and internationally to the benefit of Canadian craftspeople and the community at large. The CCF/FCMA brings together 12 provincial and territorial craft councils and 7 affiliate organizations. The New Brunswick Crafts Council (in Fredericton) provides office space and positive craft environment for our staff, primarily Director, Maegen Black and occasional summer students. The work of the CCF/FCMA happens primarily by conference calls and email, carrying out the work of the Board, Executive, committees and task groups. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, an annual conference is held, to bring together all these people and resources from across the country. In 2015, the CCF/FCMA met in Quebec City and appreciation goes to Chantel Mierau who attended as MCC’s delegate. The 2016 Annual Conference: Cultivating Craft: Pathways to Practice was held October 13th - 16th in Alberta (more below). Thanks to Jessica Hodgson attendeding this conference for MCC. Tammy Sutherland has attended CCF meetings, annually, with funding assistance of MAC, WAC and Winnipeg Foundation. Plans are underway for the 2017 Annual Conference, in Burlington, in conjunction with the Burlington Art Gallery and Craft Ontario's Canada 150 project, the Can Craft? Craft Can! Biennale. Craft: Cultivated brought together over 140 members of the professional contemporary fine craft community came together from across Canada for Cultivating Craft: Pathways to Practice, the CCF/FCMA's 11th Annual National Conference. Our largest conference yet, the events brought together individual craft artists, administrators, curators, collectors, students, faculty, and other leaders in craft education. Representatives from all Provincial and Territorial Craft Councils, and a broad cross-section of craft guilds and schools were in attendance. With over 30 guest speakers, special attention was given to Emerging Technology and Indigenous Artists, Communities & Collaboration. While the presentations and panel discussions were the focal point, other activities included visits to Medicine Hat area and the Inspire Cafe and touring the extensive grounds at Medalta's Historic Clay District including their galleries, collections, studios, factories and more. Another group toured the private collection of book artist Dirk van

Canadian Crafts Federation Update on activities

Wyk, the mobile hot shop of the Glass House Collective, and a private showing of Kate Jackson's textile exhibition at Stride Gallery. With two excellent exhibitions at ACAD (including an exhibition of aboriginal work, and Influence, a show of ACAD faculty, student and alumni work) the conference site itself included must-see contemporary fine craft throughout the events. Celebrations of craft ended the opening night, with the presentation of the Alberta Craft Awards and the Robert Jekyll Award for Leadership in Craft. The CCF/FCMA website is the best way to find out more about events and activities like these, (canadiancraftsfederation.ca), Citizens of Craft, and link to craft initiatives across the country and internationally. The CCF/FCMA has been invited to exhibit this showcase of Canadian contemporary craft at the Revelations Biennale in Paris, France in May 2017, and at SOFA Chicago in November 2017. As always, such participation is dependent on funding (!). These invitations are indicative of the important leadership role the CCF/FCMA has nationally and internationally on our behalf. Our support and link to this work through MCC participation contributes to vitality in a dynamic and growing craft sector. Thank you for the privilege of representing MCC in this way, Alison Norberg

4

Director’s Report

Tammy Sutherland

Over the past year, the Manitoba Craft Council’s staff and board have been working hard to maintain high quality contemporary craft programming while doing all the background work necessary to the development a shared physical space for craft in Manitoba. The 2017 opening of the C2 Centre for Craft, in partnership with the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library, will see the organization transition into a new era, one hopefully characterized by increased public visibility and engagement, new programming possibilities, and more diverse revenue streams for MCC and its members. Perhaps most importantly, it will be a beautiful, permanent home for craft in Manitoba… a place for artists, artisans and supporters to gather, connect as a community, and celebrate the work of our hands, heads and hearts.

But before I get too carried away by dreams of the MCC’s glorious future, let’s reflect on the year that was… 2015-2016.

Exhibitions In August 2015, MCC presented Play, Precarity and Survival at aceartinc. Curated by Sigrid Dahle and featuring work by Marcel Dzama, Seema Goel, Rachael Kroeker, Jeannie Mah, Monica Mercedes Martinez, and Brendan Tang, this group exhibition included artists who use ceramic history, material properties and production processes to playfully explore identity. The full-colour catalogue was launched in September 2016 as part of the show’s Brandon premiere at the Glen P. Sutherland Gallery.

In celebration of Craft Year 2015, Video Pool held an online screening of video work related to contemporary craft selected by MCC staffer Tammy Sutherland. Works by tamara rae biebrich, Chantel Mierau, and Seth Woodyard were included.

First Friday mini-exhibitions at the MCC office continued in fall 2015 featuring work by Lisa Schroeder, Kelli Rey and ash alberg. Thanks to the board members who played host to these openings. Unsure of how long the MCC would retain its office space on Arthur and needing to free up time and space for move preparations, the mini-exhibition initiative ended in December 2015. First Fridays in the Exchange is a great opportunity to engage a wider public, and the MCC plans to reconnect with it once we are settled in our new space.

MCC’s annual open members’ exhibition, For the Love of Craft, took place at the Cre8ery again in January-February 2016. Thirty-nine artists participated and, as always, the opening drew a large crowd. The Craft Talk “crit session” was facilitated by Lisa Wood, Programme and Admin Coordinator at MAWA. Congratulations to Kristen Murray, who was honoured as the recipient of the Marilyn Wolodarsky Levitt Award for Functional Ceramics at the exhibition opening in January 2016.

Several exhibition projects were “under construction” this year. A jury was held for the “best” exhibition, the unveiling of which will coincide with the grand opening of the new craft centre. Thanks to David Krindle, Sonja Rosenberg and Janet Morton for serving as jurors.

(Above) Promotional materials for Manitoba Craft Council’s ‘Make it Happen’ Campaign for C2: Centre for Craft.

THE MANITOBA CRAFTS MUSEUM

AND LIBRARY !MCML" AND THE

MANITOBA CRAFT COUNCIL !MCC"

ARE JOINING FORCES to develop a new

C2 Centre for Craft, set to open in fall 2016. Located

at 329 Cumberland Avenue in the historic Winnipeg

Exchange District, the 3,025 sq ft facility will include

an exhibition gallery, shop, library, museum and

workshop space featuring the best of contemporary

and historical craft this province has to o#er.

make ithappen

5

Planning was on-going for Shards, an exhibition project curated by Jenny Western including work by four indigenous women artists in response to the ceramic shards collections held by the Manitoba Museum and the University of Winnipeg.

Phase II of Neurocraft, a collaboration between the MCC and the Winnipeg Chapter of the Neuroscience Association, took place this year with six new neuroscientist-artist pairings. An exhibition of work by all nine artists will launch during Brain Awareness week in March 2017. Project participants include MCC members Chantel Mierau, Heather Komus, Lesley Nakonechny, Gaetanne Sylvester, Ann Stinner, ash alberg, Michelle Wilson, Dana Kletke, and Peter Tittenberger.

CRAFTED One of the biggest highlights of 2015-2016 was the November launch of the CRAFTED Show and Sale in partnership with the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association. Designed to be Winnipeg’s premiere holiday sale of fine contemporary craft, CRAFTED featured 50 craft artists – 45 from MB who were juried from over 75 submissions. The event attracted over 3,500 visitors in just two days, with approximately $150,000 in sales going directly to the artists. The second annual sale is planned for late October 2016.

Craft Talks The MCC was pleased to present the first two of its new CraftEd visiting artist lectures in partnership with MAWA, U of M School of Art, and the WAG Shop. Janet Morton came to Winnipeg in March to give a lecture, do studio visits, a workshop at U of M, and jury for best. In June, Ryan Fairweather and Phillip Bandura of Bee Kingdom gave a talk about their collective art practice, conducted studio visits and exhibited work at the WAG Shop.

Co-Sponsorships As part of Nuit Blanche celebrations in September 2015, MCC co-sponsored a hands-on drop-in workshop with MCC members Sonja and Lily Rosenberg at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In October 2015, MCC co-sponsored a talk by Linda Sormin (ON) as part of the 1000 Miles Apart Conference hosted at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art. As always, MCC was happy to co-sponsor MAWA’s annual Craftstravaganza, four hours of hands on, drop in craft workshops in celebration of International Women’s Day in March 2016. MCC was pleased to support Cloverdale Forge’s first Forge and Forum, a day of blacksmithing demos and community building featuring visiting artist Robb “Thak” Martin (ON) held in June 2016.

Fundraising With plans to embark on a significant renovation project, fundraising efforts kicked into a higher gear this year. In fall 2015, MCC held its second Nuit Blanche Chili Bowl Sale in the main floor lobby of aceartinc, an event that raised over $1,500. We kicked off a year-end giving campaign with Giving Tuesday and raised over $5,500 in individual donations towards the new space. And finally, in partnership with the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library, we hosted a Manitoba Craft Social to

(Above) Blood Clot detail by Dana Kletke, work in progress for Neurocraft.

(Below, top) Mythopoet, by Bee Kingdom, blown glass. Photo by Erin Wallace Photography.

(Below, bottom) Robb Martin of Thak Ironworks

6

celebrate the anticipated union of our two groups under one roof – an event that netted almost $8,000. Thanks to Jen Smith for taking on the coordination of that event at the eleventh hour and to the fundraising committee for everything. Many thanks to all who gave of their time, creativity, craftwork, and cold hard cash to make these fundraisers successful and fun.

As of August 2016, the MCC is a client of Art Support MB, an initiative that brings together the private sector and arts/cultural groups to increase investment in the arts. Over the next 18 months, consultant Pam Simmons will be mentoring the MCC to grow our fundraising capacity from the ground up.

Human Resources MCC’s HR capacity experienced growth this past year, both in terms of quantity and skill development. September 2015, Corrie Peters was hired as Programme and Adminstrative Assistant at 14 hours a week. Tammy Sutherland took on the role of Director as of October 2015, and Dana Kletke mentored MCC staff and board in financial management thanks to a grant from the Winnipeg Foundation.

In June 2016, Jessica Hodgson, who had previously worked with the MCC as both a contract and summer employee and board member, took over Corrie’s role with an increase to 20 hrs weekly as of September 2016. In 2016, Chelsey Thiessen worked a nine-week summer contract funded by Canada Summer Jobs and, amongst other tasks, did some much needed pre-move decluttering. Working alongside archivist Bev Pike, Chelsey organized the MCC’s historical files, sending over a dozen boxes of paper to the shredder!

Gail Brown continues to do an excellent job as our contract bookkeeper, Mary Lou McGurran has assisted with some grant and business plan writing, Honest Agency is working with us on marketing collateral for C2 and Urbanink is the design force behind MCC catalogues and print materials.

C2 Centre for Craft Making the dream of a new home for craft in Manitoba a reality… the hard work of this has consumed much of our energy and time this year. Securing a lease, crafting a partnership agreement, grant writing, meetings with funders, architects and potential donors, choosing a name, developing the “brand,” fundraising, retail development, programme planning, keeping everyone in the loop… Building C2 has been 5% challenging and 95% really fun. Thank you to our C2 partner, the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library and curator Andrea Reichert in particular, for your energy, enthusiasm and good faith!

THANKS Thanks so much to MCC’s board, volunteers, staff, members, partners and funders who make MCC such a vibrant and creative entity. Long live Keith Oliver, MCC board president and renovation project manager, whose name is synonymous with commitment, hard work and generosity.

(Above, top) Manitoba Craft Social Poster designed by UrbanInk

(Above, bottom) CRAFTED Co-Chairs Joyce Berry and Hennie Corrin with donated scarves.

(Below) Perfume Bottle by Ione Thorkelsson donated to the Manitoba Craft Social auction.

7

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Dana Kletke Chantel Mierau Jade Troost Grace Han

FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE Jennifer Smith Allison Yearwood Keith Oliver

Seema Goel Chris Pancoe David King

SOCIAL MEDIA / OFFICE Lindsay Joy Crystal Nykoluk Lesley Nakonechny

Gaetanne Sylvester Kathleen Cerrer

RETAIL COMMITTEE Melanie Wesley Sherri Van Went

NEW SPACE DEVELOPMENT Keith Oliver Alison Norberg

Congratulations to Kristin Murray,

the 2015 recipient of the Marilyn Levitt Award

for Functional Ceramics.

(Image) Kristin Murray (center) receiving the 2015 Marilyn Levitt Prize from Alan Lacovetsky (left) and Tammy Sutherland (right)

Heartfelt thanks to MCC’s

dedicated volunteer committees that

help our events run smoothly.

THE PROS

Gail Brown, bookkeeper

Leif Norman, event photography

Karen Asher, exhibition photography

Marcelle Lussier/Evan Marnoch at Urbanink, graphic design

Callum Beattie at Honest Agency, web design

Nena Van Dusen at Craig & Ross, auditor

Jenny Western, Sigrid Dahl & Seema Goel, curators

8

Stronger Together The Manitoba Craft Council is a member of several groups that positively benefit our members at the level of promotion, public outreach, education and advocacy: Arts and Cultural Industries Association of Manitoba Canadian Crafts Federation First Fridays in the Exchange Manitoba Artist Run Centres Coalition Manitobans for the Arts (Left) Forge and Forum at Cloverdale Forge.

And to the many volunteers that gave in various ways,

THANK YOU! We couldn’t do it without you.

Alan Lacovetsky

Alexandra Tumanov

Amanda Harding

Andrew Thompson

Ash Alberg

Barb Smith

Bart Coleman

Brigitta Urban

Brook Drabot

Cathie Ugrin

Catharine McDonald

Crystal Dueck

Chocolatier Constance Popp

Collin Zipp

Connie Chappel

Corrie Peters

Daria and Peter Tittenberger

Dave Dyck

David Krindle

Dawn Teasdale

Elvira Finnigan

Eric Au

Erika Hanneson

Greg McCullough

Ingrid Lincoln

Janet Carroll

Janet Morton

Jayne Nixon

Jessica Hodgson

Johanna Brierley

Judy Tingley

June Derksen

Karen Schlichting

Karen Wardle

Kathy Jones

Kathryne Koop

Kelli Rey

Kelly Ruth

Larry Glawson

Lily Despic

Lily Rosenberg

Lois Hogg

Marieke Gruwell

McNally Robinson

Michelle Wilson

Mimi and Michael Mirus

Moksha Yoga

Monica Martinez

Nancy Blokland

PJ Anderson

Rika Hawes

Rosalind Sims

Roy Liang

Sharon Loeppky

Shawna Dempsey

Shosana Funk

Sonja Rosenberg

Stephanie Cooper

Susan Styrchak

Suzie Smith

Terri Pellard

Tesh Kosowan

Tibor Bodi

Tricia Wasney

Ursula Neufeld

Valerie Metcalfe

Viola Davidson

Winnipeg Art Gallery

Wendy Severson

9

With thanks to the following for project funding in 2015-2016

Core funding generously provided by

Arts Branch, Culture, Heritage and Tourism

(Top) Site of the new C2 Centre for Craft.

(Bottom) Melanie Wesley’s work being enjoyed at 2016 Member Show, For the Love of Craft. Photo by Leif Norman.

Thank you to our Craft Social Sponsors

10

Manitoba Craft Council 553-70 Arthur Street Winnipeg, MB R3B 1G7 1.204.946.0803 www.manitobacraft.ca info@manitobacraft.ca

(Above) Contemplation of Peter Tittenberger’s pieces Displaced #15 and Displaced #31 at 2016 Member Show, For the Love of Craft.

Photo by Leif Norman