Redefining the Role of the Craft Maker

How can the role of the traditional craft maker be rethought to adapt to changing times? In November 2007, NSCAD University created the ideal forum to elicit dialogue in response to this question. NSCAD hosted a ‘Neo Craft Conference’ in partnership with the Canadian Crafts Federation. The conference, initiated by NSCAD's Craft Historian, Sandra Alfoldy, was attended by an international audience and brought together several panels of distinguished guest speakers. The purpose of the two- day conference was to challenge and to begin to rethink the position of craft and craft makers; lively debate and exchange of thought, ideas and research are all essential to that ongoing task. By all accounts, the conference was a success; and podcasts from the conference, as well as information about the exhibitions and presentations are available on the conference website at: http://www.neocraft.ca/.

While the conference generated poignant discussion on many important issues surrounding the craft community, perhaps the most pertinent issue presented itself as a debate between traditional practices of craft and new techniques, materials and technologies. As increasing numbers of craft participants and historians argue, in order to ensure the survival of craft in the future, it is necessary to define a new model of making that can encompass cutting-edge contemporary methods of production, design and technology. For example, Professor Jay Coogen, in his keynote address at a ‘Craft in the Digital Age’ Conference at the New Hampshire Institute of Art in 2004, predicted that “in a short time, I can imagine most artists, craftsmen and designers using digital processes with the same comfort level as they use with any of their current equipment and tools.”

The ideal place to begin such renovations is directly within post -secondary curriculums where fine art and craft are the disciplines of study. Students are first educated and groomed to become skilled craftspeople in these programs. For them, as well as many others, the word ‘craft’ often evokes the traditional romantic vision of the solitary craftsperson, selling her charming hand-made objects at outdoor markets on a Saturday afternoon. For decades, post-secondary craft curriculums have been preparing students to do more or less just that--if not preparing them for a future of selling their wares in weekend markets, nevertheless structuring their programs with the assumption that craft students would afterwards be setting up their own businesses to market and sell their work as independent crafts people.

However, today’s craft makers do not address the same world that craft makers of twenty and years ago did. Then, it was a matter of rediscovering, reclaiming and stringently defining, through handwork, practices that, in many cases, have been in existence for hundreds of years. Today’s craft makers, by contrast are computer literate; media savvy, environmentally and economically conscious, and act as social critics capable of developing new design concepts.
Contemporary craft students may thus familiarize themselves with Rapid Prototyping Technology: the name given to a host of technologies in which a physical object gets directly built from three dimensional computer drawings. Once the model has been created by the software, the file can then be sent off to be built by a bureau or in a research lab. Imagine the possibilities that can be achieved when skilled and design savvy crafts people are matched with these kinds of innovative digital technologies! This is one sort of new technology that points to work that extends beyond the boundaries of what is defined and appreciated as craft.

In line with such technological extensions, there seems to be is a growing trend of craft graduates taking on managerial roles within companies and using their skills as craftspeople to occupy jobs within the streams of design, manufacturing and production. Today’s craft students are departing from the solitary role of the craft maker working long hours alone in the studio. They are instead opting to participate in dynamic group projects and collaborations with their communities, interacting frequently with external clients, and taking advantage of the technological tools that are available to them. The results are not always "technological"; you may be sure however that they will be interesting.

Having a sustainable source of income after graduation is an important issue for craft students, and being prepared to respond to a constantly changing and moving culture is a necessary asset for the survival of a crafts person.

By Laura Mitrow

Works Consulted
1. Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Rehoused in History. Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1979.
2. Hung, Shu. By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art. New York: Princeton Architectural P. 2007.
3. Risahi, Howard. A Theory of Craft, Function and Aesthetic Function. Chapel Hill: The University of North Caroline P, 2007.
4. Alfoldy, Sandra. Ed. NeoCraft: Modernity and Craft. Halifax, Nova Scotia: The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 2007.

Images are of paper sculptures by Laura Mitrow
Coming Soon: An interview with NSCAD's Dr. Sandra Alfoldy.

Notes on a Little Chat with Steve Farmer

Many different characters work in the NSCAD photo department; Steve Farmer is one of those characters. This animated man can be found dashing about the department with photo gear tucked under his arm, trailing students full of questions he tries to answer while on the way to his next class.

Steve is very approachable, he seems always more than happy to stop and help out with any problem a student may have--including, say, the need to write and post a brief article on the photo department. A recognizeable figure in his trademark glasses, beard and running shoes, Steve is an energetic and caring person invested in his students. But he also has a private life--hes'a appily married man and father of two boys.

After graduating from NSCAD in 1989, Steve came back to teach at NSCAD in 1999. The three classes Steve teaches at the moment are "Colour Photo," "Digital Photography" and the "Lighting Studio Workshop". In addition to his teaching, Steve is also a commercial photographer.

When I stopped Steve in the hall to see if I could ask him a couple questions for this piece, he invited me into his office for a chat. In our conversation about photography at NSCAD and photography in general, Steve stressed the importance of a strong technical base in supporting conceptual works. We talked about analog photography; Steve said that he thinks we are losing some of the tactile qualities of the medium. He wonders if some of the magic of photography is slipping now that darkrooms are virtually a thing of the past. --Yet he probably can’t remember the last time he shot a real old fashioned roll of film.

Our discussion on photography was long and winding and could have gone on for hours. I got the feeling that Steve, as both teacher and practitioner, strives to find a balance or artistry and technique in the medium of photography. As student-artists, he advocates that we learn to use all of the tools at our disposal. When asked about how the department has changed, his answer was simple: the technology has changed. Drastically.

I also asked him about his favorite memories from his time as a student at NSCAD and he had three. One was bringing his Mom to his studio where he shared a space with the late Mark Deberov. Deberov was watching a porn flick just as Steve brought his mom into the studio for her tour. He also remembered when Robert Del Tredici spoke on his series “In the Field of the Atom Bomb” and sitting beside Robert Frank during the screening of “Cock Sucker Blues.” As a final question I wanted to know, what was the NSCAD Photography Department like when Steve Farmer was still a student? He answered, “Students were edgier, more conceptual and more international.”
Guess that raises the bar for US now.

by Andrew Farrugia

Fine Art and Industrial Art, 1887

October 31 1887, was an exciting day for the community of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The first art school opened up to the public, called The Victoria School of Art. The institution was located on the corner of Hollis and Prince St, in the Union Bank building. Backers of the school, Anna Leonowens, Jeremiah Kenny and Alexander McKay helped promote both fine art and industrial art. It appears that such classes were largely gender segregated, reflecting the very different career paths open to men and women during the late 19th century. Evening technical classes, for example, tended to be the province of men, while daytime Fine Arts classes were often followed by middle and upper class women.

In the art magazine, Art Movement of America, in 1887, Anna Leownoens, credited with initiating plans for the school, stated “the establishment of a school of art and design not only encourages the Fine Arts, such as painting, sculpture, architecture, but gives a remarkable artistic value to mechanical and industrial arts.” Leonowen's mission of promoting public art education was intended to raise skill levels and incomes, but not really to achieve any changes in class or social status. The structure of the Victoria School of Art thus accommodated workers and the middle and upper classes, and both men and women.

Mrs Jeremiah Kenny, for example, helped to promote the Fine Arts. During the day, she spent two and a half hours, twice a week in the amateur class, also known as the "A class," with five female students. During class, students created motifs, illustrative renderings, and crafts consisting of decorative needle work. The principal concern of the programs was to encourage the aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual aspects of art, as well as to appeal to consumers of good taste.

Evening classes, on the other hand, were designed so that working men could attend. In 1880, Alexander McKay, supervisor for the Board of Commissioners for the City of Halifax, believed the expansion of industry required people with special skills in industrial drawing and manual training. The courses cost $5 dollars for thirty lessons, $8 dollars for sixty lessons and $10 dollars for ninety lessons. These fees were far lower than the cost to Fine Arts “Amateur” students.

Evening classes in the industrial arts included lessons in geometry, projections, mechanical and isometric drawing, free hand modeling, design, and clay modelling. Young men of the working class, city mechanics, artisans and general labours were among the population of students enrolled in the industrial arts program.

The art institution now known as NSCAD University—perhaps Canada’s most internationally recognized art school—still draws a diverse population to its doors. 121 years later, however, it is a much less class and gender-stratified place. Continuing Education classes introduce children and adults working in other fields to various aspects of the arts, while degree granting programs mix academics with technical and critical skills learning.

Amanda Moura


Works Consulted

Bronson, A.A., and Ren Blouin, Peggy Gale and Glen Lewis. From Sea to Shinning Sea Toronto: Power Plant, 1987.

Gandhi. Omar Reviving the Megastructure:Nova Scotia of Art and Design ( Canada), 2005. Dissertations & Theses at Dalhousie University. Accessed 25 Sept. 2008 http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/

Mueller Richard. Wallpapers: An Illustration and Exhibition of Wallpaper Works of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design Facility, Alumni, and Guest Artists. Halifax, NS: the Anna Leonowens Gallery, 2000.

Soucy, Donald, Harold Pearse. The First Hundred Years: A History of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Fredericton & Halifax: University of New Brunswick Faculty of Education and the Nova Scotia of Art and Design, 1993.

Stacey, R H (Robert H) Wylie Li. Eighty Twenty: 100 Years of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Halifax: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 1988.

David Askevold and the Projects Class

REMOVALS HALFWAY BETWEEN THE EQUATOR AND THE NORTH POLE
The extent of and documentation (if any) of the removals is completely in the domain of the students.
- Project concept, submitted by Lawrence Weiner, for David Askevold's Project Class


David Askevold came to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University in the fall of 1968. This is where he would come to develop his idea of the Projects Class, which ran from 1969-1972. Originally hired as a sculpture teacher in the Foundation Program, Askevold’s invention of the his Projects Class quickly changed the focus of Foundation, and the nature of his job. Experimentation as a way of teaching and learning became the rule; the idea was to engage students with problems and questions, rather than to train them in fine arts techniques. The Projects Class helped to put NSCAD on the map in the early days and its innovative approach to teaching made people question whether NSCAD was 'the best art school in North America'.

Askevold recruited a number of New York-based and international conceptual artists to write and submit proposals for projects to be completed by the students. These artists included: Robert Barry, Mel Bochner, Jan Dibbets, Sol Lewitt, N E Thing Company, James Lee Byars, Robert Smithson, Doug Huebler, Dan Graham, Lucy Lippard, Joseph Kosuth, and Lawrence Weiner. Some of the artists would come to see the projects progress and became involved with the students collaborative processes.

The projects were submitted on typed or handwritten cards, which would then be given to the students. This sort of exchange—between artists and students---opened up to the idea that teaching or engaging with a class could become a work of art in itself. Often artists who collaborated in the Projects Class would also show their own works in the College galleries. Askevold claimed merely to be the monitor of the process, a sort of midwife. Summer semesters were times during which many openings were set aside for visiting artists that would come to teach classes. In the early days, sometimes a visiting artist would stay for full fall or winter semesters, or the whole year.

Although David Askevold passed away in January of 2008, he leaves behind a remarkable legacy. His work in the Projects Class and elsewhere inspires us to look and to think outside of ourselves, and to seek and find guidance from those artists around us.

Askevold said, of his Projects Class:
" My idea at the time, as an instructor of art, was to bring students closer to the sensibilities of practicing contemporary artists by engaging them directly with the work. Most of the artists involved visited the school to discuss this project as well as their general concepts to the student body. This project helped to initiate a very extensive visiting program."



October 2008 Kristen Sharpe


Works Referenced


Artnet. (2008). David Askevold. Retrieved September 28th, 2008 from http://www.artnet.com/awc/david- askevold.html

Barber, Bruce, ed. Conceptual Art: The NSCAD Connection 1967-1973. Halifax, NS: Anna Leonowens Gallery, NSCAD University, 2001.

Flinn, Sue Carter. (January 31, 2008) Askevold's mystery tour: The death of pioneering artist David Askevold leaves a sense of loss in the art community. Retrieved September 29th, 2008 from http:// www.thecoast.ca/Articles--2008-01-31-151605.113118-19808.113118_Askevolds_mystery_ tour.html#123

Gallery One One One. (2008). David Askevold Cultural Geographies and Other Works. Retrieved September 29th, 2008 from http://www.umanitoba.ca/schools/art/galleryoneoneone/askevol.html

Kitty Scott, and Shaughressy, Jonathan. Art Metropole: The Top 100. Ottawa, ON: National Gallery of Canada, 2006. 54.

Murray, Ian. (March 22, 2008). David Askevold, 1940-2008.(Obituary). Retrieved September 29th, 2008 from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-34204827_ITM

"A New Era." NSCAD Univeristy. Retrieved October 15th, 2008 from .

Design at NSCAD: A Two-Part History

The history of Design at NSCAD can be broken into two eras: before and after the Presidency of Garry Neill Kennedy. Although the more current of the two periods is well documented and recognized, the beginnings of the school and it’s ties to industrial art and design are often overlooked.

The earliest inception of what we now know as NSCAD was VCAD, or the Victoria College of Art and Design. It was partially modeled on technical institutes that were popular in Europe and the US during the mid-19th century. Such institutes pointed to rapid industrialization as evidence that the proper education of architects, draughtsmen and industrial designers was essential to the smooth operation of the economy. These principles were carried forward at VCAD, where night classes featuring similar subjects to those taught in technical schools elsewhere, educated workers and trade apprentices.

The school continued to develop these industrial courses into programs, and eventually began to offer diplomas. However, the school saw a drastic decline in industrial enrolments when the Nova Scotia Technical College, (an institution more singularly on industrial education), opened in 1907.

When Arthur Lismer became Principal in 1916, he established classes in non-industrial design, for he thought that this subject was an essential component of an art education. Elizabeth Nutt, Principal from 1919-1943, changed the name of the school from VCAD to the Nova Scotia College of Art, but carried on Lismer’s initiative. The disappearance of “design” from the name of the College did not mean that Nutt considered design education to be insignificant. Rather, the name change was indicative of how strongly she felt about design being a form of art, and not separate from it. Design thus continued to be a part of the NSCA, although the department was extremely small, and often taught by only one teacher.

This all changed when Garry Neill Kennedy became President in 1967. In 1969 he changed the name of the school to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, in order to reflect the school’s history and to recognize the increasing importance of design. Kennedy hired teachers from Europe, notably Horst Deppe and Hanno Ehses, who brought new German Minimalist graphic design ideas and principles to the school. This, coupled with the huge success of Canadian design seen at Montreal’s Expo 67 and ’76 Olympics made the program a very popular area of study at NSCAD.

Although no trace of the pre-Kennedy industrial design program remains, environmental, communications, product, and interdisciplinary design have rounded out the current program. Graphic design continues to remain popular at the school; the program enjoys international renown and widespread success.

Lucy Poskitt


Sources
"1990 Recipients". The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada. Oct 15, 2008.

“A New Era.” NSCAD University. 24 Sept 2008.

Discussion with Senior Faculty member. Personal Interview. Oct 15 2008.

"Graphic Art and Design". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Oct 15 2008. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003400.

Soucy, Donald and Harold Pearse. First Hundred Years: A History of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Fredericton / Halifax: University of New Brunswick Faculty of Education / NSCAD, 1993.

I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art

John Baldessari and the Lithography Workshop

At NSCAD many students have seen the print I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art by John Baldessari or have heard the phrase used. The 1971 black and white lithograph with the repeated sentence used to hang at the main entrance to the Granville campus.
In the 70s as part of the Lithography Workshop, Baldessari was commissioned to create an original work at the school. The Workshop’s mission was to bring in established artists to visit NSCAD to collaborate with the master printer and students to make limited edition prints. At the time John Baldessari was a prolific artist teaching at the California Institute of the Art; he has has since been termed one of the most influential conceptual artist since the sixties.

Baldessari was not able to make it to NSCAD but he proposed that students write the phrase, “ I will not make any more boring art,” on the Mezzanine Gallery walls as if in collective punishment. This was, in part, his ironic comment on minimalist art of the time. Inspired by the student execution of his suggestion at NSCAD, Baldessari then created a video piece in which he performed the same task, handwriting the phrase "I will not make any more boring art" over and over on a piece of paper. This page was then sent to NSCAD and reproduced in the form of a lithograph. Like the video I Am Making Art attached here, much of Baldessari's output explores art and the creative process in an ironic way or with the use of humour.

In the 1970’s, NSCAD was very innovative in the art world due to its highly experimental conceptual art program and the Lithography Workshop. During this time, works and prints by other artists such as Vito Acconci, Dan Graham, Sol LeWitt, and Michael Snow were created at the school.

The John Baldessari art project has been influential in the school's evolution and has, humorously, shaped its mission. The phrase is now seen as NSCAD’s unofficial motto alongside the formal motto: “Head, Heart, and Hand.” The official alumni ring, designed by Karen Konzuk, incorporates the school colours and is also engraved with the Latin words, “nolo facere insipada,” or, “no boring art.”

Valentyna Onisko





Dykhuis, Peter, Jessica Kerrin, and Dennis Young. Conceptual Art : The NSCAD Connection 1967-1973.

Heiser, Jorg. "John Baldessari." John Baldessari. Sept. 2005.Freize Magazine.26 Sept. 2008 http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/john_baldessari1

I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art. Dir. John Baldessari. Perf. John Baldessari. 1971

I Am Making Art. Dir. John Baldessari. Perf. John Baldessari. 1971

Irwin, Sherri. "Garry Neill Kennedy: No More Boring Art." Garry Neill Kennedy: No More Boring Art. 30 July 2002.Canadian Art.26 Sept. 2008
http://www.canadianart.ca/art/features/2002/07/30/53/

Printed Matter Inc. "I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art ; Lithographs, Publications and Ephemera." Press release. June-July 2006. Printed Matter Inc. 26 Sept. 2008
http://printedmatter.org/news/news.cfm?article_id=227

Western Front Society. Exhibitions. "Between Your Head and My Hand." Press release. 2 Dec. 2007. Western Front. 26 Sept. 2008 http://front.bc.ca/exhibitions/events/3129

Lion Pickers

When tourists walk down Duke Street they rarely see NSCAD. Instead they see two lions up on pink pillars that tower over them. Then a common reaction is complete confusion because between the two lions is an unexplainable sculpture of a garbage bag.

Many myths about the lions have been circling the Granville Mall since they were erected in 2005. The majority of people I have spoken to believe the lions were purchased in 2004 by the NSCAD President of the time, Dr. Paul Greenhalgh and that he bought them from England. Neither of these are true, the lions were in fact purchased in 1967 and came from The New Custom House’s clock tower located in Halifax. They were stored inside a church on the Coburg Campus at the time but ended up in a Dalhousie University professor’s backyard from the early seventies until the summer of 2004. Not reall a sensational story.

The garbage bag, which was placed between the lions during the year they went up, was sensational however. It provoked passion in NSCAD staff, students and faculty. It was infuriating to some, but others thought it was clever. For some, the Lions are a symbol of authoritative British imperial power. This is not an image that most contemporary NSCAD students want have representing their school. Originally, these lions were to be placed against a wall on the clock tower because they have no back. It takes bold indifference, say the critics, to place these lions in the middle of the Granville Mall.

In my informal surveys of passersby, I'd say the lions have the same (forgettable) impact on most viewers, but the ambiguity of the garbage bag irritates or delights everyone. Sometimes, when drunken men stumble out of the Split Crow pub and attempt to move the garbage bag, both irritation and delight appear on the same stage. Big enough guns will nudge the garbage bag a few inches, but it would take some seriously big guns to move it away from the lions.

Neil Antoine Raymond Lapierre

- Student/ Artist/ Poet Amore and more

People who told me things:
Garbage artist. Personal interview. October 3 2008.
Anonymous (NSCAD Faculty Member). Personal Interview. October 8 2008.
Anonymous (NSCAD Faculty Member). Personal Interview. October 9 2008.
NSCAD Printmaking Student. Personal Interview. October 6 2008.
Cameron, Linda. Personal interview. October 9 2008.
NSCAD Printmaking Student. Personal Interview. October 6 2008.
“The Split Crow Story.” History. October 16, 2008.
http://www.splitcrow.com/splitcrow
Welter-Noland, Becky. Personal Interview. 30 September 2008.

The Many Faces of NSCAD

Historic downtown buildings, old port-side sheds and a present day restaurant. These are just some of the locations which NSCAD University has called home over its 121 year history. Now inhabiting three locations throughout Halifax, the university has been instrumental in the rebuilding of several key historic areas. The current downtown campus block on Granville Street resides in a number of historic properties which were saved from demolition when NSCAD decided to make them its permanent home in the 1970's.

The Port Campus is the newest addition to the university, and though it looks very modern in appearance, it too has a rich history. It resides in the historic area of Pier 21 which is currently being revitalized by the city. This is another example of NSCAD contributing to the rebuilding and preservation of Halifax's historic areas, while finding a new and ever growing use for them.

The Five Fisherman restaurant, known to visitors and residents of Halifax for its excellent seafood was also once the home of the art school during the 1950's. The building housed several educational institutes--NSCAD was its last school occupant, quitting the location in 1956 to make way for the restaurant that everyone knows today.

NSCAD also spent a good portion of time occupying what is now a hole in the ground across the street from Dalhousie University on Coburg Road. It was here that NSCAD's famed Mezzanine Gallery was housed as well as an incarnation of the Anna Leonowens gallery, which continues today on the Granville campus.
From its beginnings in the Union Bank building on the corner of Duke and Granville (which it eventually came back to in the form of the modern day Granville campus), to the Academy Building on Brunswick Street (obtained in 2002) which houses the film program, to the brand new Port Campus, NSCAD is always moving and changing locations to the delight of the city which enjoys the revitalized by-product.


Ryan LeBlanc

Sources
NSCAD Press, NSCAD The Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. Halifax: NSCAD Press, 1982.
NSCAD University, “Founding”. NSCAD University. September 25, 2008
http://www.nscad.ca/about/history_1.php
“Union Bank of Halifax”. Nation Master. September 22, 2008
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Union-Bank-of-Halifax

Mezzanine File: Vito Acconci

Exhibition Title: ACCESSIBILITIES

Date Of Exhibition: DEC 1st-15th, 1970

Medium(s): Performance/Film/Photos/Sound/ Writing

Vito Acconci’s project “Association Area” was an exercise in the perception of space. First, Acconci paired up with another person. The two blindfolded themselves and moved around a space, trying intuitively to perceive the space and the presence of the other. When viewing this performance, the audience is not to get involved. This creates a very strange situation. On the one hand, spectators feel as if they have been called on to witness a work which only benefits the actors, since intuition can only be experienced in the first person. On the other hand, they feel involved because they are being asked for understanding through deduction. The results of this project and others were shown in the Mezzanine in early December 1971.

by Ryan Taylor

The Mezzanine Gallery

Established in the early 1970s, The Mezzanine was a small independent exhibition space in the newly re-named Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (NSCAD). The space was adjacent to the former Anna Leonowens Gallery, and located in what was then NSCAD’s main campus on Coburg Road. The early 1970s were a time of change for the school. Recently appointed president Garry Neill Kennedy’s plans to change the structure of NSCAD were in full swing. From 1970 until 1973, Charlotte Townsend Gault served as director for the Mezzanine Gallery.

A space of modest size, measuring only 20’ x 28’, the Mezzanine was host to many important exhibitions throughout its short existence. The room itself was very simple and functional. With its white-washed walls and wooden floors, the Mezzanine was a terrific “blank canvas” for demonstrations, film viewings, audio presentations and performances by NSCAD faculty and students. The space also attracted many important professional artists of the time.

Artists in The Space.
With the assistance of the Anna Leonowens Gallery's extensive Mezzanine Archives, I have begun to compile a timeline of the exhibitions held in the Mezzanine. This time line focuses on the period when Charlotte Townsend Gault was director of the space [1969-1973].

• APR.1969 Lau, Rex Weiner, Lawrence
  
• OCT.1969 Kosuth, Joseph
• OCT.1970 McLean, Bruce
• NOV.1970 Askevold, David
  
• DEC.1970 Acconci, Vito Byars, James Lee
• JAN.1971 Asimakos, John Nolan, Bill Art & Project Waterman, Doug Young, Jon
  
• FEB.1971 Lozano, Lee Pulsa Group Zuck, Tim McNamara, Albert
  
• MAR.1971 Jarden, Richards Graham, Dan Chan, Jon
  
• APR.1971 Murray, Ian Baldessari, John Dibbets, Jan
  
• MAY.1971 NSCAD Graduation Exhibition ’71 Ferguson, Gerald Taylor, Thoss W. Gill, Dennis Wikstrom, Robert Kelly, Patrick
  
• AUG.1971 Sharfrazi, Tony
  
• SEP.1971 The People’s Art Studio Show Jarden, Richard Kosuth, Joseph Johnson, Tim
  
• OCT.1971 Bowers, Robert Cruise, Stephen McEwen, John Burgin, Victor Cutforth, Roger
  
• NOV.1971 Askevold, David Brennen, Wallace Conway, Gary Gill, Dennis Wickstrom, Robert Lively, Merf Mom’s Apple Pie Company Pearse, Harold World Encounter Students
  
• DEC.1971 Porter, Ken NSCAD Advanced Printmakers Conway, Gary Winsor, Jacqueline
• JAN.1972 Carr-Harris, Ian California Institute Of Art [Video work] Parsons, Bruce Harris, Lilla Dubé, Graham
  
• FEB.1972 Antin, Eleanor Vazan, William Oppenheim, Dennis Beckley, Bill Murray, John
  
• MAR.1972 Halifax-Vancouver Exchange Beckley, Bill Kulik, Sharon Dubé, Graham Oppenheim, Dennis Murray, John Brennen, Wallace Aycock, Alice Van Elk, Ger
  
• APR.1972 Kelly, Patrick Sondheim, Alan Kawara, On Van Elk, Ger
  
• MAY.1972 NSCAD Graduation Exhibition ’72 Dubé, Graham Kulik, Sharon
  
• JUN.1972 Gill, Dennis
  
• JUL.1972 Peck, Robin
  
• SEP.1972 Young, Jon Mcfall, Kathleen Latham, John Levine, Les
  
• OCT.1972 Sondheim, Alan Wilson, Martha S. Fried, Howard
  
• NOV.1972 Metson, Graham Bloom, Barbara Houghton, Nicholas
  
• DEC.1972 Beveridge, Karl Campbell, Colin Hillard, John
• JAN.1973 Ramden, Mel Corris, Michael Weilling, James MacNevin, Brian
  
• FEB.1973 Jarden, Richard Art & Project Peck, Robin Mizukami, Jun
  
• MAR.1973 Ellis, Dean Pearse, Harold Dikeakos, Christos Johnson, Terrence
  
• APR.1973 Alder, Bas Jan Leavitt, William Oberheide, Heidi Buren, Daniel Kennedy, Garry
  
• MAY.1973 Welch, Roger Kulik, Sharon
• JUN.1973 Nolta, Gunter Murray, Ian

Note: This list is incomplete and not all dates are confirmed.

by RYAN TAYLOR

Works Citied
Hein, Jessica "Mezzanine Gallery - Chronological History & Inventory of Announcement Cards" July 2007
Provided by Anna Leonowens Gallery Archive

"Mezzanine Gallery Invitation Cards" 2006
Provided by Anna Leonowens Gallery Archive

Gault, Charlote Townsend "Mezzanine Gallery Summary" Nov. 1971

Provided by Anna Leonowens Gallery Archive
"Mezzanine Gallery" Article Artscanada Magazine, Spring 1972 (p.78-81)

Anna Leonowens' Life Travels

“It is not easy to combine the song of the lark with the jaws of the crocodile.” – John MacNaughton (Mrs. Leonowens)

It is impossible to write an accurate account of Anna Leonowens because most records came from Anna herself and most of what she said about her life was never the exact truth. As a consequence, written here is a collage of her experiences in a generally chronological order.

Anna Leonowens was born on November 6, 1831 in Ahmednugger, India and was named Ann Harriet Emma Edwards, though she would later claim she was born in Wales and went by Anna Harriet Crawford. Her first big adventure happened when she was only fifteen and was caused by her refusal to marry a soldier.

She sailed away from colonized India with her friend Reverend George Percy Badger to study Ancient Egypt and Babylon. When she returned, she married Thomas Leon Owens, whom she called Leon. While it is known that they traveled, where exactly they went is remembered only through word of mouth narration. Some believe it was around India while others say they went to England and Australia before ending up in Singapore. Leon died away in Singapore from a heart attack or heat stroke just after a tiger-hunting excursion, or so the story goes. Anna claimed he died in her arms. She was left with her daughter Avis and her son Louis to support. She taught in the environs of Singapore until she received a letter that would make her life legendary.

The King of Siam (Thailand) wished for her to teach his children English and his wives English customs. Anna sent Avis to a boarding school in London, England and traveled with Louis to Siam. The six-year period in Bangkok, Siam is the most well known part in Anna’s life. It was made popular in the mid-twentieth century in American and Canadian culture through various books and movies, such as Anna and the King, The King and I, Anna and the King of Siam.

It is hard to believe these stories usually end when Anna leaves Siam because she accomplished so much more in her later years. She traveled with Louis to England and reunited with Avis. She sent Louis to boarding school in Dublin, Ireland to give his life some structure. After he left for school, she received a letter inviting her to visit her friend Dr. Francis Cobb and his wife in America.

So Anna and Avis traveled to Boston and then to New York City. During her time in the States Anna began to write about her time in Siam; she also joined the Rights for Women movement. Her stories became famous and she went on tour in America giving lectures and interviews. Her published books include The English Governess in the Siamese Court: Recollections of Six Years at the Royal Palace at Bangkok (1870), The Romance of the Harem (1873), Life and Travel in India: Being Recollections of a journey before the days of Railroads (1884), and Our Asiatic Cousins (1889).

When daughter Avis married Thomas Fyshe, a young accountant, all three moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. During her stay in Halifax, Anna Leonowens started a new Rights for Women campaign and worked to better the living conditions for female prisoners. She traveled to Russia to write an article for The Youth’s Companion magazine on the experiences of the common people in Russia after the assassination of Czar Alexander II.

Anna Leonowens was also the founder of the now internationally recognized Nova Scotia Collage of Art and Design (NSCAD) University. The institution was originally called the Victoria School of Art and Design in honour of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee; it was founded on October 31, 1887.

After so many accomplishments, Anna Leonowens traveled once more to Europe where she may have met up with her son Louis again and encountered two more grandchildren. She then returned to Halifax and moved with her daughter and family to Montreal. It was there that she died at the age of 84 on January 19, 1915. Her legacy, however, still lives.

Rasmi Nair