Art Matters festival hits the ground running

By Robert Winters

Get ready, Concordia. Starting tomorrow, March 4, more than 200 artists will put on lively shows at more than two dozen venues throughout the university and elsewhere in the city.

Art Matters, starting this weekend and running for two weeks, offers a wide variety of exhibitions, performances and activities designed to appeal to all kinds of art lovers — as well as those who enjoy the art of partying.

This student-run showcase for the university’s Fine Arts students’ talents is the fifth such festival, which is considered to be the largest such event in Canada. The complex logistical exercise includes co-ordinating a team of 11 executive members and 29 curators organizing shows at their venues.

At the calm centre of the storm are the festival's co-producers, Susan Westbrook and Trevor Kiernander, painting and drawing students who started planning last April for the festival.

“It’s hard to keep things in perspective. It can take over every aspect of your existence,” Susan said. “God knows our friends and families are tired of hearing us talk about Art Matters!”

There is something for every artistic taste at this festival, from serious exhibitions at high-profile Montreal art spaces such as the Belgo Building and Art Mur, to art trivia contests where teams of students face off for prizes. The program for Art Matters, which is easy to find around campus, is jam-packed with offbeat events and just plain fun activities. Here are a few highlights:

Outstanding short films by student and alumni will be screened at the first annual Concordia Film Festival, Sunday March 6, 1 to 6 p.m. at the DeSève Cinema, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.

The festival’s special guest is Mel Hoppenheim, creator and president of the Cité du Cinéma filmmaking complex in Montreal, who will lead off a panel discussion on the future of Quebec cinema. Other panelists include Daniel Bissonnette, Montreal’s film commissioner.

How would you like to have a team of artists surround you and draw you from every angle? When they’re done, they give you the drawings. Can you say “free portraits?”

Drop by the Mezzanine in the Hall Building on March 14, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., for “360 Degrees of Drawing.”

The Hall Building’s Mezzanine offers a number of good bets, including the Empty Bowls Project on March 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where the ceramics students association hosts its annual fundraiser for Montreal organizations that serve meals to those in need. Your donation gets you a finely crafted bowl to take home, and you get a bowl of warm soup on the spot.

On March 11 at 6 p.m., the Mezzanine space throws its official opening party, including the start of the Art Collective’s Interactive Wall project, where you can do a drawing and put it up on the wall or add to somebody else’s drawing.

Among the artistic highlights is work on display at Art en Majuscule, at 950 Ottawa St. W., where Gillian Wilson presents large drawings of ambiguous characters in absurd situations, Heidi Daehler shows paintings focused on cabaret clowns and Rachel Sheehan presents paintings exploring the theme of America.

The Offendi Collection features popular plush toys stripped of their fur and changed into beautiful fashion items. This work by Tatciana Woollamat goes on display at Art Mur, 5826 St. Hubert St., starting March 18.

For Art Matters co-producer Trevor Kiernander, the key result of the festival is giving students an opportunity to start showing their work and realize there are great opportunities beyond the school environment for their creative talents.

One key event is a panel on March 11, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the VAV Gallery, titled: Is there Life After Art School? How to Survive – and Thrive. A panel including painters Tom Hopkins and Marc Séguin, and top newspaper designer Lucie Lacava give tips on building an art career. The event, co-sponsored by the Alumni Association’s Fine Arts Chapter, features small-group workshops with the speakers from 2 to 3:30 p.m. For more, pick up a program on campus or check out the Art Matters website at: http://artmatters.concordia.ca