Saskatchewan Craft Council
Dimensions, the Saskatchewan Craft Council’s biennial, open, juried, touring exhibition, which encourages and rewards excellence in hand crafted work, is on display now until Sept. 4 at the Chapel Gallery in North Battleford.
Every two years the Saskatchewan Craft Council invites all Saskatchewan craftspeople to submit up to two hand-crafted items for Dimensions. Two qualified jurors are tasked with selecting the final pieces, as well as deciding which pieces merit any of the 13 available Fine Craft Awards. In 2015, jurors selected an exhibition of 36 works by 34 craftspeople. A total of 106 artists submitted 180 entries for consideration.
Dimensions has been an undertaking of the SCC for more than 30 years. The original reasons for creating Dimensions are still relevant and can briefly be stated in this way: to promote, acknowledge and reward excellence in fine craft.
The Dimensions exhibition encourages makers to strive for excellence and to push themselves creatively and technically. It has enabled some craftspeople to achieve outside of their production work and try one-of-a-kind pieces. All artists who apply to the jurying process benefit from the knowledge of the jurors in the form of a public critique: the jurors discuss concepts such as function, intent, innovation and presentation. Dimensions has also encouraged collectors and purchasers of fine craft to invest in the craft community. Dimensions has raised the awareness of many communities within and outside of Saskatchewan. The variety of talent and skill in Saskatchewan is summarized in each Dimensions exhibition. These 34 artists represent a large community of makers devoted to their craft.
Dimensions will continue to adapt and grow. Its presence is connected to the vitality of the community and the artisans within. It is one of the few exhibitions that still lets jurors select from actual works, not simply images of works, and it is still one of the few exhibitions in the world that enables makers to converse with the jurors.
The 2015 exhibition was displayed in Saskatoon in the SCC Gallery from Dec. 11, 2015 to Jan. 23, 2016. It will be in North Battleford July 8 to Sept. 4, and will be in Yorkton Sept. 12 to Oct. 28.
Dimensions came into being when Alex Dillabough, mayor of Battleford, lobbied the Government of Saskatchewan for some promotional assistance linking craft and the tourism industry. Exhibitions were organized by the Saskatchewan Department of Industry and Commerce in 1974 and 1975 in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival. The newly formed SCC provided a jury in 1976, and the first Premier’s Prize was awarded in 1977. From those beginnings, until 2009, Dimensions was presented annually. It was opened each year in Battleford at the Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival and was displayed at the festival site, however, in about 2000, that tradition was discontinued. It is now opened elsewhere and is displayed at the Chapel Gallery during the time the Handcraft Festival is on.
In 2011, it became a biennial exhibition and is still the only open, juried and touring exhibition of craft in the province. Two jurors select the pieces for Dimensions and determine the award winners — one juror from Saskatchewan and one juror from outside the province. A public critique session has always been an integral part of the Dimensions formula. All entrants and interested public can meet with the jurors to discuss the work. An overview of the process and thoughts about the works are followed by questions and comments from the audience. This serves to benefit the larger community, providing an understanding of the jury process to everyone. A catalogue is also part of the formula. It encourages and rewards excellence in craft, which is the main focus of Dimensions. It is a promotional device for the participants and the SCC. It is also an educational device because it contains descriptions of the participants as well as the processes they use. It contains jurors’ statements about influences that have shaped the exhibition, and/or how the pieces address the contemporary scene.
June 19, SCC announced the winners of the 13 Fine Craft Awards that accompany the Dimensions Exhibition each year. The winners of those awards are chosen from the artists in the Dimensions exhibition.
Premier’s Prize Award for the Outstanding Entry ($3,000) – Cathryn Miller, “In Winter”
Craft Year 2015 Award ($1,500) – Anita Rocamora, “Baroque Blossoms”
Jane Turnbull Evans Award for Innovation in Craft ($1,500 – Sandra Ledingham, “so he said, ‘does our earth really need more objects?'”
Gale Steck Memorial Award for Excellence in Craft by an Emerging Artist ($1,500) – Louisa Ferguson; “Ship of Fools”
SCC Merit Award ($500) – Judy Haraldson; “Prairie Plaid”
Corrine McKay Merit Award for SCC Members ($500) – Mary Romanuck; “Trophy Hunt”
Award for Excellence in Wood ($300) – Michael Hosaluk; “Inferno”
Award for Excellence in Textiles ($300) – Gwen Klypak; “Red Scarf”
Award for Excellence in Metal ($300) – Grant Irons; “Ivory with a Twist”
Award for Excellence in Quilting ($300) – Anna Hergert; “Prairie Springtime Ritual: The Return of the Blue Heron”
Award for Excellence in Clay ($300 of supplied from Tree Pottery) sponsored by T&T Tree Pottery Supply – Martin Tagseth; “Lidded Jar”
Award for Excellence in Functional and Production Ware ($300) – Deb Vereschagin; “Chevron”
Award for Excellence in Fine Craft ($300) – Mary Lynn Podiluk; “Echo”
This year, the in-province juror is June J. Jacobs. Jacobs has exhibited her fibre work nationally and internationally. Her work has been featured in exhibitions such as Dimensions, Prairie Excellence and the Cheongju International Craft Biennale in South Korea. She is the owner/operator of The Handwave Gallery in Meacham and was the first recipient of the Saskatchewan Craft Marketer of the Year Award in 2011. For more than 30 years, Jacobs has made sustained contributions to the Fine Craft Community as a mentor, educator, organizer and maker.
Tom McFall is the out-of-province juror. McFall has practised and taught industrial design, furniture design and design history and writes, lectures and curates exhibitions on topics of material culture, regional character, folk craft and fine craft. As executive director of the Alberta Craft Council for the past 17 years, he has had a hand in significant expansion of the council and increasing awareness of Alberta’s professional craftspeople. McFall is active in arts advocacy though several local, provincial and national arts boards. He also writes, curates and develops exhibitions on various aspects of Alberta’s culture.
The ongoing success of Dimensions depends upon the support of a number of organizations including the City of Saskatoon, Creative Saskatchewan, Affinity Credit Union and Greystone Managed Investments. The award sponsors also make a substantial contribution to Dimensions, each focusing on a different area of craft creation.
