2009 Campaign

Membership Campaign Events

x> May 8th Reception

x> Jun 12th Reception

x> Jul 10th Reception

x> Sep 11th Reception

x> Oct 9th Reception

x> Oct 17th Hands-On
xxxHamilton Art Party!

Friday, May 8th at the Print Studio

This evening was the start of it all–it was the first pre-Art Crawl reception of our six-month Membership Campaign, and the first evening celebrating internationally-acclaimed Japanese printmaker Yoshiko Shimada's arrival as the Print Studio's artist-in-residence. It was also the first time we had ever seen Spanish and Japanese cuisine combined with such appetising results. Thank-you to Print Studio board member Patti Beckett for that inspired effort!

The Print Studio's mandate is the development of Art, Education and Community in Hamilton. We wanted this first campaign event to focus on Art, and Yoshiko's presentation of her exhibit Bones in Tansu: Family Secrets was the perfect way to demonstrate the power and multi-faceted nature of our art of printmaking. The Spectator's Jeff Mahoney agreed (see review). The exhibit is interactive in the sense that viewers are invited to contribute their own family secrets–an exercise which proved very difficult for most of us!

First-event jitters faded quickly and it was an exciting evening for all. The weather was perfect and the turnout impressive. We were clearly underway in our quest to convince as many people in our community as possible to be a part of Hamilton's art.

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Friday, June 12th at the Print Studio

Our campaign event for June showcased the achievements of many of the students who have benefited from the Print Studio’s education programs. Both Schools-in-the-Studio and Artists-in-the-Schools provide our core schools with access to quality art workshops delivered by professional artists in response to cross-curriculum studies, and help raise art awareness in Hamilton’s youth.

Presenting the results of all their hard work in our gallery not only gives valuable recognition to our students’ efforts, but also provides a great occasion to celebrate the success of our educational outreach.

Richard Florida was not able to grace us with his presence, but thank you to Ward 2 Councilor Bob Bratina for being with us to help celebrate our city's Rising Creative Class. Our reception was enthusiastically attended by many of the dedicated teachers involved in the exhibited projects, including Leah Schwenger, Principal of Dr. J. Edgar Davey School. Also in attendance were Arts Hamilton Board President Eric Nanayakkara, Art in Public Places Coordinator Ken Coit and Barbara Milne of The Pearl Company.

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Friday, July 10th at the Print Studio

This event was particularly interesting for its outreach in two new directions for the Print Studio: to photographers, and to Hamilton's healthcare community.

The Hamilton Camera Club drew on its more than 100 years of history to create Hamilton, Our History and Heritage: Then and Now. It was a fascinating celebration of Hamilton's past and present. As HCC President Todd Murray described it, as Hamilton evolved, photography evolved. Print Studio co-founder Colina Maxwell announced the installation of our new Digital Lab on our second floor. It will be the most technically-advanced digital lab in Canada to have full public access, and it's right here in Hamilton!

Our engagement with the wider Hamilton community was also proudly displayed in an art project between the Print Studio and the Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC) titled Paradox of the Vocation. Community Arts Practitioners collaborated with health care staff, made up of doctors, nurses and support staff, in a creative experience. The project enabled healthcare staff to visually express themselves and enabled artists to engage this community in a collective experience. Both communities worked together to create a public presentation of art work at the JCC and at the Print Studio. The opening reception was well attended by the medical community including Hamilton Health Sciences CEO Murray Martin & his wife.

See who was there – click here for this event's web gallery!
Unless otherwise stated, all photos are ©2009 Cynthia Duff, terranovaimages.com

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Friday, September 11th at the Print Studio

This Pre-Crawl Party was among the first on James Street North to celebrate ReMix Phase II, which took place at multiple Hamilton venues in September and October. ReMix is a multi-year collaborative exchange project between Hamilton and Cuban artists and curators, organised by Red Tree Collective. Hamilton's Delio Delgado was there to introduce his ReMix-oriented exhibit Words, Disguises and Other Things, curated by Hamilton's Ingrid Mayrhofer (in attendance) and Cuba's Yuneikys Villalonga.

Attendance at this event grew once again over the previous, with more than 1,000 visiting the Print Studio over the course of the evening. As proof of growing momentum, our web photo galleries (see link below) keep getting bigger each event! The Cuban influence went well beyond the art–it became the buzz. The mojito was the cocktail of choice and the food theme was clearly Latino. CHCH TV's Donna Skelly energetically emceed our reception, which also featured the launch of our new retail space and the newest Print Studio Calendar.

This event was a very entertaining mix of everything we hope to communicate: Art, Education and Community. As the Cuban's say, fantástico!

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Friday, October 9th at the Print Studio
		This Friday was the SuperCrawl, and our pre-Crawl reception was the biggest, most diverse and most social ever–despite the fact that it rained on and off for most of the evening! In fact, the rain seemed to make art-crawlers linger longer with us longer than usual, giving us more time to spin our magic! The whole SuperCrawl was testament to the we-can-do-anything attitude of the entire James Street North's art scene.

Music was everywhere on the street, and ours came from Johnny Angel and from the irrepressible Dave Hind. No, Dave did not play his Scorpiotron (you may need to do some YouTube research on this), but he did jam for us inside the Print Studio on his 1965 Guild Starfire electric guitar. When he wasn't doing that, he was riding our guests outside on his famous bike sculpture!

This month, Delio Delgado’s ongoing exhibition (see Sep 11th event details) in our Main Gallery was accompanied by Yes I’m Analog in the Members Gallery. This installation of photographs by Luis Mora and Trevor Ydreos celebrated the spontaneity of images captured on traditional film, and many of our guests escaped the rainy evening by seeking out surprises hidden in this quirky collection.

Live print-making, as provided by artists and teachers Becky Katz and Victoria Alstein, seemed to draw a constant crowd. We're proud that both women are key participants in the Print Studio's Arts Education programs in Hamilton's core schools.

The SuperCrawl made everyone feel part of something big, powerful and very human. Something we all want to be a part of.

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Live music was performed onstage by Annie Shaw, Tiny Bill Cody and the Liquormen, and Pumps. The crowd favorite had to be Tiny Bill, who coincidentally happens to be a printmaker and visual artist as well. To hear a sample, click on Tiny Bill's image below. Westside Theatre manager Loren Lieberman kindly invented us our very own cocktail for the evening, curiously named the Printmaker!

Annie Shaw		Tiny Bill Cody (and the Liquormen)		Pumps

Did we succeed? We did achieve our event fundraising goal and those funds will go directly towards our Arts Education programming. We certainly succeeded in having fun! Check out the Spectator's review. Or you could ask anyone who was there:

Click here for this event's web gallery! Tiny Bill (above) goes well with this.
Unless otherwise stated, all photos are ©2009 Cynthia Duff, terranovaimages.com

DJ Chris Briscoe		Later in the evening		Message from the Chair

It was wonderful to see so many people celebrating Hamilton with so much pride–its art, its music and its community. We are all very proud of what the Print Studio and this campaign has accomplished. Robin Barker, Chairperson of our Fund Development Committee said this best–please click on her picture above right.

There's so much more to do, and we need you to be a part of it. So come be a part of Hamilton's art! Please click on the link below.

Designed by: Emily Brown