Assiniboia Arts Council to host free concert on November 4

ASSINIBOIA - The Assiniboia Arts Council will host a free concert at the Prince of Wales on Thursday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m.

The free concert is being hosted to give back to the community, and say thank you for all residents who have supported their programming over the past 40 years.

Martin Kerr, an excellent musician and singer, will be performing. To ensure everyone’s safety, COVID- 19 Provincial Health Protocol will be followed. The presenting sponsor of the concert is Southland Co-op.

For any businesses that are considering sponsoring the Assiniboia Arts Council, there is an excellent opportunity to have sponsorship dollars matched until November 1. Any business that is interested in supporting arts programming in the community, and having their sponsorship dollars doubled, please contact Alison at 1-306-640-7031.

Information on programming available to be sponsored was sent out in the monthly newsletter.

Although the Mistletoe Art and Craft Sale was postponed until next year, the Assiniboia Arts Council are selling raffle tickets for a Mistletoe Basket. Tickets will be on sale soon at the Shurniak Art Gallery or from AAC members until December 8. This is a major fundraiser for the Assiniboia Arts Council.

There is a unique OSAC “Arts on the Move Exhibition” hanging in the Shurniak Art Gallery from October 1 to 23. Artists Jessica Richter and Waltraude Stehwien will have their art featured in the exhibit “Scissor Cuts/Scherenschnitte”.

Scherenschnitte (scissor cuts) is an art form where silhouettes are cut from one piece of special black paper with scissors or knives with no ‘hangers’- unattached pieces. Scissor cutting has a long history in German folk art; immigrants brought Scherenschnitte to North America in the 17th century.

Reflecting the Canadian artists in Scissor Cuts/ Scherenschnitte, this collection of works ranges from traditional German Scherenschnitte represented by Waltraude Stehwien, a German immigrant, to papercut evolved into sculpture by Jess Richter, second generation born in Canada.

Employing creativity to express a landscape, scene and image with cut paper requires precision in drawing as well as dexterity of cutting. Stehwien prefers scissors as they ‘bite’ the paper; designing her pieces by drawing out her complete design, reworking it on the back of the traditional black paper before making any cuts.

While Stehwien enjoys the challenging restrictions of traditional Scherenschnitte, Richter explores all that paper can do. Richter, preferring the Exacto knife, works more organically, creating pieces for her sculptures as she goes.

The art exhibit will be on display in the Shurniak Art Gallery until Saturday, October 23.