SURREY — These are busy days for members of Surrey Art Gallery Association (SAGA), which is set to host its annual holiday market and also its AGM.
The association’s Heart to Home market will fill Surrey Arts Centre’s Studio Theatre with fine art and handmade crafts on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 18-19), from noon to 5 p.m. daily at the Bear Creek Park venue.
Market booths will brim with original paintings, steampunk-inspired contraptions, handcrafted jewelry, children’s books, silk scarves, one-of-a-kind cards, ceramic mugs and the like.
Those who attend the event can expect live demos and a festive atmosphere as local artists are given an opportunity “to show more of their work than is possible in our tiny yet teeming gift shop that is open year round,” according to planners of the market.
SAGA members receive 15 per cent off purchases; non-members can sign up onsite.
Surrey Art Gallery Association is a non-profit society “that offers its members the opportunity to participate in and respond to contemporary art, and be part of a community that actively supports the Surrey Art Gallery.”
At the moment, SAGA seeks volunteer board members to help with the association’s activities, which include an annual general meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at the art gallery, from 7 to 9 p.m.
SAGA president Katina Giesbrecht said the association’s current board includes nine people, some of whom have more than 30 years of involvement in the local arts community.
“We also have some newer members, including myself. I’ve been on the board for two years,” said Giesbrecht, a Cloverdale-based artist who paints abstract landscapes and still-lifes.
“I just wanted to get to know other artists in Surrey, and I love the gallery and being part of the contemporary art education they do, and awareness,” Giesbrecht added. “I find it so rewarding to be involved in the local arts community.”
In addition to its annual holiday market, SAGA hosts Thursday Artist Talks at the gallery, quarterly bus tours to other art galleries and studios in Metro Vancouver, a Mad Hatter’s Strawberry Tea & Tour and an Antiques Off the Roadshow event.
The guest speaker at Tuesday’s AGM is art conservator Sarah Spafford-Ricci, with Surrey-based Fraser Spafford Ricci Art & Archival Conservation Inc. Her talk will focus on “the ethics, case studies and the art (and science) of preservation.”
SAGA is on the web at surreyartgalleryassociation.org.
“Proceeds from the Surrey Art Gallery Association’s fundraising activities contribute to the gallery’s exhibitions, publications, programs and projects, including acquiring artworks for the permanent collection and supporting the development of the Gallery’s TechLab and UrbanScreen,” the website notes.
“The (association) believes that contemporary art provides all people with an opportunity to reflect upon our culture, our society, and the issues and ideas of our time. As such, it is important that the residents of our young, growing city have access to our visual cultural heritage.”
The next Thursday Artist Talk hosted by SAGA features artist/instructor Frank Townsley, who will offer “A Handle on Perspective” on Dec. 7, starting at 7:30 p.m.
“Starting with basic one-point perspective, Frank will walk the audience through street scenes, moving onto individual structures such as barns that would be constructed in two-point perspective,” according to a post on the SAGA website.
“He will also talk about how to paint or draw reflections, shadows and ellipses. Value and colour gradients are other concepts he’ll go over, such as making a shoreline or an aspen tree forest disappear into the fog. Last but not least, he’ll cover scale so you know how to depict waves approaching a beach or trees on hillsides at varying distances.”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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