The City of Weyburn’s Permanent Art Collection will be featured in new coffee table books and at the Weyburn Recreation and Culture Centre (WRCC), Rotary Club members heard in a presentation by Arts Council curator Regan Lanning. (See examples from the Permanent Art Collection above)
The arts council is also in a state of transition now, as the Signal Hill Arts Centre was emptied over the past week, and some programs and facilities will now not be available until the WRCC opens in September of 2021.
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The items in the city’s art collection are being catalogued by Weyburn photographer Chris Borshowa, and Lanning featured a few of the art works that have already been done as she took part in a Zoom meeting with the Rotary Club.
“We have over 200 pieces in the collection, and we’ve been adding one or two pieces to the collection every year from artists all over Saskatchewan,” said Lanning, who showed a number of examples by well-known and lesser known local and provincial artists.
Showing a photograph by internationally-known photographer Courtney Milne, she noted that when he passed away, he had instructions that all the photos in his studio were to be donated to Saskatchewan non-profit organizations, and the Weyburn Arts Council received a number of his photos.
One of the first works acquired for the city’s collection was by Cornelius Kievits, father of pottery artist Casey Kievits.
“He was Dutch, and painted much in the style of the Dutch masters in his work,” said Lanning.
Others shown included Art McKay, Michael Lonechild, former WCS art teacher and artist Eltje Degenhart, and other local artists like Joan Linley, Roland and Lois Olson, Gordon Stairmand, Kay Flury, Bev Sobush-Melby, Margaret Mainprize, Pieter van der Breggen and Kathryn Groshong, to just name a few.
Lanning noted that Rotary member Alex Miles donated his personal collection of works by Eltje Degenhart.
The coffee table books will feature photos of the artists and information about them, so people can learn about the art and the artists. There was an effort ongoing to get sponsors for the books, “then COVID happened. The project’s kind of on hold for now, but we’re going to go ahead with the documentation.”
Once the WRCC is finished, the City’s Permanent Art Collection will have a home there, and Lanning is making plans to do a big exhibition to show the collection pieces off.
For future acquisitions for the collection, Lanning noted that the criteria had not been updated since 1974, so she has been tweaking the criteria to make it more diverse, and to include more local artists from a wider range of years.
Meantime, the Signal Hill Arts Centre was sold by the City and all of the arts program equipment, furniture and materials have had to be moved out, with 99 per cent of everything out as of the weekend.
“We’ve been all-hands-on-deck, cleaning out 40 years of treasures from the building, and everything will be moved into storage,” said Lanning, noting that the hope is the WRCC will be finished by around next March, and they can start moving everything in to be ready for opening in September.
She noted the new gallery at the WRCC will be one and a half times as large as the Allie Griffin Art Gallery at the Weyburn Public Library, plus there will be her office, the pottery studio, and three arts education rooms all on the main floor.
The gallery area will also have mobile walls, so she can create smaller art shows within that space also, or even hold small concerts in the area.
One plus in the design is that there will be a walking track up on the second floor, and people can look down into the gallery area, perhaps to be drawn in to see an exhibit.
There will be a collaborative mural project for Weyburn’s Culture Days, with dates being set for Aug. 24-28, from 7-9 p.m. each evening, at the Leisure Centre’s Sun Room, Lanning noted.
The Culture Days will be a virtual event this year, featuring videos of artists doing their work, in addition to the mural project which Lanning is setting up with physical distancing in mind.
The mural project will use a photograph by John Woodward, and people can book a spot on one of the five evenings set aside for the project. To keep a physical distance between everyone to stay safe, only a certain number of spots are available each evening, said Lanning, with four tables to be set up to create parts of the mural. There is no cost to take part in this collaborative project.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
