Episode 17 - Arts Everywhere - “Don’t forget the joy” with Tia Furstenberg

Tia Furstenberg is a South African transplant making waves in the Canadian prairies with her art studio and her commitment to nurturing local talent in Prince Albert, Tia shares  her initial steps into the world of art to the bold venture of Lemon Yellow Art Studio, navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship without a formal business education.

Whether it is a happenstance trip to Greece  to assist with an art exhibition, or taking on the multifaceted challenges at the Mann Art Gallery, these moments aren't just career milestones; they're the building blocks of Tia's philosophy on the interconnectedness of art and community—a philosophy that's particularly vibrant in Prince Albert's thriving artistic landscape.

 Tia she shares the joy of teaching art, witnessing the raw creativity of preschoolers and guiding adult learners through self-critique. Each class at Lemon Yellow Art Studio is not just an opportunity to learn a new technique but a chance to become part of the art community.

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://lemonyellowartstudio.com
https://www.allysonglenn.com
https://artmur.com
https://www.facebook.com/LobstickTravel/
https://www.leahdorion.ca
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jesse-campbell-47101b62
https://www.facebook.com/broadwaynorththeatrecompany/
https://www.earc.ca

Thank you to SaskCulture, SKArts, and Sask Lotteries for your generous support.

Visit our website: https://www.saskartsalliance.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saskartsalliance/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skartsalliance
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saskartsalliance/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@saskatchewanartsalliance57

STARTING SEASON 2, THEME MUSIC PROVIDED BY:
Patrick Moon Bird: https://linktr.ee/PatrickMoonBird
https://www.facebook.com/PatrickMoonBirdMusic/

Kevin Power: http://www.kevinpower.net/ The Saskscapes Podcast: https://saskscapes.buzzsprout.com/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Your collective voice for the arts across Saskatchewan. This is Arts Everywhere. The Saskatchewan Arts Alliance podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:26

Okay, I've got some quotes to share with you. Here's one Optimist and a dreamer, as most artists are, and another Release expectations. It will be what it will be. How about this one? God bless nonprofits, but sometimes you want to turn a profit and sometimes a for-profit business makes sense. Okay, one more you can't forget the joy. So these aren't quotes from great philosophers of yesteryear, or actually, maybe this guest is a great philosopher.

Speaker 2: 1:01

There are so many quotable quotes that come up in this episode of Arts, everywhere, and they all speak to this guest's lived experience, the guest Tia Furstenberg, and Tia's journey from South Africa to Canada, to the influence of her mother, to her academic studies, to her impressive body of work as an artist, to her vast administrative experience, to her teaching, to her experience as a business owner, to her. Well, I think I made a point. Tia's story once again reminds me of just how resilient and adaptable we are in the arts. Rarely will we wear one hat in this business, and Tia wears many. Among those many hats is that of the Digital Communications Collaborator for the Saskatchewan Arts Alliance. So that's the connection between Tia and your host, m Ironstar, but this really is the first chance the two have had to sit down and talk about Tia's lived experience.

Speaker 2: 2:01

I, too, have communicated with Tia, so it was great to hear her story. So sit back and enjoy the conversation and the many quotable quotes, and if there's one you should take away with you, it is this one. Don't forget the joy.

Speaker 3: 2:35

Yeah, super pumped to be in Prince Albert at your art studio at Lemon Yellow Art Studio. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 4: 2:42

I'm so happy you could make the drive up here in all this cold too.

Speaker 3: 2:46

Oh yeah, for the people listening out there, depending on, I think this will get posted pretty soon, but it's one of those minus 30 days. Oh yeah, it's quite the adventure. Going anywhere in Saskatchewan in January, yes, but yeah. So, Tia, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? And just excited to have this chat.

Speaker 4: 3:10

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, so my full name's Tia Furstenberg and I'm a visual artist here in Prince Albert, saskatchewan. I'm also a small business owner and I am the digital communications collaborator for the Arts Alliance. So, yeah, just happy to be here. Yeah, we're sitting in my studio, which opened last January January 2022. So we've been operating now for two years, which is kind of crazy. Time flies when you're having fun, right? And yeah, I never thought I would be a, you know, small business owner, but I actually own this with a really good friend of mine, kayana Wurz, who's also a visual artist. She's an educator in the school division and a wonderful musician as well. She writes her own music. So we connected just in 2021 actually.

Speaker 4: 4:11

So this project, I guess, is what I'm still calling it a little, was kind of born in 2021, and she approached me and was doing some work for the Art Center and she's teaching classes, and so she, I taught a few classes there too, and that's how we kind of connected again. And so she asked me like, hey, would you ever be interested in opening an art studio and teaching classes? And I was like, yes, I just said yes, I was to make art and teach art full time is like a dream, right? So I so, yeah, we just kept talking and realized we both had a very similar vision for what we wanted in in PA. You know, there's not a whole lot of opportunity here for for making art or like, yeah, getting into art, and so we wanted to be that space and it kind of blossomed from there. So, yeah, we I had I never went to business school, so it was kind of baptism by fire and I did a lot of research and we applied for some business loans, which were really great, like I don't know if you've heard of Futurepreneur and there's also the Business Development Bank of Canada, so they both have loans for, like, young entrepreneurs and and startups.

Speaker 4: 5:43

So we applied for those way to make a business plan and, you know, do a SWOT analysis and all the stuff that I'd never done before and was really really helpful in kind of getting a base plan down and and we received that funding, which was great, so we were able to kind of open up our space and buy a lot of the supplies and studio equipment that we needed, and yeah, and then we we renovated a little bit, slapped some paint on the walls and had like a soft opening in 2021, december 2021. So, yeah, it's been, it's been great.

Speaker 3: 6:22

No congratulations. The space is really wonderful. I think we should put some photos up, for people so they can, when they're we're talking about it, they can come and see kind of what we're doing.

Speaker 4: 6:31

Yeah no, we're sitting in a really lots of big windows and natural light and it's white walls with lots of art.

Speaker 3: 6:40

Art up. So how has your first year been? What's the reception been like, like how, how was it going?

Speaker 4: 6:47

It's going really well. Like I am kind of surprised at kind of the love that we've received and the folks in town. You know, I have people in lots of different experience and art taking classes. So those who never thought they'd take an art class coming and really enjoying themselves and coming back and taking more. And then, you know, I have the really little ones who this is kind of their first introduction into art. That is really special to be a part of and to watch them just create something amazing and really enjoy it.

Speaker 4: 7:23

So the yeah, and I mean we're still growing.

Speaker 4: 7:26

You know it takes quite a while, but it's something I wasn't quite prepared for. That you know, you I'm a bit of an optimist and a dreamer, as I think most, most artists are right, and so to kind of just kind of go with the ebbs and the flows and release kind of some expectations, you know, and just realize it'll be what it'll be, and things you know are are progressing, maybe not as quickly as I thought, but it's to be expected and I've learned so much along the way. So so yeah, it's, it's been, yeah, it's been really great and we're, we're doing better. With every year that kind of passes I think it's typically five years before you really start to see a profit in a new business, right? So we're headed now into year three, so we're we're doing really well where the business is paying for itself. It's you know, it's um, yeah, it's very much a passion project, you know, and so we're sticking it out until until we, you know, until it's we're not able to, or you know, but I'm hoping we don't get there.

Speaker 3: 8:36

So yeah, I think it's really interesting yourself and another really good friend and colleague of my of mine, crystal Gowatsky, who did an earlier episode if you want to look back at it, maybe we'll put a link into that too but people who are now opening for profit studios and kind of going that more business route rather than pursuing you know a nonprofit art studio or the organization or that sort of thing.

Speaker 3: 9:07

And I find it really interesting to think about and talk about, because I spent, you know, 10 years of my life kind of going down the nonprofit organization space and root and at that I think when we were first getting going with our, with our studio, it almost didn't cross our minds. So I think that that's a kind of maybe like an interesting, like shift over time potentially to think about like what's most viable, well, how can we make this work? And yeah, so I think I think it's great for folks to be taking a different path.

Speaker 3: 9:42

You know I think there's room for everything, of course. Oh yeah, but yeah it's. It's great to see arts businesses and studios thriving Like, yeah, it's really exciting.

Speaker 4: 9:53

Yeah, no, thank you. I yeah, and that was something that kind of crossed our minds was do we want this to be a for profit or nonprofit? And I think at the end of the day, both of us had worked in nonprofits and God bless nonprofits.

Speaker 4: 10:08

But, yeah, but it's, it's you know, we wanted to be able to support ourselves financially a lot quicker and just yeah, I think the business model that we ended up with and just you know, made more sense to be a for profit and and so, yeah, I think it's like you said, there's room for every everyone, so this is just what we found works for us.

Speaker 3: 10:36

So how, how did you get started in art? Like, where did you, where did you grow up? How, what's your kind of, what's your backstory?

Speaker 4: 10:42

Yes, yeah I. How far do we want to go back?

Speaker 4: 10:46

here, I, my family, actually immigrated from South Africa in 2005. So I was born there and it was about seven years old when we came over here, and so I, my family, just had connections in Prince Albert specifically. So I always get asked why did you come to Prince Albert? All places in Canada and I'm so happy we did. You know, now, looking back, I can't imagine a better home and community to be a part of. I love it here and, yeah, and I also spent some time in Saskatoon.

Speaker 4: 11:22

So, yeah, I grew up in PA and then in Saskatoon, I got, went to the U of S and I got my undergrad, my BFA, which was the most amazing experience. You know, I, you know, I, I, I he and ha about you know, whether an art degree is necessary. You know, and I think that it. You know I had a really supportive family, like my parents were like, yes, go get an art degree, which I know is not always the case and and so I was very fortunate to be able to go and do that. And you know, through that experience, so many doors were open to me and connections made and I think I, you know, going going into that I didn't like going to post secondary. I knew that I wanted to do post secondary but I wasn't sure exactly what. And so it was like my first art class with Alice and Glenn, actually at the U of U of S, and it was a painting class and I remember that first day, you know, getting right into it and just thinking, wow, this is, this is what I want to do, this is what I know I need to be doing. And so that's when I knew I wanted to get a BFA and and so, yeah, I never really did any art kind of going up, like I was never in art classes. Yeah, exactly, it was kind of just that. Yeah, university experience that propelled me into the arts a bit and, like, I did a lot of dance growing up, so there was just different outlets, right, so not visual art, but performing art and being in theater and school, and I really enjoyed that. And so, yeah, it's kind of a whirlwind, but you know, everything happens for a reason.

Speaker 4: 13:11

So I, yeah, and I was really fortunate during my undergrad to to work for Alice and Glenn as well. She's, yeah, professor, and she has her own studio practice. She's a painter predominantly, but I know she's kind of ventured into media and animation and she partnered with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, I believe, to like create this visual kind of representation of a couple of pieces. And so, yeah, really quite she's a wonderful, wonderful artist and so I kind of she kind of tutored me a bit and I got to be her studio assistant and do a lot of like paint mixing and stretching canvases and and for like three years and that was like my job through university, which was like an education in itself right. So I really really enjoyed that.

Speaker 4: 14:05

And then in my last year she had the opportunity to go to well, no, actually she had done a residency in Tinos in Greece, and so through that residency she created this body of work later at her studio. And then she had to go. She went back to presented and there was an exhibition in Athens and then also on Tinos. And so since I had helped her create a lot of that work you know just all the prep work and things she asked if I would be interested in going with her to Greece and and participating in the other receptions and eventually helping take down the show and bring it back here to Canada. And of course I said yes, I wasn't going to pass up that opportunity. So I had my first experience writing a grant with her actually a university grant and we were fortunate to receive the funding, so it allowed me to go there free. You know, all expenses kind of paid and I just had to bring my own pocket money for treats and things.

Speaker 4: 15:12

But yeah, it was like one of the most memorable and impactful experiences of my university education and I think I'm still like very close to Allison and you know we connect every now and then and she, she came and she actually was a curator for the Winter Festival here in PA at the Manarch Gallery, which is this annual festival where a lot of Saskatchewan artists you can submit like one piece and then we get a guest curator in to kind of curate the space and and yeah, so that's pretty cool. To kind of kind of, yeah, see those connections and and yeah. So I feel like I just went down a really big rabbit hole or just I guess that's what the user podcast are all about. All about hey, so, so, yeah, that I guess that kind of sums up my my start in the arts and I graduated in 2020. And so that was just I'd finished all my classes before that pandemic, yeah, and I had my exhibition and everything the summer prior, so I was one of the very fortunate the under the wire exactly.

Speaker 4: 16:27

Yeah, so it, yeah, I was very, very grateful and so I had, just when I was done my undergrad, I was like, okay, I think I need to come home for a bit and figure out, kind of what my next steps are, if I wanted to go to grad school or you know that sort of thing and so move back in with mom and, and then I got a position at the man Art Gallery for a registrar and a preparator. So Lana Wilson hired me she was the acting director, curator at the time and and I spent three years there and yeah, it was kind of getting to see the inner workings of the gallery non-profit or public art gallery yeah, and that was also like amazing and the staff are incredible and you know man Art Gallery is the northernmost public art gallery in Saskatchewan, if you didn't know that.

Speaker 4: 17:24

Yeah, and so, yeah, the work that is being shown and and the residencies there, so, so important for the community here and so, yeah, they do phenomenal work and I was very fortunate to be a part of all that and and I like my position kind of transitioned a little bit like I was the registrar, preparator, but like any non-for-profit you wear a lot of hats right and, and so I started to kind of take over some of the website and the social media and the newsletter and communications and things and so that, um, yeah, so I started to build my portfolio a bit with that and I realized I really enjoyed this type of work too and so kind of getting to explore those sort of different avenues, figuring out what, what I really enjoyed and and that's kind of what led me to, yeah, the arts alliance, right, um, and so I had this is right around the time where we were opening the studio and I could no longer work like super full time, uh, just so that I could spend more time here, right, and so I started to just work part time for the gallery and then I also yeah, you lovely folks hired me and I yeah, it's been over a year now, hey yeah, I think it was like mid-october.

Speaker 3: 18:44

Yeah, 2022, yeah 2022.

Speaker 4: 18:47

So yeah, which has also been lots of fun.

Speaker 3: 18:50

No, it's been fantastic, it's like kind of fun. Now people can kind of hear, like hear and hear the voice behind our, our accounts yes, all the graphics.

Speaker 3: 19:00

And no, we've been thrilled like it's it's nice, it's so, it's such a privilege to be able to have someone, um as talented and responsive and like great behind our organization in that capacity. I think, um, you know, it's like such a blessing to have a consistent voice. And it's not it's. I spent 10 years working in non-profit communications and doing a lot of summer stuff and also having, like you know, it was always like, uh, you're the community engagement coordinator, but you're also going to do this and it's not always the easiest thing to keep up with and do well and do consistently like it's. You know, some, I think a lot of people maybe think about social media. Oh, you know, that's going to be a part of something, but it it requires some dedication for sure, and we're really, we're really thrilled to have you handling that part of things for us.

Speaker 4: 19:54

So thank you, of course.

Speaker 3: 19:56

Yes, anytime I'm happy to be here, yeah, so um, yeah, I was just going back to thinking about your when you're talking about going to Greece, like what an amazing opportunity to have to do. As a young person. I I didn't really particularly get to do any um traveling when I was doing my undergrad, um, you know, with university, but in, I think, the last year I was there and then kind of the years after a year or two after I graduated, I had the opportunity to attend some really amazing printmaking conferences. My friend and I went to one in Toronto called uh, I'm not gonna remember the name of it now, of course, um, but it was run kind of through open studio. Oh, it was called printopolis oh fun yeah

Speaker 3: 20:37

which. So that was really, that was really neat and that was really like an eye opener and to see, like you know, we got to visit open studio in Toronto and like see what some of the you know a long-standing printmaking studio in a larger center kind of looked like and how it felt and right, um, I think you know, just having some of those opportunities to get out of your zone, get out of your place, um, especially like when you're kind of still like thinking about what you want to do, like what a treat.

Speaker 4: 21:04

Yes, right, yeah no, such a blessing, um, yeah, and I think about that experience so often.

Speaker 4: 21:12

You know it's it's definitely, I think, a core memory at this point and and um, um, yeah, and like I, so that was like one experience that's going to Greece.

Speaker 4: 21:22

There was also another time where, um, the faculty at the U of S could pick a few of their more senior BFA students to apply for the art mur, painting and sculpture exhibition in Montreal. So that's also an annual um exhibition and it's four students across the the country to kind of apply and usually at the professors kind of put your name forward and then you send in, you know, kind of a few, uh few pieces of your work and then you get adjudicated and whether or not and you find out later whether or not you got accepted and so I was one of two other students that got nominated and we were all accepted to go present at this kind of national exhibition in Montreal. So that was kind of my very first experience showcasing my work outside of Saskatchewan and it was uh, yeah, so I got accepted and I had to like pack up my paintings and you know mail them out.

Speaker 4: 22:29

And that's like, yeah, also kind of a different, different experience, and especially when your work is like three by five feet paintings and it's a little trickier. But, um, yeah, so I got to do that. And then there was an opening reception there and it was during the summertime and I'm usually working, you know, full time. And so I was at the museums in PA working and there was I had like it's just like it's amazing, the community here, like somebody walked in um that my mom was good friends with and she had seen that I got accepted to present, you know, to showcase in Montreal, and she was like, oh, are you going to the reception? I was like, no, I can't like one. I'm a student, I don't have the money to buy a plane ticket right now and go there for a day or two. And and, um, yeah, and so she was like, well, you know what? There's funding for that sort of thing? Um, contact Judy at the art center and you know she'll kind of connect you with the arts board in PA. And I was like, okay, so I shot Judy an email. She's like yeah, there's a Helen Ferris Memorial Trust Fund grant that is specifically for youth in the city and it's the PA arts board that offers it, and so she's like you should apply, definitely. It's up to $500 that you could get funded and you just need to fill out the application and and then we'll get back to you in like a couple weeks here. And I said okay. So I, yeah, I filled out the application, I sent it in, and, and then within a week or two, I was approved. And so I was just, yeah, amazed and it was like, wow, this is could be a reality. I could actually go and, um, participate in the in the reception and, and so I got that funding.

Speaker 4: 24:16

And then I also had my mom's friends, they know the uh travel. There's a travel. There's a travel agent in town, michael lip oh, my gosh, I'm going to forget his name now. Shoot, oh, I have to think. But lobster travel I'm just going to say lobster travel. Give them a shout out here.

Speaker 4: 24:37

They actually like connected me with lobster travel and kind of explain the situation, and then they actually donated plane tickets for me to go. Like just yeah, just incredible the amount of yeah, so of support and that I really had behind me going, and so, with all that within, this is in within like three weeks I went from not being able to go to like having everything funded. You know, having, yeah, the the time off. You know, my work kind of gave me the time off to go and experience the reception, and the other two students also were able to go and take part in that too. So we all kind of met up and and tour yeah, like it was really phenomenal. And and yeah, I got to spend some time in Montreal, which I'd never done before and what an amazing city like.

Speaker 3: 25:31

I've never been there in the summer. Yeah, that's like a goal that I want to go, like I've been like in weird times, like I've been like in November and February or something like so, and I hear it's like a total different story in the summer.

Speaker 4: 25:42

Oh, yeah, it's just so incredibly vibrant and you can like the arts are like palpable there. You know, you can just really feel, yeah, there's something in the atmosphere. I can say that so yeah, and like to tour the, the big fine art gallery there, and yeah, it was, there's so many florists I don't even think I got through everything. You know, you spent a whole day there, but it's like impossible to see everything and and so I'd love to go back and and yeah, see it again, but yeah, so that kind of like support, like at a community level, at a municipal level, is so crucial.

Speaker 3: 26:22

It reminds me I was going through like some really like an uptote of like old stuff recently I had got. I'd been stored in a friend shed for like 10 years. Shout out to my friend who kept that for me.

Speaker 3: 26:33

Yeah, but one of the things that I found was from when I was I think I was going from junior high school to high school, so I would have been that summer between grade eight and nine and the Weyburn Arts Council at the time gave me some support to take like a summer art program at Red Deer College and it was funny because I did like a little like report for them after and I had like a photo album because I actually took photos and stuff and so I I hadn't, I didn't even know, I had even remembered that I had done this little like report and photo thing and at the end of it I had written you know like I think this experience has made me realize that I want to go to art school and like all this stuff.

Speaker 3: 27:11

I was like holy, wow, it was pretty wild to look back and see like little teenage me like being like, oh right, so it's just like you know when you can, when, when an art, you know a community arts council or something municipally through your city or whatever can like get behind young people like that. That's so great.

Speaker 4: 27:29

Invaluable, invaluable, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 27:31

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 27:31

Yeah, like that, yeah, set the foundation for a lot of yeah, just my experience in the arts, arts in general, and and, yeah, propelled me, I think, even further, quicker. So, yeah, yeah, no, I'm very, very grateful. And now I actually sit on the PA Arts Board as the treasurer and now looking at applicants you know, applying for the same grant or fund that I did and seeing their kind of dreams realized, or yeah, it's pretty, pretty full circle and awesome.

Speaker 3: 28:07

So yeah, really good, yeah. So maybe I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more about kind of the art community here and like what it's like maybe being an artist in. I know probably people maybe who live in PA, I don't know. Do you consider this northern Saskatchewan or is it like yeah, yeah, no, yes, this is definitely. Yeah.

Speaker 4: 28:26

We are. Prince Albert is called the gateway to the north. Actually, and and I am, yeah, the arts community here is a lot bigger, I think, than people realize. There is so much overlap and and chance for collaboration and just getting together with like-minded people and artists and and I think there's like a few organizations in town that really, I think, help with that, and that includes the Menard Gallery. Like they do a lot of community focused work and bringing in, like, for instance, leah Dory and you probably know she is one of, yeah, one of the best people you'll ever meet, to be honest, and she's done quite a few residencies at the man and and outdoor public art installations and just getting the community even you know people who aren't artists out there and seeing, seeing work and experiencing it and asking questions and really engaging, yeah, so that's that's quite incredible. And then Jesse Campbell here. Have you met, jesse, before? I have.

Speaker 3: 29:45

Yeah, okay, we met at like a workshop that we we were both attending in Saskatoon.

Speaker 4: 29:50

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 29:51

And yeah, really I would. I probably should connect with her again.

Speaker 4: 29:56

Yes, she would be a great person to interview for her.

Speaker 4: 29:59

Yes, noted, yes, so she, yeah, kind of spearheaded quite a few projects as well, funded through SK Arts, to get artists in the city to connect with not only like school age children, but adults as well, and get them introduced to different forms of art making whether it was writing, poetry or beating or creating process based art and just like she's a great connector of people, I think, and she brings people together and and and she's a lovely artist herself too, like she. If she hears me say this, she'll be like, no, I don't, I am. Yeah, she's maybe doesn't necessarily think of herself as an artist first, but she's, yeah, quite, quite lovely and and where am I going with this? My brain is yeah, so she's done that. She's also in the process of, I think, putting together a publication for a current exhibition at the man. So she used to be the director curator there, right, and, and then she started her family, so she's been busy with that and and.

Speaker 4: 31:17

But yeah, she's a person that I think of when I think of community in Prince Albert, for sure, and yeah, and then there's a ton of like this is visual art, but there's a ton of like theater groups and improv groups just in the city that, yeah, really like Jamstreet is a performance space just downtown and they have like open mic nights and they have improv nights for kids and adults and they put on workshops, writers workshops and things like that.

Speaker 4: 31:50

That really kind of, yeah, bring, bring that kind of group of people together and and I've been a few times now and you just kind of discover new artists that you wouldn't have like local talent as well. And I think it's a great space for kids specifically as well to kind of explore that kind of part of them and and, yeah, to have like a safe space to just be yourself, when a lot of times school isn't maybe a safe space, or you know like just to, yeah, to be with folks who are inclusive and and want you to, to succeed and learn and write, so, so yeah. And then there's also oh, I think I was a part of the past couple of years is Broadway North, which there's a theater, a youth theater company and then also just an adult theater company and I helped. So the youth company usually puts on one musical, usually at the end of the year when the school starts and everything, and rehearsals are on Saturday and basically kids apply to be part of the program and then we go through a bit of like an audition process where they dance and they sing and they act, and then we cast the show when this year we did Little Mermaid, which yeah.

Speaker 4: 33:09

And which was a ton of fun, and so I helped with a lot of the choreography and I was assistant choreographer. So that was a really great experience. And to like just see a show like that come together and like there was, I think, a cast of 80 kids, like it was a big show, yeah, and to watch all of them kind of come together and create this magnificent, magnificent thing and to have the community come out and support it, you know, and to they, usually all the schools will come and watch the show during the week, the week that it's running and we'll have some matinees and things. So that is another like fantastic example of just the arts driving arts in the city. And then there's also the adult theater company, which usually the show is in the summertime and I was a part of.

Speaker 4: 34:00

Actually a couple of summers ago we did Rock of Ages and yeah, and I had a little part in that and it was fun to just be able to, yeah, dance and sing and be together and we, you know that's also meeting new people and, yeah, just extending your, your friend group and, yeah, it's. The arts are so powerful and I think that's the thing I love the most about them is just the incredible power they have to bring people together and to kind of create, yeah, to be able to create something like with with other people, and to to have pride in that and to, yeah, you just form deeper relationships with people. Right, there's nothing that quite bonds you like doing a show together.

Speaker 4: 34:52

Or my mom and I. We also actually created an exhibition together, like the years kind of blend.

Speaker 1: 35:01

Together.

Speaker 4: 35:01

I think that was 2022, march of 2022. Yeah, we put up in a show at one of the galleries in town and it was kind of collaborative, and so that was really special to be able to do that with my mom, who hadn't kind of put her art aside for quite a while, like raising me and my sisters, and so I kind of was like you know what we should do? This? You need to start creating again Like you.

Speaker 4: 35:28

She's one of the reasons I also, you know, became an artist. Like she's quite the most fantastic person in my opinion, maybe a little biased, but yeah, and to see her and she was just like so and, at the end of it, so appreciative of just, yeah, being able to kind of do that again, and for me to kind of pull her out and be like, hey, yes, you can do this, like I believe in you and she's done that for me countless of times, right, so it's special to be able to, yeah, to do that, and so, yeah, I think, yeah, if I, it's rare that you kind of sit down and think about all the things that have kind of happened and that you've experienced well, specifically arts related, right, so this is really nice. So thank you. I'm just kind of just sitting here very fondly in my, in my memories, but yeah, so it sounds like an amazing community, mm.

Speaker 4: 36:27

Hmm, like yes, and we like we have like the Rawlinson Center for the arts, right, they have shows all the time like live performance, and so like when people say there's nothing to do in town, like that's a lie.

Speaker 4: 36:46

I can also think of another thing. You could come and do some art, right, but no, there's like so many opportunities here to be an artist and to try something new, you know, and really kind of get out your comfort zone and, and that's why and everyone is so welcoming and kind and you know, I think a lot of the time our egos kind of get the best of us and we don't want to try something because we know we're going to. You know we think we're going to be bad at it right from the start. But I'm so such an advocate for the creative process and just enjoying the actual thing and not getting too caught up with the end product or what it's going to look like or how it's going to sound like the. What's most important is that you are enjoying yourself, that you are just finding, yeah, pleasure in just creating, in in whether or not it's pretty, yeah, you know, I don't think that matters.

Speaker 3: 37:49

Yeah, I'm, I'm glad. It's always nice to hear someone else say that, and it's nice to also hear, like I think, somebody who's also been through art school say that. Because I think it's important to remember that, no matter kind of where you are or what you enjoy about art, ultimately I think that's the thing that mostly draws anybody who practices art, in whatever capacity, to it. Is that joy? Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 4: 38:24

Can't forget the joy. Can't forget the joy. Ah, yes, no, I agree, I agree, and that's something I tell my students all the time, and even people who come in just for a paint night or something, that you know, we're leaving our ego at the door and we're just going to release expectations and enjoy being here this evening and kind of, you know, just be in your own world and kind of forget what's outside the door for a bit. You know, I think we all, yeah, art is a great tool for that sometimes. So, yeah, and I love like the studio, because I'm creating like every day. You know whether it's not necessarily something I would be doing in my own practice, but it's like exercise. My mom calls it exercises in creativity really.

Speaker 4: 39:16

You know, yeah, just making something every day it doesn't matter what it is and getting that little dose, and that will, in turn, impact your practice. You know at home or you know whatever you're doing there, so I'm eternally grateful for that. You know, that's something that I didn't really think of when I opened the space right, yeah, that's.

Speaker 3: 39:39

I love that mindset yeah. I think that's something I'm going to take with me. Oh good, yeah, that's cool yeah.

Speaker 4: 39:46

Yeah, I know it's helped me a lot too, because I find that I sometimes don't have as much time to do my own art practice and so I just have to remind myself, hey, like I am still making art and this is great, and this is going to lend itself eventually in whatever I'm going to be making in the future. So it's yeah, it's all beneficial, yeah.

Speaker 3: 40:13

I'm interested in talking about teaching a little bit. Oh yeah, that's something. When I was, you know, we were really kind of involved in our studio. We did a lot of teaching of printmaking and different things and I the actual teaching itself, that part, whether it was adults or kids or anything like I really loved that and so, yeah, I was wondering maybe, just if you could talk a little bit about your experience in teaching art to a variety of people.

Speaker 4: 40:40

Yeah, no, absolutely I love being a teacher. I think if I had to do schooling over again, I probably would go be a teacher, but I don't think I'm going to. My partner is a teacher and I have a big respect for teachers. They do so much in our education system. Yes, so cheers to you. And yeah, so I think internally I've always kind of been a teacher.

Speaker 4: 41:14

Like my mom would tell me stories of when I was in preschool and I would be, it'd be story time and it would be Tia giving story time to all the other little preschoolers. I'd be sitting there with the picture book and I wouldn't know how to read, but I'd be looking at the pictures, I'd be telling my own story. You know like and I mean, I guess I'm not teaching there, but I've just like always loved presenting and engaging people. And so I yeah, I know that's what kind of how Kayana and I connected was through the Art Center and me offering a program like a watercolor program. It was actually Zoom, this was during pandemic and like, yeah, so, and she sat in on one of my classes and then later she was like, hey, you're kind of good at this. Like, yeah, we should talk more.

Speaker 4: 42:00

And so I, yeah, I love teaching like kind of all different age groups. You know, I think my very favorite is probably the little ones that are like two to four years old like, or no, two to six, I would say, like that preschool and up to grade two, like we have some classes here called budding artists, which is for grade ones and twos, and they are just the most magical little beings, like. They just are so game for anything and wow at every little thing that you, you know, say and do, and and they just love our class and getting a chance to, you know, draw and paint and and so that is really really special to be kind of a part of that and offer them that experience. You know, it's really invaluable and I've had, you know, returning students again and again because they just they love it so much, and so I love that age group.

Speaker 4: 42:58

And then I also I have a little tiny artist class which is for parents and little ones to come, so they're like between two and four years old and so, yeah, and like they, yeah, they're really cute. Sometimes they're not even drawing on the paper, though, they'll be like on the table or under the table or just really love playing with the pom poms or you know they, but it's all like sensory and it's all. Yeah, they, they get the process, they understand that and so, yeah, to kind of compare those with the adults, cause I think the adults sometimes just get so much in their head, you know teens and adults, and so to see the little ones that are, just they don't care, they don't care what it looks like, kind of, at the end they're just really enjoying themselves, they.

Speaker 4: 43:44

I think we could all learn a little bit from from that, you know. So so yeah, and so I offer. Then that's the youngest, and then we have classes for eight to 13 year olds drawing and painting and some art explorations, which is a little bit of everything, and some printmaking as well, and so that's also an interesting age group to to teach, cause they're just sort of becoming aware of themselves, right, and they're, and they have opinions and they don't like a project, they will tell you.

Speaker 4: 44:19

And yeah, they're just a different, yeah, a different set, for sure, but they I also love them. I also love like seeing them kind of grow as artists and just, yeah, be able to explore like different things and the ideas that they come up with is just incredible. And the imagination and creativity, you know, is just like, yeah, I'm learning as much from them as they are from me, you know, and I know that's such easy saying, but it's true, yeah, so, so, yeah, that's yeah, that's really great. And then the adults I have a couple of weekly adult classes, but mostly we do drop-ins for them, so it'll be like a paint night or a printmaking or you know, and I tried to.

Speaker 4: 45:05

Yeah, it's interesting to figure out what people are interested in and what they want to be learning and doing. And I think that's kind of the business side of it that kind of comes into play in the studio is I kind of have to think, okay, I want to offer this, but is this going to bring people in? Is this going to make any money, you know, and kind of having to walk that line a bit and think of your students as consumers, and you know you kind of have to right. And so I one of my favorite ways to kind of figure out if somebody will like it is I do polls, like on Instagram, and so I'll have you know would you rather do this project or this project? Or if there's something you want and that's something that is so fantastic, like with social media, as you get that direct line between you and your you know consumer or your student, you know, and so they can actually tell you, oh, I'd rather do a line art class as opposed to a painting class or you know, and so getting that is so valuable and free.

Speaker 4: 46:14

Really, you know, I don't have to pay for that or put out surveys or, you know any of that sort of thing. So there's been a lot of learning that way. And I also love to go on Etsy. Actually, like I will just look up things and see what people are buying. You know what kind of art they're buying and if well, maybe they can make this themselves, you know, and who wouldn't want to do that too? So it's, yeah, it's been a interesting, it's an interesting process, so, and I do also have like a ton of like private bookings and things too, like that, I think, is quite popular people coming for like team building classes and birthday parties and things like that.

Speaker 4: 47:01

So, yeah, there's definitely there's so many different avenues and ways that the studio can go, you know, and so I'm always open to kind of hearing what folks want and what their what the need is. You know how we can kind of fill that. So yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely Fun work, fun work. Yeah, that's cool.

Speaker 3: 47:26

No, for sure. Yeah, is there like anything else that you want to add or talk about, or anything that we didn't touch on, or?

Speaker 4: 47:37

Oh, I really just want to thank you for having me and for making the trip out here. I know you have a few other meetings here too, but it's really valuable to kind of sit down with you. We don't get to do this too often, right? So it's, yeah, it's been a real pleasure and Likewise, yes, so.

Speaker 3: 47:56

No, looking forward to going to the man as we talked about I'm gonna. That's my next stop this afternoon. And do have, you know, be there for a while and have advocacy meeting and yeah, but it's, yeah, it's. I think when I was coming in I had said it had been pre-pandemic that I had been to Prince Albert. So, hopefully it's not that long in the future, especially now that we're connected.

Speaker 3: 48:22

And, yeah, it's so nice to have someone connected to the Arts Alliance in PA doing work, being involved in the community. It's nice to have. You know, I think that's one of the really cool things that did emerge from the pandemic is that people can be in different places, working in different places, doing different things, and we're lucky to have had that situation developed for us. So thanks for chatting with me, guys. Thank you Cool.

Speaker 1: 48:51

The next episode of Arts Everywhere is coming soon, so keep checking the Saskatchewan Arts Alliance website and their social media pages for more information and if you're listening to the podcast through your favorite podcasting app, don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss a single episode. The Arts Everywhere theme music is composed by Saskatchewan musician Patrick Moon Bird, dancing to lo-fi from his album entitled 2021. Check out the show notes for links to Patrick's music. The Saskatchewan Arts Alliance would like to thank our funders, sask culture and Sask Arts, both of whom benefit from lottery ticket sales through Sask Lotteries Proceeds from Sask Lotteries fund cultural organizations all across the province, and we wouldn't be able to do the work we do without your support. See you next time.