No Complaints, about some things

Just reporting in on the results of the Art for All Canada conference yesterday.

I had a small group to start with and the numbers blossomed toward the end, though I suspect that was in preparation for the speaker following me:  Ms. Nancy Campbell, a curator of the Inuit Art Collection at the AGO.

I took a brief survey and found that only a single member of my audience had ever heard of SketchUp prior to my presentation.  My goal was to "share the love" and let other artists in on this fabulous FREE tool. I believe, I hope, that I managed to generate some interest. Certainly I was stopped a few times after the session and informed that it was enjoyable.

ASIDE:   I stayed to listen to the presentation of the above mentioned Ms. Campbell who  gave us an informative and interesting presentation on the manner in which the AGO selects artists to promote.

I screwed up my nerve and asked her a difficult question.  I suggested that it could not possibly have escaped the curators at the AGO that over the last 25 years there has been a gathering storm of realist artists who are demanding equal recognition.  The number of ateliers and academies which are attempting to build on the lost skills of 19th century is proliferating.   I asked if the AGO had any plans to recognize this huge and hitherto ignored section of the art arena.  I expressed dismay that the enormous rewards granted by the annual Sobey's Prize and RBC Prize for fine artists, completely disregards, and thus implies the irrelevance of, contemporary realists.  Ms. Campbell indicated that she really really did not know because her work is concentrated on Inuit Art.

In support of my question, a member of the audience mentioned the work of the Art Renewal Center as a significant move forward. I suggested that that was the self-interest of a single benefactor and that he clearly has made no impact on the AGO.  Ms. Campbell showing interest, asked for the name of the organization and wrote down the name of the website indicating she had not heard of them.  I suggested that that, exactly, was the problem.  ( privately I later asked her if she was familiar with Toronto's Academy of Realist Art, and she said that indeed she was.  Happy about that.)

But I digress.   Watch for the tutorials on SketchUp for Fine Artists in the coming days!