When the first-year students of Camosun’s Visual Arts program put together their year-end Out of the Grey showcase, it ended up being not just a celebration of their individual pieces, but the celebration of the pieces of the group as a whole. Because, as the students have found out, being an artist can be a solitary pursuit.
“Sometimes Visual Arts students are kind of contained,” says first-year Visual Arts student Megan Quigley. “We spend up to 14 hours in our studios a day. In terms of our peers and our programs it’s giving us an opportunity to celebrate each other’s work. For us, that’s huge.”
The event, which runs from April 16 to 19, is also a chance to show the powers that be the power of art, and make a case for the importance of art in our community. First-year Visual Arts student Aileen Penner says that this is particularly important, given the cuts, and the threats of cuts, that constantly loom over the arts.
“The Camosun two-year program specifically is consistently under threat of funding being cut here and there,” says Penner. “It affects the learning; whether it’s not enough supplies or not enough time with your technician, all these things are important and this is a chance to really celebrate and showcase the work that can come out of a well-funded program.”
Quigley says that the name of the showcase has been around since the first-year show began. She says it partly came about because “visual artists love puns and I think they thought it was kind of hilarious to parody greyscale.” But there’s more to it than that.
“It marks a transitional time that we are in our careers as emerging artists, as students that might be transitioning to another phase, be it second year or another institution, and also just marking the time of the year,” says Quigley. “It’s out of the grey and into the summer. As students, it can be quite a burden doing that transition so it not only celebrates all the hard work that’s happened but is a celebration and an opportunity for the community to come together.”
Out of the Grey
7 pm April 16 to 4 pm Sunday April 19
Various locations, Lansdowne campus
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