Moosomin Visual Arts Centre hosting adjudicated art show May 3-4
April 14, 2025, 11:17 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The last time an adjudicated art show has taken place in Moosomin was nine years ago, according to Melissa Magnusson, and the Moosomin Visual Arts Centre is excited to break that drought. On May 3 and 4, MVAC is hosting an adjudicated visual art show open to all ages and abilities, and Magnusson is excited by all the potential out there.
“We welcome from anywhere and any age,” she said. “There’s so many kids that I saw that are so talented, I’d really like to see them put some artwork into the adjudicated show. It’s visual arts, any medium. It could be sewing, it could be quilting, it could be pottery, it could be painting, it could be sketching, sculpture. It could be an animated video that they’ve created—any visual art at all we would like to see.”
For artists, there’s a $5 per-piece entry with adjudication optional, and a limit of five pieces per artist. All pieces entered must have been completed in the last three years, and registration will be online.
The show itself will take place at the Moosomin Armoury Hall, ensuring enough room for all the artist submissions. Adjudication will take place through the afternoon of May 3, and the show will be open to the public from 7 to 9 pm with a silver collection at the door.
“In this area, there are so many people that are artistic,” Magnusson said.
“And because it’s any visual media, it encompasses so many things.”
Artist submissions to the adjudicated show will be accepted until April 30.
On the morning of May 4, the Regina-based adjudicator and celebrated Saskatchewan artist Belinda Harrow will be hosting a workshop at the Moosomin Visual Arts Centre beginning at 9 am which will be catered specifically to what Moosomin artists want to know.
“The workshop the next day is open to the public as well,” Magnusson explained, adding that “we don’t know what the topic will be until after everybody’s registered.”
As part of the registration, submitting artists are asked for subjects they would like to learn more about from Harrow.
‘There is a fee to get into the workshop, and that’s $20,” Magnusson said.
“It’s actually $21 by the time we work the GST in which is quite reasonable because we have it from 9 until noon. So that’s three hours of learning!”
Show not competitive
One big perk of being an adjudicator is the chance to see what artists around the province are up to. In recent years, Harrow has been asked to adjudicate many art shows, including stops in Assiniboia, Melfort, and Yorkton along the way.
“It’s great because I get to travel around the province and meet local people who are artists and make those connections,” Harrow said. “I usually find in a community, there’s all kinds of levels of artists. There’s usually two or three artists who are already kind of known as the artists in their town. They might put things out there, they might do craft shows or show their work, sell their work to friends and family. But there’s certainly the people who are quite shy about it, so it’s a really nice opportunity for them to get encouragement and to think about being a little bolder with showing their creativity.”
In that spirit of fostering creativity, Harrow notes the importance of positive feedback when she’s asked to adjudicate an art show.
“When I do the adjudication, it’s not a competition,” she said. “There’s not an emphasis on me going and picking a winner, or putting a ribbon on something. What I do is take the time to move around and look at the group. We sit down and we talk about the work in front of everybody, so other people can ask questions as well.
“For everybody to be able to ask questions, make comments, and make recommendations, it’s definitely constructive,” Harrow continued. “Sometimes the artists just want actual advice. They’re like, ‘I can’t figure out how to do this, to make this look the way I want it to look,’ or ‘I’m struggling with this,’ and it could be you’re using a material that’s making things harder for you, not easier.”
Rural communities have a special place in Harrow’s heart, and she encourages artists to blossom wherever they reside.
“I grew up in a small town with less than 500 people, so I know exactly what it’s like to be in a smaller community where you don’t have as much resources,” she said. ”When I was growing up, we didn’t have any art classes at all.”
Even in those early days as an artist, Harrow did find opportunities to learn more, sparked by key events such as attending the Saskatchewan School of the Arts in Fort Qu’Appelle, were she would receive her first formal art classes.
From there, field trips to the Susan Whitney and MacKenzie art galleries in Regina, and attending a pour at the Joe Fafard foundry in Pense featured large in Harrow’s early exposures to art.
“We went to the Joe Fafard foundry in Pense, they did a pour for us, and he spoke to us,” Harrow recalls. “He was the first professional artist I ever got to meet, and that had a huge impact on me.”
Once bit, Harrow indulged in every form of the visual arts she could find, giving her a unique perspective on various creative processes. Her academic pursuits yielded a BA with Honours in English from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, and an MFA in Sculpture with Distinction from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Over the years, art has not only allowed Harrow to express and explore her own creativity through teaching and exhibition opportunities, but it would be a lifelong career for the Regina-based artist. Harrow currently works at SK Arts as a Consultant for the Permanent Collection, and getting out to events like the MVAC art show allows her to not only maintain contacts in the provincial art world, but also speak directly to artists about opportunities in Saskatchewan.
“It’s a benefit in my job as well, in fact, I’m going to be going next week to do some information sessions,” she said. “We have an open call for the SK Arts Permanent Collection right now, so I can also talk to the artists in Moosomin about that.”
The open call for artists interested in submitting to the Permanent Collection closes on May 12, making the Moosomin show especially timely as the next call won’t take place until 2027.
