Two young Fernie artists are going behind the scenes to encourage the growth of the Fernie artistic community.
Welcoming over a dozen artists from seven different countries around the globe to the Knox United Church, Nicola Mcnabb and Anna Weston’s Behind the Scene event will showcase a wide variety of artistic works from paintings and drawings to ceramics and hats.
“It’s a celebration of what everyone’s doing and the creative experience that they’re putting on the page,” Mcnabb said. “We’ve got artists from seven different countries of origin, so we’re really excited about that.”
Local talent will also be represented at the show. In fact, the inspiration for this event came from Weston’s dynamic life drawing classes.
“We were really excited about all the work that people were creating at Anna’s dynamic life drawing classes and thought it would be fantastic to share them with the community in a safe place where you can enjoy the creativity that these people are experiencing on this awesome journey,” said Mcnabb, adding, “out of the woodwork came all these other people creating things that they wanted to showcase.”
According to Weston, the nude portrait art class is about capturing movement and rhythm in your drawing and trying to find your own creative style.
She added, “There’s no two people that create work that’s exactly the same. It’s more about putting your own experience onto the paper.”
The class has been running in the basement of Knox United Church each week since January, with as many as 14 people registering or dropping in for a session.
Once the idea to showcase artwork from the dynamic life drawing classes came to life, other creative locals and travelers wanted to get involved and Behind the Scene opened their doors to artists creating photography, glasswork, crafts and jewelry.
“It’s really nice to put their work next to each other. When you’re from a different place, you have all these different experiences and when you bring them together in the same space, you create a nice dialogue,” noted Mcnabb.
Embracing Fernie’s artistic aptitude, Mcnabb added, “It’s nice that it’s a supportive community that’s inclusive of all artists.”
Weston reiterated her remarks, stating, “It’s incredible, it’s diverse. It seems like there’s a really strong movement within the community to celebrate the diversity.”
Artists will be taking their work behind the scenes on March 28 in the basement of the Knox United Church.
Along with works being displayed and sold, door prizes, including chocolates from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and a GPS from Canadian Tire, will be given away.
The event will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and is entry by donation, with all proceeds going back to the Knox United Church.