Within Alberta’s art community, Edmonton has become known for a school of sculpture rooted in the cubist tradition, particularly works constructed in welded steel. Over the past thirty-odd years, sculpture by local artists like Alan Reynolds, Catherine Burgess, Isla Burns, Clay Ellis, Peter Hide, Ken Macklin, Royden Mills, and others have come to form a broad foundation; extending the range of what we may be talking about when we speak of steel sculpture in Edmonton, and continually opening up new vistas yet to be explored and built upon by the succeeding generations of ambitious emerging sculptors.

Although the choice to work with steel is largely made on account of the many practical advantages it affords over other media, creating sculpture in steel, even in Edmonton, is a particularly demanding artistic practice. Sculpting in steel requires a facility more like an industrial shop than a typical conception of an artist’s studio. Equipment maintenance, acquisition of materials, and artwork transportation take increased amounts of time, money, technical ability, and labour. The mass and scale of large sculptures complicates transportation and installation, and limits the range of venues in which they can be shown.

Most arts organizations that provide studio space and support to visual artists are unable to offer the specialized industrial facilities necessary for this type of work; consequently, emerging artists are forced to work independently of established support networks and find studio space on their own. Unsurprisingly, the industrial rental market is not geared towards the spatial needs and budgetary constraints of the average individual emerging artist, so suitable facilities inevitably remain very large and very expensive.

Yet despite these hurdles, the fact that steel sculpture continues to be one of our most distinctive contemporary cultural strengths is a testament to the dedication of the artists who work here, and hints at the importance of a tradition through which local sculptors feel compelled to create new forms of expression.

In 2002, the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop (NESW) was founded, in an effort to help emerging sculptors overcome these considerable obstacles, by fostering the creation and promotion of ambitious contemporary sculpture made using industrial processes and materials. A cooperative shared-studio project, the NESW allows its participants to pool their resources in order to assist every aspect of their careers as artists. In addition to facilitating of the physical creation of actual works, the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop, through a variety of exhibition projects, also aims to increase public awareness and appreciation of local contemporary sculpture, add to the vitality of the cultural scene, and encourage critical dialogue throughout the art community.

Since The North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop’s founding, it has provided fertile ground for artistic growth. In its inaugural year, the NESW collectively produced four exhibitions of our work in four different Edmonton venues. Front Room Sculpture, an installation of site-specific wall-mounted works for Harcourt House Gallery; North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop, a self-titled special exhibit with Global Visions Film Festival; and Desperate Measures, an exhibition and silent auction raising funds for both the Works Society and the NESW; all focused on new works by the artists of the NESW. The fourth show, Big Things, an invitational outdoor exhibition of large-scaled work at the Provincial Museum of Alberta, was unique in that it featured new works by NESW sculptors, alongside recent sculpture of more established artists Peter Hide, Ken Macklin, Royden Mills, and Susan Owen Kagan, as well as the permanently sited sculptures from the Museum’s collection. This was the first time the Museum had ever opened its grounds to a sculpture exhibition of its size. Due to its success, Big Things was held over for an extended run, which carried over into the next year.

In addition to these exhibits, works by each of the NESW artists were featured in another Harcourt House show: a survey exhibition entitled Edmonton Sculpture: The Next Generation, curated by Canadian artist, critic, and former Edmonton Art Gallery director, Terry Fenton. Interviewed about the exhibition, Fenton remarked, “I wish there was a way the rest of Canada could find [out] about the sculpture scene in Edmonton. It’s one of the best kept secrets in Canada.” 1 Although the exhibition included work by seven emerging sculptors, Fenton singles out the NESW artists in his accompanying essay, making special note of our unique workshop situation. The NESW artists, Fenton writes:

“…share a studio, giving them the double advantage of being removed from the student environment while retaining continued access to one another for stimulation and criticism. This does not amount to their charting a common course. If anything, the shared studio has confirmed them in separate directions: the hothouse atmosphere appears to have stimulated both invention and individuality. Their work seems to be getting closer to the source of their inspiration...”2

The North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop, in continuing partnership with the Provincial Museum of Alberta, successfully produced Big Things 2 in 2003, and Big Things 3 in 2004. This continuing series of yearlong exhibitions, always free to the public, carries on the spirit of the original Big Things exhibition, presenting ambitious outdoor works by internationally established artists alongside those of serious emerging sculptors. In 2004, NESW artists were also invited to show new sculpture, among works by Lyndal Osborne, Catherine Burgess, and Sandra Bromley, in an exhibition entitled Six Sculptors, organized by the Lando Gallery in Edmonton.

2005 presented the NESW with some changes, including the addition of sculptor Rob Willms to the workshop. With official provincial centennial plans pre-empting another yearlong Big Things exhibition, we worked towards a compromise with the newly named Royal Alberta Museum to instead present a summer-long Alberta Centennial Sculpture Exhibition. Despite a briefer timeframe, and despite limiting participating artists to the membership of the NESW, the exhibition was another great success. As Edmonton Journal art writer Gilbert Bouchard simply put it, “The North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop’s display of large metal sculpture on the front terrace of the Royal Alberta Museum might be scaled back, but it’s still big.”3

Now, in 2006, the artists of the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop are busy with final preparations for Big Things 4. As with our exhibition in 2005, this show will be free to the public throughout the summer, running from June 3 to October 1. Meanwhile, the NESW has been continually developing its virtual presence on the Internet. The North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop’s website, www.nesw.ca, and our daily blogsite, studiosavant.blogspot.com, allow us to broaden our reach and enhance our connections within an ever-growing international art community.

As we move into Alberta’s second century, it is interesting to note that both our province and the cubist tradition of constructed steel sculpture are roughly contemporaneous. The sculptural development, originating with Picasso’s Guitar of 1912, is actually only slightly less than one hundred years old. Sculpture in steel is a cultural development younger than Jazz, younger than Film, and younger than Alberta itself. Such distinctions of age matter little though, as whether one considers one hundred years to be a lot or a little: with your support, steel sculpture will continue to carry unlimited potential for future development in the hands of our contemporary artists.

1. Mike Winters, “Fitting Into the Modernist Mould”, SEE Magazine, Issue #455, August 12 - 21.

2. Terry Fenton, “Edmonton Sculpture: The Next Generation”, Harcourt Expressed, Volume 12, Summer/Fall.

3. Gilbert Bouchard, “War, Peace Among Themes of Sculpture Exhibition”, Edmonton Journal, July 8.

Sculptors of the NESW

Andrew French:

Born in a paper bag in a septic tank, Andrew French  would have to wake up at 10 o’clock at night (half an hour before he went to sleep) In the evenings, his father would lash him to sleep with his belt.

Ryan McCourt:

Born in Edmonton in 1975, in spite of travel to many foreign destinations, Ryan McCourt has been a lifelong Edmontonian. McCourt earned both his BFA in 1997, and MFA in 1999, from the University of Alberta. In addition to his work as a sculptor, McCourt has been involved broadly within the art community: as a photographer, curator, writer, exhibition organizer, competition juror, university instructor, and founder of the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his art, and his work is included in various public and private collections in Canada and abroad. For additional information please visit www.ryanmccourt.ca

Rob Willms:

Born in Abbotsford BC in 1969, Rob Willms is a product of a stringent Mennonite heritage renowned for its ethics of peace and pragmatism. Willms received his Associate of Arts in Religion from the North American Baptist College in 1991 before attending the University of Alberta, where he earned his BFA in 2002, and his MFA in 2004. Although Willms is the newest member of the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop, he is the founding Editor of the NESW blog, studiosavant (studiosavant.blogspot.com). His artistic work has earned him numerous scholarships, and his sculptures are included in many private collections, and in the collection of the University of Alberta. For additional information please visit www.robwillms.ca