Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History

Stuff I Like: low tech art

2009-08-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Who says art has to be big budget or technically challenging to be interesting? Here's some art that turns what some may perceive as limitations into virtues through the use of innovative concepts or materials.

First off, what about the lowly and ubiquitous plastic bag? Combined with some tape, an exacto knife, and a subway grate, Joshua Allen Harris has used them to construct some pretty nifty creations that have a nice kinetic element through the use of wind generated by passing subways.

Vik Muniz is a Brazilian artist now living in New York. His practice has ranged widely, but much of his work has centered around creating images using unconventional materials such as spaghetti, sugar or thread. He has a website, but there's a pretty interesting video of him on TED that's worth watching if you have a few minutes:

Finally, I'd like to mostly save "green" and "eco" art for another post, but sometimes there's some crossover and really I couldn't resist including one here that is both low tech and, some may say, eco-minded. Mainly, I just like how the artist, Edina Tokodi, uses the oft overlooked and non-toxic material of moss to take advantage of some locations that most would consider marginal at best.
What else could you do with weathering plywood or pitted concrete? No video on this one, but she does have a website where you can view some images (link above), as well as appearing in numerous other blogs. I don't love all of her work equally, but where it succeeds, I think it's spectacular. Bye for now.

2009-08-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Budgeting for 2010 has started in earnest. All Provincial Direct Access grants are currently "frozen" until further notice and an expected 40% cut to the BC Arts Council budget is coming in September (not all of which will affect funding as the BCAC trimmed expenses through its own staff restructuring). This probably means our supplemental cheque received from BCAC in the spring is either all or most of the funding we will receive until 2011. Still, we don't rely as heavily on these annual grants as some other cultural organizations. The economic downturn has taken some time to reach us but we are in a good position to weather the storm. Tourism is actually up over this time last year and the BC Heritage Federation Conference generated a higher than expected profit. Remedial work done to the facility's boilers have seen our gas bills go down by almost 50% - a great savings that will, in part, help make up for the expected loss of traditional provincial funding.

Through meticulous financial oversight and by keeping expenses under control we should be in a solid position to come in on budget this year and start the new year with a positive outlook.

What do I do?

2009-06-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Every profession has its own special language. When I tell people that I'm the Collections Manager/Archivist of Touchstones Nelson, people often look puzzled because they are unfamiliar with the terms. One woman didn't answer an email message because when she saw that I was the Collections Manager, she "knew she didn't owe us any money". So I thought that my first blog would be to explain what I do here at Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History.
My job is actually two part-time jobs held by one person, me. The Collections Manager half of the position is to manage the museum artifacts owned by the Society which runs Touchstones, and the Archivist half of my job is to manage the archival and library items owned by the Society. Museum collections consist of individual natural or human history objects important because of their relationship to time, place, persons and events. In our collection, these artifacts include items important to Nelson and Area, everything from the tuba played by Jake Ludwig in Nelson's first City Band to a coin minted for Nelson's 1997 Centennial Celebration of Incorporation.
Archival collections are primarily one of a kind records of the activities of individual people, families, businesses, organizations, and governments. They include registration records of birth, death, marriages and of land and home transfers of ownership, as well as cartographic records such and maps and plans, audio-visual records such as artworks, photographs, films, videos, and recordings, and diaries, manuscripts, and correspondence, annual reports, and minute books. Our mandate includes collecting of all these different types of archival records but they must have a relevance to Nelson and area. For example we have photographs by Dick Spurway, James Allen, George Meeres and other local photographers in our archives.
Library collections are published items, such as books, magazines, newspapers, government documents, and reproduced video, audio and film. We have all these as resource materials, including a collection of books by local authors that began when our parent society,the Kootenay Museum Association, began in 1955.
Of course there are blurry lines between these three kinds of collections. Archives sometimes have objects, and Museums sometimes have archival records, and Libraries often have "special collections" which include both archival items and artifacts, but generally things fall easily into one of the three categories.
"Managing" all these collections includes working with the Board of Director's Collections Committee, volunteers and temporary staff to identify and acquire items, record and describe them, keep them safe, and provide information about and physical access to them for study and exhibitions,and in rare cases, pass them on to a new and more suitable home.It is a privilege to help to preserve the artifacts and archival items which witness to the history of Nelson and Area.

2009-04-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Already mid-April with much accomplished and much more to come. The Annual General Meeting was a well attended affair most likely due to our guest speaker - Corky Evans. All attending were treated to Corky's last official public engagement talk - much nostalgia. Touchstones welcomed three new board members: David Dobie, Wendi Thompson and Jerry Sussenguth. The new Executive of the Board is comprised of Ramona Mattix (President), Angus Graeme (Vice President), Joan Jordan (Treasurer), and Susan Andrews Grace (Secretary). This marks an important step forward for the organization as none of the new Executive members served on the Board during our transition to the new facility. We are really forward looking now!

Looking foward to the new exhibitions opening this Friday night, April 24th - Brent Bukowski, FLOW and the KSA grad show.

Shipwrecks on the West Arm

2009-04-03T15:54:00.001-07:00

Spring has come and that means the lake is at its lowest levels. Now is the time to walk the beaches and discover the hidden history along the shoreline. Some of the highlights include the SS Hosmer, the pilings from the CPR Transfer wharf and the SS Kuskanook.

The wreck of the SS Hosmer is located at Bealby Point. The tugboat was in service for the CPR on Kootenay Lake from 1909 to 1931 hauling barges from Procter to Kootenay Landing. When it was retired after the completion of the rail line from Procter to Kootenay Landing, it was destined to be a houseboat until it burnt to the waterline. Today the boiler is visible year-round, but the hull only appears when the water is low.

The old sternwheeler stop at Kokanee Landing is the resting place for the SS Kuskanook. Parts of the hull, frames and keelsons are visible now that the water levels are low. The large timbers and planks resting on the muddy shore are impressive to see when you compare them to images of the boat when she was launched in 1906 from the CPR Shipyard in Nelson. The Shipyard was located where the RCMP station is today, and you can see the remnants of the ways used to launch the ships when you stand on the bridge and look down.

At the airport along the shoreline, the cut-off pilings that are visible forming a large arc into the water are the remnants of the CPR Transfer Wharf. This is where the sternwheelers and tugs and barges met the trains coming from the west until the barge slip was built in Procter in 1901. The waterfront in Nelson has gone through many changes in the last 118 years when the first major sternwheeler, the SS Nelson, was launched on Kootenay Lake.

Before the snow in the mountains begins to melt and the lake begins to fill again, now is the time to dust off your wellies and start exploring the mud (just don't get stuck like I did!) And watch out for the launch of the newest virtual exhibit coming next month on the Sternwheelers of Kootenay Lake.

Leah

2009-03-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

Cool - a blog for Touchstones Nelson! Well, I'm a newbie to this sort of thing but I'm hoping to learn alot and to keep people posted on what we're up to here. Of course, the idea is to present information in a quicker, less formal manner so that's my goal.

We're looking forward to the Eggstravaganza event this Sunday - hope to have some pics for everyone posted after the event.

Leah

Check out the Touchstones Nelson Website

2009-02-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

Visit us at our website to get details on our exhibitions and programming.
http://www.touchstonesnelson.ca/

The Touchstones Nelson Blog!

2009-02-22T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm so pleased that we are up and running with our new Touchstones Nelson blog.

We have been incredibly busy these days with the start of the new year and everything that goes along with it.

Our latest exhibitions, SALT: A Distillation of Matter, and Kokanee Essential: Kootenay High, both had great receptions for their recent openings. It is fantastic to see our community come out in support and enjoy the exhibitions. Thank you.

Our Touchstones Team has recently welcomed new co-curators Deborah Thompson and Rod Taylor. They are a great addition to our team.

We are excited about this innovative way in which our visitors can interact with our exhibitions, collections, archives and programming.

There is great programming coming up related to the SALT exhibition and we will also be hosting another Family Fun day in March. Details regarding the SALT programming can be found on our website and Family Fun day details are soon to come.

Come on in and connect with your museum, art gallery and archives.