“We
may not be fast but we’re slow”
Studio Rally artists appear to have moved at a snail’s
pace, but they sure show spirit!
The
back story: During
the Torino Olympics CBC broadcaster Ron MacLean lamented that
there should be a pewter medal for all Canadian athletes who
so narrowly missed the podium. His comment was the inspiration
for this project…(insert dramatic music here)
Well, the
Studio Rally Map artists have finally crossed the finish line!
Way back in February during the winter Olympics in Torino, twenty-three
Nova Scotia artists and craftspeople committed to making medals
for all nineteen Canadian athletes who placed fourth at the
games. Not only have the medals been completed and shipped off
to the athletes, but a dazzling record of the collection has
been made and is available for viewing.
Although
it may seem strange, there are similarities between the lives
of athletes and artists: working/training long hours in isolation;
not knowing the worth of your work until an exhibition/race;
continually striving toward excellence and ‘personal bests’.
However, we had no idea how much more we would grow to identify
with an athlete as the project progressed!
It sounded
easy. It appeared easy. After all, how hard could it be to make
a bunch of medals, ship them to the artist who would make the
ribbons, get the finished pieces to a photographer, get a poster
made, mount the poster on the website, locate the athletes,
package the medals and ship each medal off, giving the athletes
some idea of the other eighteen? Well…
Between
artist’s block, equipment failure, technical difficulties
of multiple sorts, budget constraints, and the general abundance
of life getting in the way …it would be safe to say that
if making medals were an Olympic event we’d be missing
the podium by a long shot. What the project reinforced in us
is that at the heart of it, it doesn’t matter where you
place. What matters, is that we did all that we could, for the
right reasons. When you look at these medals, we hope you can
see that twenty-three talented people pulled out all the stops
to recognize the astounding achievement of nineteen amazing
Canadian athletes. Go Canada, go!
For more
information about this project contact:
Rion Microys (The
wonderful conductor who imagined this was possible, and then
got us all on board)
902-532-2392 pms@ns.sympatico.ca
2006
is the fifteenth year for the Studio Rally Map, a yearly publication
celebrating Nova Scotian art and craft. With over one hundred
participating artists and craftspeople who open their homes
and studios to the public year round, the Studio Rally Map is
an excellent way to explore Nova Scotia.
Studio Rally Weekend in 2007 is May 26th and 27th.
Adriane Abbott
co-founder and principal
Studio Rally 902-827-7117
info@studiorally.ca
