Service to my communities
Society memberships
Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI)
In November 2011, I was appointed to the Board of Directors for SCGI as International Member-at-large (2012-2014), by the Nominations Committee. My role was to liase with other international members (of this US-based organization), organize an internationally themed panel presentation and exhibition. As a voting member of the Executive Board, I attended mid-year meetings, discussed and voted on policies and other matters related to the organization in general. I was very pleased to have been part of a board that sought to reduce costs for students, and to indeed acknowledge the student-centred focus of the organization.
Post-Executive Board, I maintain a (lifetime) membership, and attend the annual conferences and ancillary events.
History and context of SGCI, courtesy of their website:
The SGCI is the largest print organization in North America. Its annual conference is the biggest gathering focused on the field of printmaking. Artists from all 50 U.S. states attend the conference. Regular international attendees come from Canada, South and Central America, and Europe.
In 1972 Boyd Saunders, from the University of South Carolina, invited every printmaker he knew in the South to meet at the annual convention of the Southeastern College Art Conference with the intention of forming a printmaker’s organization. (At that time, college and university printmaking programs tended to be small, isolated, and neglected.) The group that assembled in New Orleans for that meeting included Bernie Solomon, John O’Neil and Boyd Saunders. They wrote and approved by-laws and in 1973 the Southeastern Graphics Council was officially chartered by the State of South Carolina as a non-profit organization.
Boyd Saunders served as the first president from 1972 through 1974. Bernie Solomon hosted the first annual workshop conference in 1974 at his home institution of Georgia Southern College. In 1978, as the organization grew in membership, the name was changed to the Southern Graphics Council. Over the next 30 years, conferences were held in not only Southern states, but in New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Membership to the SGC also expanded, and now has a national and international membership. In 2010, the name was changed again to its current SGC International.
I also maintain memberships in:
Articulate Ink Printmaking Studio (inaugural public board member) 2019-
CARFAC Saskatchewan 2018-
Alberta Printmakers 2018-
Saskatchewan Printmaking Association 2015-
Canadian Association of University Teachers 2007-
Local community engagement
Cathedral Village Arts Festival
For a number of years, I have been organized Printmaking in the Streets, as part of the Cathedral Village Arts Festival. With student and alumni volunteers, I have erected a portable Printmaking studio, complete with etching press and sundries, to perform feats of printing on 13th Avenue in Regina, during the annual street fair. Part performance, part community outreach and engagement, this project has permitted me to educate, entertain, and even recruit potential students to the Department of Visual Arts. In addition to the day-long street fair event, I served on the 2011 Planning Committee for the Festival. To see pictures, click here.
Articulate Ink
I have acted as mentor and consultant to the members of Regina's only artist-run Printmaking centre. For complete information on how my teaching and community engagement cross over, see the Student Success Profile page, here.
Les Arts Vivants, Guest Artist and Co-organizer, Regina Public Schools, École Connaught – 2015, 16, 19
For each of the years listed above, I planned, and implemented day-long (sometimes two days) of Printmaking-related programming for elementary school students. In 2019, I printed letterpress and hand-assembled sketchbooks with more than 200 students!
City of Regina - Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee
From 2012-2014, I served on a City Council advisory board, related to built and natural heritage in Regina. As a citizen of the city, a taxpayer, and a member of the arts and cultural community (not to mention a prolific renovator of my own 100+ year old heritage home), I was a welcome addition to the diverse group. Meeting monthly, we discussed property heritage designations, renovation and rehabilitation projects, and best practices related the balance between growth and preservation of our ever-expanding city. The most meaningful project, originating from my time on this committee, was the designation, preservation, and public recognition of the unmarked and long-forgotten Regina Industrial School cemetery, which contained dozens of graves of undisclosed, indigenous children dating back many decades. Read a bit more about this story here.
I have, on many occasions, given artist lectures locally and nationally, served on juries for local or university art competitions, served on juries for the Saskatchewan Arts Board, donated artwork for fundraising at artist-run-centres and Printmaking programmes across Canada, and performed Printmaking and other arts-related outreach at local schools.
Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI)
In November 2011, I was appointed to the Board of Directors for SCGI as International Member-at-large (2012-2014), by the Nominations Committee. My role was to liase with other international members (of this US-based organization), organize an internationally themed panel presentation and exhibition. As a voting member of the Executive Board, I attended mid-year meetings, discussed and voted on policies and other matters related to the organization in general. I was very pleased to have been part of a board that sought to reduce costs for students, and to indeed acknowledge the student-centred focus of the organization.
Post-Executive Board, I maintain a (lifetime) membership, and attend the annual conferences and ancillary events.
History and context of SGCI, courtesy of their website:
The SGCI is the largest print organization in North America. Its annual conference is the biggest gathering focused on the field of printmaking. Artists from all 50 U.S. states attend the conference. Regular international attendees come from Canada, South and Central America, and Europe.
In 1972 Boyd Saunders, from the University of South Carolina, invited every printmaker he knew in the South to meet at the annual convention of the Southeastern College Art Conference with the intention of forming a printmaker’s organization. (At that time, college and university printmaking programs tended to be small, isolated, and neglected.) The group that assembled in New Orleans for that meeting included Bernie Solomon, John O’Neil and Boyd Saunders. They wrote and approved by-laws and in 1973 the Southeastern Graphics Council was officially chartered by the State of South Carolina as a non-profit organization.
Boyd Saunders served as the first president from 1972 through 1974. Bernie Solomon hosted the first annual workshop conference in 1974 at his home institution of Georgia Southern College. In 1978, as the organization grew in membership, the name was changed to the Southern Graphics Council. Over the next 30 years, conferences were held in not only Southern states, but in New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Membership to the SGC also expanded, and now has a national and international membership. In 2010, the name was changed again to its current SGC International.
I also maintain memberships in:
Articulate Ink Printmaking Studio (inaugural public board member) 2019-
CARFAC Saskatchewan 2018-
Alberta Printmakers 2018-
Saskatchewan Printmaking Association 2015-
Canadian Association of University Teachers 2007-
Local community engagement
Cathedral Village Arts Festival
For a number of years, I have been organized Printmaking in the Streets, as part of the Cathedral Village Arts Festival. With student and alumni volunteers, I have erected a portable Printmaking studio, complete with etching press and sundries, to perform feats of printing on 13th Avenue in Regina, during the annual street fair. Part performance, part community outreach and engagement, this project has permitted me to educate, entertain, and even recruit potential students to the Department of Visual Arts. In addition to the day-long street fair event, I served on the 2011 Planning Committee for the Festival. To see pictures, click here.
Articulate Ink
I have acted as mentor and consultant to the members of Regina's only artist-run Printmaking centre. For complete information on how my teaching and community engagement cross over, see the Student Success Profile page, here.
Les Arts Vivants, Guest Artist and Co-organizer, Regina Public Schools, École Connaught – 2015, 16, 19
For each of the years listed above, I planned, and implemented day-long (sometimes two days) of Printmaking-related programming for elementary school students. In 2019, I printed letterpress and hand-assembled sketchbooks with more than 200 students!
City of Regina - Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee
From 2012-2014, I served on a City Council advisory board, related to built and natural heritage in Regina. As a citizen of the city, a taxpayer, and a member of the arts and cultural community (not to mention a prolific renovator of my own 100+ year old heritage home), I was a welcome addition to the diverse group. Meeting monthly, we discussed property heritage designations, renovation and rehabilitation projects, and best practices related the balance between growth and preservation of our ever-expanding city. The most meaningful project, originating from my time on this committee, was the designation, preservation, and public recognition of the unmarked and long-forgotten Regina Industrial School cemetery, which contained dozens of graves of undisclosed, indigenous children dating back many decades. Read a bit more about this story here.
I have, on many occasions, given artist lectures locally and nationally, served on juries for local or university art competitions, served on juries for the Saskatchewan Arts Board, donated artwork for fundraising at artist-run-centres and Printmaking programmes across Canada, and performed Printmaking and other arts-related outreach at local schools.
