Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design

Claire Wensveen, a recent Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, kneads clay.

The young artist is crafting serving plates for a downtown Halifax restaurant where she waits tables to pay for student loans and cover expenses. The plates mean extra income.

Claire, who majored in ceramics, is in a summer residency program at the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design in the Pier 21/Seawall Development area of the Halifax waterfront. The program attracts a dozen young artists interested in pursuing a professional career.

“It’s a stepping stone from school to the real world,” says studio coordinator Catherine Allen, a NSCAD Master of Fine Arts graduate. A jewellery creator and seller, she recently returned to NSCAD as an instructor.

“The students, in various disciplines such as ceramics, woodworking, weaving, jewellery, metal and glass making, rent space here in the summer, then show their work in an exhibition at the end of term,” says Catherine. “It enables them to see what is available to them in the arts community.”

However, NSCCD is much more than the summer student program. It offers three semesters of art courses for the general public. There is a gallery where seven single or group exhibitions per year are shown, stressing local artists, but also highlighting national and international craftspeople, in painting, sculpture and other media.

“Our mandate is fine crafts,” says Centre director Susan MacAlpine Foshay. “We have six well-equipped studios. Our Mary E. Black Gallery is Nova Scotia’s only public gallery with a fine craft mandate.”

The classes operate on a cost-recovery basis while the exhibitions, some with sponsorship, and administration costs are supported by Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. The Centre is managed by the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council.

In late August, Susan proudly shows the work of Linda John, an Antigonish sculptor, in the gallery. Exhibitions usually draw well.

“Some are more successful because of the power of the work, like these whalebone pieces by Linda, who uses her vision, passion and perseverance to translate a spiritual journey into creative form.”

The Centre has been on the waterfront for three years, after moving from a Barrington Street storefront.

“We were concerned our numbers would decrease, after having lots of street traffic, but a different audience is quickly learning where we are,” says Susan.

When asked to define “fine craft,” Susan smiles. “It is mostly a medium the artist chooses to use. It can be anything from flower arranging to book making, felting or dyeing, woodworking or ceramics. It is what artists do.”

She emphasizes most of the people who register for courses at the Centre do their work as hobbyists, not to make a living.

Last year, there were about 300 participants in the three-semester course program. “Ceramics and jewellery studios are busiest,” says Catherine. “Introductory classes are most popular. Specialty classes are harder to fill, but we have to let people know what can be made in a certain amount of time and peak their interest. We see many returning students in the ceramics program, a core group who have been taking classes for years.”

In the 2009-2010, new classes are being offered in drawing, writing (about the artist’s visual work), beading, image transfer, batik, and advanced enameling.

“Courses are a large part of what we do,” says Susan. “We want to encourage people to come here to learn new things. We also want the general public to see the amazing work we have in the gallery.”

She notes the art displayed in the gallery is not necessarily for sale (private contact can be made with the artist) but “we want to create a climate of interest in fine craft by showing the work.”

Claire Wensveen, British Columbia-born and raised, but drawn to Halifax by NSCAD’s strong ceramics program, understands her summer studio work is “a test to see whether I could, and want to, do this as a career. Right now, I want to. I’m a sculptor and enjoy doing large pieces. I’m also into drawing, but I thought I’d try the pottery side. I like it.”

As she speaks, Claire mixes Lantz clay, “It’s 100 per cent Nova Scotian, which is cool”, she says.

“I feel things are picking up here for young people. There are lots of opportunities for craftspeople. This is a great place to live and create.”