From an early age, Regan Lanning knew she wanted to be an artist, and now as an adult, she gets to both be an artist and to work with artists as the curator for the Weyburn Arts Council.
She was the winner of the Estevan Arts Council’s 2018 Ev Johnson Memorial Adjudicated Art Show, which earned her a solo show at the EAGM.
She is a ceramicist and the Relative Bonds exhibit combines her love of drawing with her love of pottery, with the theme of representing the relationships she has with her loved ones, such as her two children.
She shared her journey with the members of the Weyburn Rotary Club during a July Meeting. She spoke about her position with the Arts Council and about her personal work as an artist.
“My parents are both incredibly practical people,” said Lanning. “I tried my best not to be an artist, but it didn’t work.”
As curator, she looks after booking shows for the city’s three art galleries, including the Allie Griffin Art Gallery, the Signal Hill Art Gallery at the Signal Hill Arts Centre, and the Credit Union Art Gallery, each with their own focus.
The Allie Griffin gallery will have shows by nationally or provincially-known artists, Signal Hill will have locally-known artists, and new or unknown artists are generally shown at the Credit Union gallery.
In addition to this responsibility, she looks after the City of Weyburn’s Permanent Art Collection, which has over 200 pieces of art in a climate-controlled storage space in the basement of City Hall.
Lanning will have her Relative Bonds exhibit on display at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM). There will be an opening reception for two new exhibits on Nov. 22, starting at 7 p.m.
The other exhibit is Seeing and not Seeing is by Mindy Yan Miller. Both are slated to be on display until Jan. 10, 2020.
Lanning entered an art adjudication competition in Estevan and won there, for this show, she is combining her love of drawing with her love of pottery, with the theme of representing the relationships she has with her loved ones, such as of her two children.
“Some of the plates will be displayed broken, some will be repaired, just like some relationships are repaired, because all of that can be overwhelming,” she said.
Her ceramic projects are called “Aftermath Ceramics”, which is a reference to her growing up with teachers as parents.
“With a math teacher as a parent, I was only allowed to do art after my math was done, so …” she said with a smile, adding she also makes ceramic jewelry and teaches adult pottery classes. The six-week classes are prerequisite for any adults wanting to join the pottery club at Signal Hill.
“Art is all about authenticity. Art is not just pretty pictures. I feel something art does really well is it can teach us about different topics. I get to create these art pieces about people I love, and I have a really great network of friends,” said Lanning.
She added that she will be an artist until the day she dies. “It would be pretty hard to separate it from who I am,” she said.
Yan Miller’s installations "Seeing and not Seeing" sculpture and performative pieces investigate labour, identity, loss and commodification. Primarily a material and medium-based practice, Yan Miller often works with large masses of found or ready-made materials, including used clothing, human hair, soft drink cans and most recently cowhide.
She has been the recipient of numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Quebec Arts Council and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. Yan Miller lives with her family in Saskatoon and in Montreal where she regularly teaches in fibres and material practices at Concordia University.
Both artists are scheduled to be in attendance.
This event is free to attend and all ages are welcome.
With files from the Estevan Mercury
