After working many years in the arts, especially the performing arts, Weyburn resident Ron Ror is setting out to "reinvent" himself as he enters the realm of the visual arts as the new curator for the Weyburn Arts Council.
After working many years in the arts, especially the performing arts, Weyburn resident Ron Ror is setting out to "reinvent" himself as he enters the realm of the visual arts as the new curator for the Weyburn Arts Council.
He took up the position to replace Marnie Bernard, who served in that capacity for a number of years before recently stepping aside.
Ror admits he doesn't have a lot of experience in the visual arts, but is willing to learn and to expand his knowledge of the arts.
"When I was managing the community theatre in Lloydminster, I volunteered to help at the museum they assigned me this job of assessing every painting for damages. I had to examine every painting with a fine-tooth comb, and it was very interesting," said Ror, citing the beginning of his interest in art.
He managed the Vic Juba Community Theatre in Lloydminster from 2005 to 2009; was theatre-artist-in-residence for the Big Muddy Tourist Region based out of Coronach; was the artistic director of the Souris Valley Theatre in Estevan from 1995 to 2010, and worked seasonally managing dinner theatres in Winnipeg and Edmonton from 1994 to 2002.
Before that, he worked for 20 year for CBC-TV in Toronto, going from set decorator up to producer in TV film drama.
As the curator for the Arts Council, Ror feels the biggest goal the group has right now is their own gallery space, something he pointed out much smaller centres like Assiniboia and Eatonia possess.
"We have a small gallery at the Allie Griffin Art Gallery, which we have to share with the library, and I think they're interested in using it more for themselves. At the moment, it's the only game in town for us," said Ror, adding the Arts Council gets along quite well with the library, but the council does have a dream for their own space.
One of the issues with the Allie Griffin gallery is its small size, which in turn limits the size of the shows they can bring in for exhibition.
The other part of his job, when not curating shows at the Allie Griffin and at the Credit Union Art Gallery, is his work with the City of Weyburn's Permanent Art Collection, which he is currently cataloguing.
"The city has a wonderful permanent collection, but it doesn't get seen enough. There are 170 paintings, and I'm going through them all to make sure our records are up-to-date," said Ror.
He notes the city has been displaying some pieces from their collection in the mayor's office and in the hallways of City Hall.
Coming up, Ror is curating works for an exhibit called "Night Works", culled from the Permanent Collection, all pieces with the theme of nighttime.
Ror said the council also has a good relationship with the Signal Hill Arts Centre, where their office is located on the lower level. They have a gallery on the second floor, however it's up to the Arts Centre staff to curate shows for that space.
Asked about Weyburn's burgeoning arts scene, Ror said, "It's on the verge of growing bigger," pointing to signs like the resurgence of the Crocus 80 community theatre group.
He noted he directed a play for Crocus 80 in 1992 when he first got back here from Toronto after working for the CBC.
"With the boom in the city, the arts sort of lag behind, but they're catching up. I can see signs of that happening," he said.
One sign is the presence of two photography clubs, and he will be working with the Soo Line Camera Club to put on an adjudicated exhibit and competition in September, with the judges coming in from Regina.
Meantime, the space in the Allie Griffin is booked up for the next three years, with the sole exception of one month, September of 2013.
