Artists in Place: The Bunkhouse Project
Artists in Place: The Bunkhouse Project is an artist-in-residence program sponsored by the City of Saskatoon. Through the generosity and vision of the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo staff, the historic Bunkhouse was renovated and reimagined as artist studio space. This furthers one of the key directions of the City’s Culture Plan Refresh to Foster Creative Placemaking by providing a platform for a Saskatoon civic facility to host artists and engage the community through public art projects.
The 2020 artists in residence at the Bunkhouse include: illustrator and watercolour artist, Julia Million; theatre artist team, Drew Mantyka and Sammy Ramsay; and, visual artist, Kas Rea.
Over the course of their six month residencies, these artists will be creating a body of work inspired by their time at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo. A public exhibition of the work created by Julia Million and Kas Rea will be held at the end of the residency. A site specific theatre performance will be presented by Drew Mantyka and Sammy Ramsay in the spring. More details will be announced closer to the dates.
Artist Bios
Julia Million is an emerging artist currently residing in Saskatoon. She has lived all across Canada and continues to discover the beauty of this country. Her main mediums are watercolour and collage using recycled materials. Julia draws inspiration from living elements around her like people, plants, and animals. Her most recent work is focused on creating illustrations for children’s books.
Drew Mantyka (He/Him) is a Saskatoon based theatre artist who recently graduated with a BFA Honours in Acting from the University of Saskatchewan. He is an emerging actor, director, playwright and the occasional stage manager. In 2020 Drew worked as a festival organizer for 25th Street Theatre's This Is Not That Festival. Previous credits include: Machinal, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Henry V (Greystone Theatre); As You Like It (Assistant Director, SOTS); Rooftops, U-3523, (Playwright/Director, DSA Productions); What We Reach For, Rooftops (Playwright, DSA Productions); Queen Seraphina and the Land of Vertebraat, The Woodcutter and the Lion, (ASM, Sum Theatre); The Romeo Project (SM/Producer, The Studio); Macbeth (Director, U of S Student Production). Drew is looking forward to creating a career bringing exciting theatre to audiences in Saskatoon and beyond.
Sammy Ramsay (she/her) is a Saskatoon based theatre artist. She holds her BFA Honours in Acting from the University of Saskatchewan. Sammy has a passion for new, innovative plays and working with local talent. Recent theatre credits include Survival of the Spookiest (Peach Pit Productions) The Beaux’ Stratagem (Greystone Theatre), The Romeo Project (The Studio) and Rooftops (DSA Productions). While her main focus is acting, she has also recently discovered a love for playwriting. Sammy has been teaching theatre school to kids ages three to seventeen for the past four years. This allows her to write, devise, and direct while sharing her love for the arts with the next generation. She is blessed to be able to work and create in Saskatoon
Kas Rea is currently enrolled at the U of S, pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She has completed the University of Saskatchewan Certificate of Art and Design (USCAD) course and attended Emma Lake's Kenderdine campus. Kas works in a variety of mediums including painting in acrylics, watercolours and oils, drawing, photography and face/body painting. She works as a program guide at the Remai Modern and an instructor at Gail Adams School of Art. Previously she has worked as an art leader for the Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Program (SCYAP), a Paint Nite guide, and as an artistic director at local photography company CG Imaging, where she led and co-led creative photoshoots for clients. Kas has been pursuing visual arts for over 10 years. For her art is about sharing ideas, emotions, and telling stories through different media. Her pieces often relate to nature, human emotions and feminism. She sees art as a constant adventure that offers unlimited possibilities.
Program Pilot
The initial pilot for this program, which ended on April 30, 2020, was made possible with a grant from the Saskatchewan Arts Board’s Artists in Communities program and involved artists Muveddet Al-Kathib, Danica Lorer, Lenore Maier, Marcel Petit, and Wendy Sharpe.
Read more about the pilot project and the design charrette process:
Artists In Place: The Bunkhouse Project Pilot Evaluation
About the Bunkhouse
Located on Treaty Six Territory and the traditional homeland of the Métis, the Sutherland Forest Nursery Station opened in 1913 as a tree nursery station and model farm with landscaped grounds, a Superintendent’s residence, operational buildings, propagation fields, trial shelterbelts, and experimental plots. The Bunkhouse was built in 1916 and used as a residence for workers. The nursery closed in 1965 and a portion of the site was reopened as the Forestry Farm Park by the City of Saskatoon in 1966. The Zoo opened in 1972. Since that time, the Bunkhouse has been used as administrative offices, a veterinarian office, and more recently a storage facility. In 1990, the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo was designated a national historic site in recognition of its role as a Forest Nursery Station.