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.
PROJECT GOALS:
• to provide opportunities for artistic expression in a civic facility
• to provide opportunities for artists to connect and learn from each other
• to inspire artists through the nature, animals, and people at the SFFP&Z and connect the SFFP&Z to a larger community
2023 Artist Residency
The 2023 artists in residence at the Bunkhouse include: visual artists Aarin Rinas, Cassandra Van Buekenhout, Dawn Rogal, Kathleen Kelly, Mila Pshebylo, and fashion designer Emily Ann Ives. The artists will be in residence from April 11, 2023 to September 1, 2023.
Over the course of their five month residencies, these artists will be creating a body of work inspired by their time at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo.
Watch this short video by 2022-23 Bunkhouse artist Kei Tanaka for a look at a day in her life at the studio:
Artist Bios
Aarin Rinas is an artist and craftsman based in Saskatoon. He was born and raised in Kansas City, MO and after high school attended the Art Institute of Chicago (2000-2003). There his studies focused on figurative drawing and painting. In his current practice he works in charcoal, oil paint and pastels. In March 2020 Aarin was awarded an independent artists grant from SK Arts to create works exploring our society’s current relationship with money. Over the last few years he has shown his work around Saskatoon and earlier this year won the “Mayor's Prize” at the Mann Art Gallery Winter festival.
Cassandra Van Buekenhout was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 2001.While growing up in Saskatchewan, I have always had a close connection with the outdoors and the breathtaking land that surrounds me. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I have always had a fascination for Saskatchewan's valleys, pastures, grain elevators, small towns, skies, and Saskatchewan scenery. This fascination came to be when I was given my first camera. I would take hundreds of pictures of the experiences I had living on the prairies and the beautiful manmade structures, pastures and scenery I would see on my excursions. When I graduated from Dr. Martin Leboldus Highschool in 2019, I was accepted into the Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours Program at the University of Saskatchewan. Throughout my education at the University of Saskatchewan, I began to expand my artistic abilities and started to explore printmaking. I completely fell in love with printmaking and began to explore and create lino cut pieces that were based on my personal perspective of how I see Saskatchewan scenery and would create vibrant, bold, unique, linear, and nostalgic editions. As I began to create Saskatchewan-inspired lino cuts, I also began to dabble in abstract painting and drawing. Once I created a personal artistic style and image for myself, I decided to create my own small business in 2021 where I would sell my pieces. With each piece, I hope to create a sense of nostalgia or add a pop of color to my customers' homes.
Dawn Rogal is a juried member of the Saskatchewan Craft Council in both printmaking and mixed media. Her work has been seen in solo and group shows in Saskatoon, Santa Monica, Seattle, Brooklyn, and Austin. Through the SCC she shows her work in the SCC Boutique. Dawn also shows her work through Black Spruce Gallery in Waskesiu.
Emily Ann Ives is an interdisciplinary artist from Saskatoon SK, treaty 6 territory. She has worked as a photographer, graphic designer, textile artist and fashion designer, she is currently pursuing a degree in design from Toronto Metropolitan University. Her work in textile and design has been featured in events including Vancouver Fashion Week, Saskatoon Fashion and Design Festival, Saskatchewan Fashion Week and The Fashion and Lifestyle Network. In 2021 Emily’s collection of sustainable designs was chose for the Mikeysline and New York Fashion Week's design contest. Emily’s work focuses on the tradition of creating textiles and designs by hand using natural fibers as a form of storytelling. Through her work Emily is on a constant exploration of finding new and innovative ways to create sustainable art and fashion with minimal environmental impact.
Kathleen Kelly is a tattoo and fine artist based in Saskatoon. She has been creating since she could hold a pencil and has received various levels of art instruction, from elementary school through university to the present. Her work explores subject matter both natural and fantastical, with special interest in botanicals and birds. She works in various media, including watercolour, gouache, oil, graphite, digital, and tattoo. She can be found at @thistlekae on Instagram.
Mila Pshebylo is an emerging artist from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and graduate of the University of Saskatchewan Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours program. Her work has taken the form of mixed media drawings, sculpture, and video, incorporating symbols that “occupy'' momentous, or important elements of her personal history. Within her work simple or familiar imagery is a catalyst for autobiography, fragments of life experience and markers of noteworthy moments. The importance of sharing knowledge has taken her as far as China for learning and research opportunities and brought her home to begin teaching community art classes. She was the recipient of a Saskatchewan Arts Board grant in 2020. Her work has been shown in local galleries, most recently at Nuit Blanche YXE 2022 and The Gallery at the Frances Morrison Library in Saskatoon.
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.