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.
2021 Artist Residency
The 2021 artists in residence at the Bunkhouse include: Artist Team: spoken word artist Peace Akintade and musician Micah Jane; Visual Artist Team Cristine Andrew-Stuckel and Diana Roelens; visual artist Jane Reväe McWhirter, and visual artist/filmmaker Ania Ślusarczyk.
Over the course of their eight 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 the artists will be held towards the end of their residency. More details will be announced closer to the dates.
Artist Bios
Peace Akintade is the 2020-2021 Saskatchewan's Youth Poet Laureate and local Spoken Word Artist, writer, public speaker, and youth Leadership Advocate in Saskatoon. She speaks as an African-Canadian Theatre-based Poet and Storyteller. Her poems express her undying love for ironic justice, motivational banter, the dimmed light of Africa's internal dilemma, and the trouble of cultural barriers. Her vision coming to Canada is to bring together Saskatoon locals and African immigrants through poetry. The idea of “Art without limit”. She wants to raise the intent and full expression of Poetry and Spoken Word by bridging the art community, the immigrant community and locals, and Black artists to the mainstream world.
Micah Jane is a queer, Canadian musician passionate about politics and performing. She has been writing and playing music since she was 9, and currently works as a voice/guitar/ukulele teacher at Prairie Songstress. She has always felt a profound sense of belonging within the arts- she loves anything from filmmaking to recording and producing her own songs. She has volunteered with Girls Rock Camp Saskatoon, been a student in both media school and Collective voice, and is currently working towards releasing her first ep. She is an active advocate for mental health, and hopes to inspire struggling young people through her music and social media.
Cristine Andrew-Stuckel Originally from the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Cristine relocated to Saskatoon in 1999 with her young daughters to begin a new life. After receiving a number of awards in painting and photography at the Showcase of the Arts through the Saskatoon Exhibition, she was encouraged to return to school in 2015 and pursue her lifelong love of art. Cristine will graduate with a BFA (Hons) Studio Art from the University of Saskatchewan this spring and is currently preparing her multi-media thesis exhibition. Areas of focus during her time at the university include painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture/installation. Cristine has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships based on her academic achievements at university. She has volunteered at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery on campus and was involved with the Visual Arts Student Union (VASU) as a board member. In 2018 she was chosen by a professor in the Art and Art History Department as one of the top three painting students to enter a student painting and sculpture competition at Galerie Art Mûr in Montreal and was subsequently chosen as one of the student-artists to take part in the associated exhibition that same year.
In 2017, she volunteered for the “Tell My Story” art program with the Adoption Support Centre in Saskatoon. The experience of exploring her own adoption through art provided insight for the youth involved in the program and continues to inform her work as she considers roots, history, place, and ancestry. She has translated these themes into a fascination with trees and support systems.
Diana Roelens was born in Nongoma, South Africa and immigrated to a small rural town on the Canadian prairies together with her husband and young family in 2004. She currently lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but grew up and lived in various South African locales including the south east coast and Cape Town. The richly diverse, often harsh environments of both South Africa and Canada have strongly influenced her art, particularly her interest in landscapes and water. After completing the University of Saskatchewan Certificate in Art and Design (USCAD) program, Diana decided to pursue a degree in fine art; she will complete her BFA (Hons) Studio Art at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) in April 2021. She has focused on drawing,painting, sculpture, and installation during her time at the U of S.
A number of Diana’s paintings were chosen for the Fresh Paint/New Construction exhibition at the Art Mûr gallery in Montreal in 2018 after she was nominated by Allyson Glenn, Associate Professor in the Art and Art History Department at the U of S. This annual exhibition highlights some of the best up-and-coming talent in painting and sculpture from Canadian universities coast-to-coast. Diana has also participated in group shows in Saskatchewan and South Africa and had work featured on the cover of the ESJ, a peer-reviewed journal published by the U of S.
Jane Reväe McWhirter (she/her) is a visual artist from Saskatoon, SK, which is on Treaty 6 Territory. Jane received her BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, majoring in painting and ceramics but explored everything from embroidery to sound based installation. Jane creates as an outlet, channeling emotion into her work while exploring a multitude of mediums. Jane's work often involves themes of healing, vulnerability, connection, personal growth, overcoming trauma, issues of mental health, feminism, nature and body positivity. Her work often features women in a wide array of emotions; in an attempt to explore the strength and power of being a woman that is honouring and embracing her authentic self.
Jane has spent several years using art to promote personal growth, build community and help improve the lives of others. She’s worked with people from all backgrounds and of all ages but specializes in working with at-risk youth. Over the last ten years Jane has worked at/partnered with countless organizations throughout Saskatoon, including: PAVED Arts, Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP), The University of Saskatchewan, The Fringe Festival, Station 20 West, The Open Door Society, The Elizabeth Fry Society, White Buffalo Youth Lodge, CNYC, Out Saskatoon, Saskatoon Clayworks, Parkridge Centre and many more.
Ania Ślusarczyk Born in Kraków, Poland, Ania Ślusarczyk is a visual artist dealing in still and moving images. Her subjects include animals, emotions and science in magic realist images evoking the mystery and uncanniness of everyday reality. She studied painting and drawing and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan. In recent years she has turned to film and video for artistic expression. She also works as a freelance photographer and videographer.
Being very interested in lighting, she sees film and photography as a way to paint with light.
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.