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 inspire artists through the nature, animals, and people at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo
• to connect the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo and the greater world
2022-23 Artist Residency
The 2022-23 artists in residence at the Bunkhouse include: visual artists Aarin Rinas, Emilie Neudorf, Jeanette Munroe, Jordan Baraniecki, Kei Tanaka, and theatre artist Yulissa Campos. The artists will be in residence from June 6, 2022 to March 31, 2023.
Over the course of their tenth 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 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.
Emilie Neudorf is an emerging artist from Saskatoon SK, treaty 6 territory. She holds a BA double major in Sociology and Fine art (2019) and a BFA (2021) from the University of Saskatchewan. Her work has been shown at Nuit Blanche Saskatoon 2019, Nuit Blanche Eve USask 2019 & 2020, Saskatoon Fringe Festival, and PAVED Arts (Saskatoon, SK). Working in drawing, painting, and photography, Emilie explores the histories and shifting functions of social spaces – presenting questions about what public and private architecture reveals about the people and cultures who create and use them.
Jeanette Munroe is a Cree artist from Muskoday First Nation, Saskatchewan. She also has a Saulteaux and Métis ancestry. She resides in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Jeanette discovered the art easel, brushes, and paint in kindergarten. In grade eleven she received an academic award for art at Bedford Road Collegiate. At the University of Saskatchewan she attended a painting class, a drawing class, two sculpture classes and a Canadian Art History class. She studied drama too and has some theatre experience. Jeanette loves to paint. Acrylic on canvas is her preferred medium. In the future she hopes to explore with oil paints and sculptures.
Jordan Baraniecki is a professional artist based in Saskatoon, Canada. His bold three-dimensional ink collages use colour, texture, space and form as their own visual language to communicate a relationship between cosmic and microscopic. He creates gestural ink marks, meticulously cuts out the pieces and collages them.
He was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His Bachelor of Fine Art took him to three different universities across Canada where he received scholarships and awards in drawing. His Master’s degree was completed at Emily Carr University in 2022. Jordan has exhibited Nationally and Internationally, with a recent exhibition at the Academy of Fine Art in Krakow, Poland. In addition, he has worked with major companies such as Herschel Clothing and the Vancouver Opera. Currently he is in partnership with the 0x Society Gallery in Montreal developing his first NFTs through their mentorship program.
Kei Tanaka (she/her) is an artist from Treaty Six Territory. With a degree in studio arts from the University of Saskatchewan and a passion for theatre design in her pocket, she is ready to unleash her full potential of creative frenzy upon the world. She does illustration and other art work on her Instagram @tanakeiart and has self-published her first picture book, The Nutcracker. Kei hopes that her art can bring a smile and happiness to everyone!
Yulissa Campos is an Ecuadorian theatre artist and founding artistic director of Ay, Caramba! Theatre, the first Latin American theatre in Saskatchewan. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan. Yulissa works with the Newcomer and Indigenous community when she is not writing, acting, or producing. She advocates for diversity and inclusion on stage and has been invited to the CBC’s national broadcast Q with Tom Power to talk about her theatre company and the diversity in the prairies. Yulissa celebrates her Latin American heritage in her plays and her work has been presented internationally such as at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival and across Canada. She is now preparing to debut in the biggest role of her life: motherhood. You can find more about her work at aycarambatheatre.com
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.