ARTISTS RENEW REGINA HERITAGE BUILDING
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The new Creative City Centre in Regina.
The new Creative City Centre in Regina. Photo: Rebecca Dutton.
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The new Creative City Centre in Regina.
The new Creative City Centre in Regina. Photo: Rebecca Dutton.
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The new Creative City Centre in Regina.
The new Creative City Centre in Regina. Photo: Rebecca Dutton.
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The new Creative City Centre in Regina.
The new Creative City Centre in Regina. Photo: Rebecca Dutton.
ARTISTS RENEW REGINA HERITAGE BUILDING
New Creative City Centre moves in downtown
By Rebecca Lawrence
Regina has recently had a boost to its burgeoning arts scene — the Creative City Centre, which opened last May in the downtown core, which gives artists a unique place to develop and produce work.
The idea for the Centre was originated by local artist Marian Donnelly, but it took her several years to get it off the ground and into a permanent space. She began by setting up Inner Circle Creative City Development Corp., a non-profit organization, with a mandate to transform under-utilized buildings into spaces for artists to be creative and productive. From that initial move back in 2004, Donnelly has turned a heritage building in much need of repair into a vibrant arts and cultural hub.
Now the building is home to a variety of artists, including the Regina Fashion Collective, a group of a dozen innovative young designers. The third floor has three studio spaces, with two rented out to Articulate Ink, a printing collective formed by recent graduates from the University of Regina. Artist-in-residence Terri Fidelak occupies the third studio and holds a series of monthly workshops, including glass making, printing, leather work, beading, quilting and photography. She also hosts bi-monthly life-drawing sessions under the banner of “Mr. Dressup’s Revenge.”
“We’re leaning more towards tenants who are contributing to the programming in the building, rather than people who are just looking for a quiet place to paint or write,” Donnelly says.
The Hague Gallery, named after Harold Hague, who provided Donnelly with the space in the building above his store, Loggie’s Shoes, holds revolving monthly exhibitions of work by local artists, and serves as a small concert venue. “Everything we’re doing is about making it affordable for artists to actually do something, to promote their work, to showcase their work, to develop their work,” Donnelly says.
At Articulate Ink, the collective is designing and producing commercial and fine-art prints. “The idea is to provide an accessible print-making facility to artists in Regina and Saskatchewan,” says printmaker Michelle Brownridge. “This gives us the opportunity to have this facility, to put our equipment in, to work, to meet other artists, to network.”