Manitoba
Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Two Winnipeg witches provided the explanation for this prairie city’s allure.
Zaz Bajon met them at a party here a few years ago.
“They told me that astrological lines almost cross here, creating an aura about Winnipeg,” he recalls. “Now that I’ve lived here for 25 years, I really believe it,” says Bajon, general manager of the Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC).
He’s not alone in his belief that the city is blessed with people of talent and vision who have made it what could easily be called the cultural heart of the country.
Holly Procktor agrees. “Winnipeg is a hot spot right now and people are trying to figure out why there is such great art coming out of Winnipeg. Theories abound, but (in truth) there is the opportunity to be creative and not worry about failing,” says Procktor, the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s art educator, who moved here from Ontario seven years ago. “Also (the artists) are isolated and so sometimes don’t pick up on other trends and so develop (their) own esthetic.”
Zaz Bajon met them at a party here a few years ago.
“They told me that astrological lines almost cross here, creating an aura about Winnipeg,” he recalls. “Now that I’ve lived here for 25 years, I really believe it,” says Bajon, general manager of the Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC).
He’s not alone in his belief that the city is blessed with people of talent and vision who have made it what could easily be called the cultural heart of the country.
Holly Procktor agrees. “Winnipeg is a hot spot right now and people are trying to figure out why there is such great art coming out of Winnipeg. Theories abound, but (in truth) there is the opportunity to be creative and not worry about failing,” says Procktor, the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s art educator, who moved here from Ontario seven years ago. “Also (the artists) are isolated and so sometimes don’t pick up on other trends and so develop (their) own esthetic.”
It’s the place to be - summer or winter: drama, music, song and dance, the big folk festival, the fringe festival, art galleries, street art, ballet.
Bajon talks of the city’s artistic legacy. “We have a national presence because we were the first regional theatre in the country. “ MTC was founded by John Hirsch and Tom Hendry 50 years ago. “The arts are still major league here – whereas sport, outside of the Bombers, is minor league.” Big names have been on the marquee here, too: Len Cariou, Judd Hirsch, Kathleen Turner, Keanu Reeves, Gordon Pinsent, James Blendick, Seana McKenna. Cariou was back this autumn to star in Our Town and will direct David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross in 2008.
MTC “means a huge amount to me,” says Cariou in a telephone interview from New York. “It’s where I got my start. I was mentored by John Hirsch - he played a huge role in my life (in the theatre), from MTC to Stratford. For seven or eight years, I went between Stratford and Winnipeg (with constant work).”
Like Bajon and Procktor, Cariou is impressed by Winnipeg’s support for the arts. When told about Bajon’s theory with regard to the city’s aura, he laughs, then says “I’ll drink to that.”
MTC “means a huge amount to me,” says Cariou in a telephone interview from New York. “It’s where I got my start. I was mentored by John Hirsch - he played a huge role in my life (in the theatre), from MTC to Stratford. For seven or eight years, I went between Stratford and Winnipeg (with constant work).”
Like Bajon and Procktor, Cariou is impressed by Winnipeg’s support for the arts. When told about Bajon’s theory with regard to the city’s aura, he laughs, then says “I’ll drink to that.”
Before MTC was on the scene, there was Rainbow Stage, the outdoor summer musical theatre at Kildonan Park in the city’s north end. Hendry and Hirsh were here, too, producing and directing in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Many a Canadian star got his or her start here, including Cariou and the Stratford Festival’s James Blendick. “There was one time we were in New York and there were seven people headlining or in shows on Broadway who were all from Winnipeg,” says Rainbow’s executive producer Ken Peter. “So we have been instrumental in starting people on their course and we’re very proud of that.”
The outdoor stage was initially designed for post-war band concerts but in 1955 the first musical, Brigadoon, was presented. In 2001, Rainbow Stage launched a winter show as well at the historic downtown Pantages Theatre. “When we did this the first winter, we got a few calls,” business manager Penny McMillan says with a grin. “How are you going to be doing this (in the park) people asked.”
The Sound of Music was the family show this year in the park; at the Pantages in March, The Full Monty will be presented. Next summer, Peter Pan will be at the park.
The outdoor stage was initially designed for post-war band concerts but in 1955 the first musical, Brigadoon, was presented. In 2001, Rainbow Stage launched a winter show as well at the historic downtown Pantages Theatre. “When we did this the first winter, we got a few calls,” business manager Penny McMillan says with a grin. “How are you going to be doing this (in the park) people asked.”
The Sound of Music was the family show this year in the park; at the Pantages in March, The Full Monty will be presented. Next summer, Peter Pan will be at the park.
It was Cariou who encouraged a young James Blendick to become part of the Rainbow company. Blendick, who joined the Stratford Festival company since 1967, was part of the trio, Swingtones, at the time. “We started at dances around town and then worked into performing at nightclubs,” Blendick recalls.
When the group broke up, Cariou suggested he audition for the Rainbow Stage production of South Pacific. “Len was playing one of the leads and I played Stewpot. We had a ball.”
Later, John Hirsch encouraged him to study at the National Theatre School and, before moving to Stratford, Hersh returned to
When the group broke up, Cariou suggested he audition for the Rainbow Stage production of South Pacific. “Len was playing one of the leads and I played Stewpot. We had a ball.”
Later, John Hirsch encouraged him to study at the National Theatre School and, before moving to Stratford, Hersh returned to
Winnipeg to the MTC in such productions as Measure for Measure, Twelth Night, A Man’s A Man. While he has travelled further afield, Blendick has not forgotten Winnipeg. “It’s an extraordinary place,” he says. “So many talented people….”
Like the MTC, the Winnipeg Art Gallery was a first for the country; it is the oldest civic art gallery in Canada, established in 1912 with $600: $200 each from W.J. Bulman, George Wilson and James MacDiarmid. It holds the world’s largest collection of Inuit art with 10,300 pieces. Procktor speaks with passion about the beauty and spirituality of the work.
She also emphasizes its collaborative process both artist and printmaker, for example, are acknowledged. “It’s a collective mentality and it’s always (acknowledged); you see a lot of art work that comes together by more than one person but only one name is on it - historically, like Rodin.”
The latest buzz at the gallery is the exhibit, Where is Here? that also relies on the collective talent of Royal Art Lodge. The work of three of six of the group’s Winnipeg founding members is here: Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber of Winnipeg and Marcel Dzama, who now lives in New York. The collective got its start when the artists, as young students, in 1996 “got together as a social club … and just happened to make art as well. That was the part they enjoyed the most. It became a weekly gathering -every Wednesday, they would gather together in a studio space here in Winnipeg.”
This exhibit from the Childhood series is a collaborative effort, too. “One person may paint the background, another will paint (other elements) and Dzama, because he lives in New York, mails his contributions to Winnipeg (in the form of drawings) that are cut out and applied by Dumontier and Farber,” explains Prockter. The result is delightfully whimsical - and sometimes heart wrenching.
Innovation and dedication are evident, too, in the city’s more recent art spaces, such as the Plug-In gallery and Urban Shaman.
Plug-In, located on the ground floor of the historic Maltese Cross Building, focuses on cutting edge contemporary art that is “exciting, provocative, often irreverent,” says artistic director Steven Matijico.
It represented Canada at the 2001 Venice Bienniale where it won a major prize. “We don’t have a permanent collection, Matijico explains, but the gallery exhibits the work of talented artists from Manitoba, other parts of Canada and around the globe. It is, literally, an in-your-face gallery with huge windows along the street “so that the exhibits can be seen from indoors and outdoors.”
Like the MTC, the Winnipeg Art Gallery was a first for the country; it is the oldest civic art gallery in Canada, established in 1912 with $600: $200 each from W.J. Bulman, George Wilson and James MacDiarmid. It holds the world’s largest collection of Inuit art with 10,300 pieces. Procktor speaks with passion about the beauty and spirituality of the work.
She also emphasizes its collaborative process both artist and printmaker, for example, are acknowledged. “It’s a collective mentality and it’s always (acknowledged); you see a lot of art work that comes together by more than one person but only one name is on it - historically, like Rodin.”
The latest buzz at the gallery is the exhibit, Where is Here? that also relies on the collective talent of Royal Art Lodge. The work of three of six of the group’s Winnipeg founding members is here: Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber of Winnipeg and Marcel Dzama, who now lives in New York. The collective got its start when the artists, as young students, in 1996 “got together as a social club … and just happened to make art as well. That was the part they enjoyed the most. It became a weekly gathering -every Wednesday, they would gather together in a studio space here in Winnipeg.”
This exhibit from the Childhood series is a collaborative effort, too. “One person may paint the background, another will paint (other elements) and Dzama, because he lives in New York, mails his contributions to Winnipeg (in the form of drawings) that are cut out and applied by Dumontier and Farber,” explains Prockter. The result is delightfully whimsical - and sometimes heart wrenching.
Innovation and dedication are evident, too, in the city’s more recent art spaces, such as the Plug-In gallery and Urban Shaman.
Plug-In, located on the ground floor of the historic Maltese Cross Building, focuses on cutting edge contemporary art that is “exciting, provocative, often irreverent,” says artistic director Steven Matijico.
It represented Canada at the 2001 Venice Bienniale where it won a major prize. “We don’t have a permanent collection, Matijico explains, but the gallery exhibits the work of talented artists from Manitoba, other parts of Canada and around the globe. It is, literally, an in-your-face gallery with huge windows along the street “so that the exhibits can be seen from indoors and outdoors.”
Urban Shaman is an aboriginal artists-run centre funded primarily by government. “Our mandate is the exhibition … of contemporary aboriginal art,” says director Steve Loft, a Mohawk who is also Jewish. “I’m a Jew hawk,” he jokes.
The gallery is housed in a funky, open space on the second floor of a heritage building in the Exchange District. The Urban Shaman focus is on Canadian art but “when money allows, we try to (exhibit the work of other aboriginal artists). This year we’ll have 17 distinct shows in three galleries - the large space, the smaller media gallery off that area - and our newest space, which is Internet -based new media gallery, art created by and through the computer.”
The gallery is housed in a funky, open space on the second floor of a heritage building in the Exchange District. The Urban Shaman focus is on Canadian art but “when money allows, we try to (exhibit the work of other aboriginal artists). This year we’ll have 17 distinct shows in three galleries - the large space, the smaller media gallery off that area - and our newest space, which is Internet -based new media gallery, art created by and through the computer.”
The Exchange District, itself, is an architectural treasure in the heart of the business district. Dozens of 19th- and 20th-century buildings have been preserved and now house galleries, dance studios, museums, antique shops, restaurants and cafes. It’s best seen in the daytime as it gets very quiet at night. At dusk, though, the action moves to The Forks, a gathering place (as it was for centuries for First Nations people and European newcomers). Railway lands have been converted to green space, as well as a lively shopping and market area dotted with pubs, restaurants and a couple of fine-dining rooms.
The city also boasts the art of nature in its beautiful parks and riverside trails - amid the startling beauty of the prairie. From the air, it is an oasis in the wide sweep of the Plains.
On the ground, away from the central business district, residential avenues stretch under a canopy of green and the sweeping lawns of Kildonan, Assiniboine, Vimy Memorial, Stephen Juba and Central parks, as well as those of the Manitoba Legislature, draw locals and visitors alike. Walking trails stretch along the Assiniboine and Red rivers in both Winnipeg and St. Bonifice.
It’s an easy walk from The Forks across the stunning new pedestrian bridge, Esplanade Riel, to Promenade Tache where there is a riverside walk and, across the street, the fascinating Louis Riel collection at Le Musee de Saint-Bonifice.
On the ground, away from the central business district, residential avenues stretch under a canopy of green and the sweeping lawns of Kildonan, Assiniboine, Vimy Memorial, Stephen Juba and Central parks, as well as those of the Manitoba Legislature, draw locals and visitors alike. Walking trails stretch along the Assiniboine and Red rivers in both Winnipeg and St. Bonifice.
It’s an easy walk from The Forks across the stunning new pedestrian bridge, Esplanade Riel, to Promenade Tache where there is a riverside walk and, across the street, the fascinating Louis Riel collection at Le Musee de Saint-Bonifice.
During the summer months, in the nearby cemetery, in the grounds of the St. Bonifice Cathedral, a church within a church (a new church was built inside the ruins of the old basilica that was destroyed by fire in 1968) young francophone actors present Manitoba history in a hilarious but informative 40-minute play in which they deal with the 150-year-old question: “Was Louis Riel a hero or a traitor?” The answer for many here in Manitoba? He was a hero.
For more information on Winnipeg, call toll-free 1-800-665-0204 or visit Destination Wiinnipeg.
© Vivian Macdonald, 2008.
For more information on Winnipeg, call toll-free 1-800-665-0204 or visit Destination Wiinnipeg.
© Vivian Macdonald, 2008.
