Art Residency Comes to an End
The Art Centre - Ii Finland - Early March
The last 3 months have been fantastic! The blogging stopped while i focused on making new paintings. It has been a busy time working long hours but the result exceeded personal expectations. The staff in charge of the residency have been extremely helpful, generous and kind in assisting with requirements as they surfaced. We arrived at the tail end of winter and watched the slow transition to spring. Some of the highlights from the natural environment were; witnessing the Aurora Borealis, (Northern Lights) an eclipse of the Sun and 24 hour daylight, all unique and unexpected.
Kulttuuri Kauppila Art Centre is located on the banks of the Ii River close to the small town centre of Ii. The residency is a 50 minute drive north from Oulu airport which is the travel hub for north-western Finland. The town including immediate region has a population of about 9500 people. A core group of foundation artists fought hard to establish the new centre from the ashes of a bad studio fire. With vision and strong determination the art centre grew from funding sourced from the EU cultural grants program and opened in 2006. Since that time the residency has hosted more than 35 artists from around the world.
Here's a bit of info about KK ...
Some shots of the facilities at KK
Kulttuuri Kauppila offers a range of facilities to accommodate most art mediums or practices including ceramic kilns. Most of the past AIR guests have brought with them a broad scope of art practices both traditional and digital/hybrid in nature. Whatever the project, the staff and artists are keen to lend a hand to expedite the successful completion of work.
Spectacular 24 hour days
Early May and the days started to lengthen. By the end of the month it was getting awkward to sleep and keep all night daylight out of the house. Walking at 2 in the morning was like a late afternoon stroll ... weird but magnificent. We went from long nights to long days in the space of 3 months time.
Shot of one of the exhibition spaces
Exhibitions can be held in the 2 foyer spaces or in any of the studios with a minimum of conversion. There is a great combination of natural and artificial lighting in all of the rooms. With an advanced plan it may be possible to book other gallery spaces in the nearby regional city of Oulu for a fee.
Final exhibition shots
The culmination of 10 weeks of painting!! A great opening night with new friends and visitors. Although Kulttuuri Kauppila is a regional art centre, it has an extensive support network of individuals who are involved in the programs in various ways. It is always pleasing to me to be able to show new work in an excellent environment suited to the nature of the work such as this space at the art centre.
Although our time has finished at Kulttuuri Kauppila we have taken away a special memory of this unique place and hope we'll be able to visit again one day in the future.
Interested? More info can be found at:
http://www.resartis.org/en/residencies/list_of_residencies/?id_content=4988
http://www.visitii.fi/kulttuurikauppila
https://www.youtube.com/user/KulttuuriKauppila
Although our time has finished at Kulttuuri Kauppila we have taken away a special memory of this unique place and hope we'll be able to visit again one day in the future.
Interested? More info can be found at:
http://www.resartis.org/en/residencies/list_of_residencies/?id_content=4988
http://www.visitii.fi/kulttuurikauppila
https://www.youtube.com/user/KulttuuriKauppila
