The Jack Millikin Centre and the Ness Creek Cultural and Recreational Society are excited to announce a new cultural element to the Ness Creek Music Festival: “ARTfullNESS”

The success of the biennial Emma International Collaboration has led to interest in further collaborative artistic endeavours at the Ness Creek Site. The Ness Creek Society and the Jack Millikin Centre will host a “live” artistic collaboration at the 2009 Ness Creek Music Festival and this is a call to Emma participants who have been to the site to express interest in participating in the event.

Festival attendees will be able to engage in the project by watching it come together over the course of the festival weekend. The stakeholders who use the Ness Creek Site have also talked about starting an art park which complements the cultural activities on the Site. This sort of project will help that dream take shape and leave a legacy for future visitors/users. There is an extensive trail network on the site which could be part of this art park, so there are no limits to this project in terms of scope (well, it would be limited to the 320 acres we have control over.)

How Will It Work?

By the end of January, Ness Creek will select, from the list of Emma ’06 and Emma ‘08 participants who have expressed interest, a group of artists (likely no more than seven) to collaborate on a project which will be completed during the course of the 2009 Ness Creek Festival and will remain as a permanent installation on the Ness Creek Site. Craig Campbell will be the project team leader. He will supervise the project process and ensure that the team is ready to spring into action upon arrival at the Ness Creek Site. He will work with Gordon Olson (Ness Creek) and Cathy Sproule (Jack Millikin Centre) as the project supervision team.

The team will begin the design phase of the project as soon as the members are announced. They will work with Jack Millikin Centre and Ness Creek to determine materials and equipment needed for the project and will have the materials/equipment list completed by June 1st. The team will arrive at the Ness Creek Site no later than Monday July 13th, 2009 and will attempt to have the project completed by the end of the Festival (July 19th). In theory, July 14th -16th would be a three-day prep period and July 17-19 would be the actual construction period.

The team will be expected to focus on local/found materials and to incorporate respect for the First Nation history of the site. If possible, incorporation of music as an element of the project would also be welcomed. The project team may also include artists who have not been part of the Emma experience if there is a particular known artist who would suit the project. The Jack Millikin Centre and Ness Creek might also invite youth to be involved in the project – either local youth or young artisans who may fit into the process. The Boreal Forest Learning Centre (who operate the trails on site) and the Saskatchewan Craft Council will also be shareholders in the event and will be consulted by the project organizers for their potential role and involvement.
Hello everyone:

We are pleased to announce the members of the team for ARTfullNESS for 2009:

Arthur Perlett (Saskatoon)
Brad Hall (Annapolis Royal)
Craig Campbell (Saskatoon) TEAM LEADER
Greg Wilbur (Portland)
Michael Cullen (Petaluma)
Michael Hosaluk (Saskatoon)
Mike Jackofsky (Escondido)

For information, visit the ARTfullNESS website: www.artfullness.ca