Art Kitchen is a radically transparent and participatory approach to arts funding. Connexion ARC partners with local establishments and invites a guest chef to prepare a delicious soup using locally-sourced ingredients. A meal is served family-style while four artists present their project proposals. Each patron is given one ballot to vote for the art project they would like to see happen in Fredericton, NB. The selected artist will receive a grant from the evening’s profits, providing a local artist or curator with unbureaucratic funding for artistic creation, research, and experimentation.
Art Kitchen is a method of arts funding that draws from entrepreneurial and grassroots strategies to generate funds for new, emerging, and newly professionalized artists and curators. Art Kitchen encourages communities to engage in the processes of art making and local patronage, as a radically transparent and inclusive fundraiser. For emerging artists and curators, applying for an Art Kitchen grant is a simple and unbureaucratic method to receive immediate support for a new or continuing project. The initiative approaches arts funding by working outside of possible granting barriers. As an artist-run organization, Connexion ARC seeks to foster the growth of contemporary artists in its membership.
Participating Artists for 2019:
Arrow Amor
Sarah Irving was born in Salisbury, NB and studied Fine Art at Mount Allison University. She is an artist, muralist, Art Battle participant and Paint Nite instructor who is in love with colour and creating things! Mitl Gaxiola was born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico and studied Fine Art at Autonomous University of Sinaloa. He is an artist, muralist, Art Battle NB Finalist and architect in love with travel, triathlons, and public spaces in community.
As Arrow Amor, they work primarily with communities to create art in public spaces. They have worked with people of all ages, helping them paint murals that reflect the identity of their park, community or neighbourhood. They would like to have people of all ages from the Fredericton area come out to lend a hand, paint the mural, and create a sense of connection between the piece of art and the community.
Eric Hill & Matt Carter
Eric Hill has published poetry and chapbooks with a wide variety of Canadian outlets. He performs and records experimental music solo or in collaboration under the project name Counting on Downstairs. He has composed three scores for plays by Theatre Free Radical. His long running podcast, Surgery Radio has spawned a curated concert series, Surgery Series, and a label called Patient Records which has so far released ten albums by mostly NB-based artists.
Matt Carter is a musician, photographer, and journalist with deep ties to Fredericton’s creative communities. His work has been showcased in a limited edition chapbook called Seeing Charlotte, an exhibition of street photography called Urban Echoes and as a videographer for the Live at the Recordery series. He has been an active jury member with Music NB, the East Coast Music Association, and the Polaris Music Prize. He is the creator and editor of Grid City Magazine.
The artists’ project lowercase capital comes from a desire to re-discover and re-contextualize the spaces we see and pass through every day. In photos and poetry, they hope to tease out the elements of fascination within each scene which, in turn, cumulatively generates a way of seeing the city from different angles.
Nichole Saunders
Nichole Saunders is a digital artist focusing on 3D animation, and holds diplomas from the Centre for Arts and Technology, NBCC, and NBCCD.
She has recently taken up the medium of needle felting, which she describes as similar to 3D modelling, but in the real world. She is developing a needle felted project recreating scenes out of fantasy novels, with the intention of getting young people excited about books by giving them a sneak peek inside.
Ysabelle Vautour
Ysabelle Vautour is a visually impaired mixed media artist from Grand Barachois, NB. People have often described her work as expressive and playful, often exploring themes of inclusion and accessibility. She is interested in art as a tool for mental health as it helps us feel heard and find our voice. She is inspired by art therapy and the disability rights movement, and wants to use art to help people to bring out ideas that they haven’t yet expressed.
Ysabelle was recently interviewed by CBC, l’Acadie Nouvelle, CJPN and CHSR Radio. She has participated in Art Battle, An Evening of Art and Cheer; attended the Paint the Past Festival in King’s Landing, as well as hosted workshops at the NBCC Library of Craft and Design, all at the same time doing a 365-day art project. Her work has been selected for a juried exhibition at the Nails on the Wall Gallery in Metuchen, New Jersey, and she has an upcoming solo exhibition at the Leon Leger Gallery in Grand Barachois, NB in June 2020.
Ysabelle hopes to start a disability arts festival in New Brunswick, which is home to the second-largest population of people living with disabilities in Canada. She intends to document work by artists with disabilities and create a place where artists can connect and share resources with each other, and to start a dialogue to identify barriers and collaborate on accessible solutions.
Guest Chef: Pat Craig
Pat Craig’s culinary education comes from NBCCD Moncton, and he has since apprenticed under some of the best chefs Fredericton has to offer. He specializes in vegan fine dining and innovative takes on classic dishes, and he has close ties to the local art community. Pat is currently serving at the Southside Shake bar and Pickle Jar restaurant in the Hilton Garden Inn with Executive Chef Sarah McCarthy.
When is Art Kitchen?
Join us Wednesday November 27, 2019 at 6:30pm in the Charlotte Street Arts Centre auditorium.
How do I get tickets?
Tickets can be purchased here through Eventbrite (service fee applies), or in person at Connexion ARC’s offices (Charlotte Street Arts Centre room 133, office hours Monday to Thursday, 12-6pm)
This year we are offering three levels of support, all of which go toward funding the selected artist’s project:
- $20 – Patrons receive dinner table seating, a meal, and a voting ballot.
- $40 – Philanthropists receive dinner table seating, a meal and a voting ballot, and sponsor an additional ticket for low-income or student guest. Philanthropists will be acknowledged individually during the meal, if desired.
- $10 – Peanut Gallery tickets receive overflow seating and a voting ballot (no actual peanuts will be served, due to allergies)
Please consider purchasing your tickets well in advance. A limited number of Patron tickets will be available for $25 at the door, as well as Peanut Gallery seats.
If you have dietary restrictions or allergies, please RSVP at https://forms.gle/P2Haqn1fKs1dVpC29 or by e-mailing info@connexionarc.org. Vegan and gluten-free options are available; Art Kitchen will try to accommodate everyone.
About Connexion ARC:
Connexion Artist-Run Centre for Contemporary Art is a not-for-profit, charitable artist-run centre mandated to present, develop and promote contemporary art, in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Accessibility Notes:
The Charlotte Street Arts Centre Auditorium is fully accessible via elevator from the new ground floor entrance located on the right side of the building, approaching from Charlotte Street. There is an all-genders, wheelchair accessible washroom on the second floor, and two sets of gendered washrooms, each equipped with a wheelchair accessible stall, located on the first and second floors. Please call (506) 478-4484 or email info@connexionarc.org if you require assistance or have any questions.