![Nesw](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Nesw.jpg)
The North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop (NESW) is an
artist collective
An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the need ...
, or
artist-run initiative
An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...
, centred on a co-operative shared studio in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, focused on "the creation and promotion of ambitious
contemporary
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
made using
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
processes and materials".
["Profiles: Edmonton Art Institutions (Societies, Foundations, Associations etc.)", PrairieSeen, September 18, 2012](_blank)
[Travel Information: Artists' Studio](_blank)
/ref>["Prairie Daily: Winnipeg architect’s 99 red balloons, Saskatchewan pet owners take DIY too far, Calgary food drive, and Edmonton’s scrap metal sculptors," Chad Cawson, Spectator Tribune, November 2, 2012](_blank)
/ref> The NESW name makes a symbolic reference to the cardinal directions
The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are a ...
in allusion to the idea of boundless exploration.["Big Spaces For Big Sculptures," Janice Ryan, Studio Inside, Edmonton Journal, November 2, 2012]
History
The North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop was founded in 2002, with sculptors Mark Bellows, Andrew French, and Ryan McCourt
Ryan McCourt (born February 23, 1975) is a Canadian artist best known for his sculptures.Terry Fenton, "Edmonton Sculpture: The Next Generation," Harcourt Expressed, Volume 12, Summer/Fall 2002
He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
Early life and edu ...
as the resident artists. In its first year, the NESW produced four exhibitions in four different venues: "''Front Room Sculpture''" at Harcourt House; "''North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop''" at Global Visions Film Festival; "''Desperate Measures''" with The Works Society; and "''Big Things
''Big Things'' was a large-scale steel sculpture exhibition series organized by the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop for the Royal Alberta Museum's outdoor South Terrace.Gilbert Bouchard, "Come to Expect 'Big Things'", Edmonton Journal, July 1 ...
''" at the Royal Alberta Museum
The Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is a museum of human and natural history in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum is located in Downtown Edmonton, north of City Hall. The museum is the largest in western Canada with more than exhibition space ...
.
Sculptures by the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop artists appeared in another 2002 Harcourt House exhibition: "Edmonton Sculpture: The Next Generation", an Edmonton sculpture survey show curated by Canadian artist, curator and critic Terry Fenton
Terry Fenton (born July 1, 1940) is a Canadian artist, author, critic, and curator known for his landscape paintings, his support of modernist art, and his writing on the work of artists such as Jack Bush, Anthony Caro, Peter Hide, Dorothy Know ...
. In his accompanying essay, Fenton singles out the NESW artists:
"'' Andrew French, Mark Bellows, and Ryan McCourt
Ryan McCourt (born February 23, 1975) is a Canadian artist best known for his sculptures.Terry Fenton, "Edmonton Sculpture: The Next Generation," Harcourt Expressed, Volume 12, Summer/Fall 2002
He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
Early life and edu ...
share a studio, giving them the double advantage of being removed from the student environment while retaining continued access to one another for stimulation and criticism. This does not amount to their charting a common course. If anything, the shared studio has confirmed them in separate directions: the hothouse atmosphere appears to have stimulated both invention and individuality. Their work seems to be getting closer to the source of their inspiration, French's into the occupation of space by brute force, Bellows into a poetry of volume, McCourt into elegant profiles''".
The success of the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop's first Big Things
''Big Things'' was a large-scale steel sculpture exhibition series organized by the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop for the Royal Alberta Museum's outdoor South Terrace.Gilbert Bouchard, "Come to Expect 'Big Things'", Edmonton Journal, July 1 ...
exhibition would lead to three more presentations in the series: Big Things 2 in 2003, Big Things 3 in 2004, and Big Things 4 in 2006. In 2005, in celebration of Alberta's centennial year, and the Museum's new Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
from Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
, the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop presented the Alberta Centennial Sculpture Exhibition at the newly named Royal Alberta Museum
The Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is a museum of human and natural history in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum is located in Downtown Edmonton, north of City Hall. The museum is the largest in western Canada with more than exhibition space ...
.
New Directions
Mark Bellows left the studio in 2005, while Robert Willms
Robert Byron Willms (born 1969) is a Canadian sculptor and teacher, best known for creating assembled, abstract steel sculptures.
Biography
Willms was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia in 1969 and resides in Edmonton, Alberta.He has live ...
joined the NESW that same year. In 2007, the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop moved into a large new facility, with 2100 square feet working space, concrete floors, 20-foot ceilings, and a 2,800-square-foot yard. As the Royal Alberta Museum grounds were unavailable to the group that year, the NESW exhibited "New Directions," a show of smaller works, at the Stollery Gallery in Edmonton.
Upon touring the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop in 2008, Edmonton arts writer Amy Fung called the studio "''essentially an artist’s wet dream
A nocturnal emission, informally known as a wet dream, sex dream, nightfall or sleep orgasm, is a spontaneous orgasm during sleep that includes ejaculation for a male, or vaginal wetness or an orgasm (or both) for a female. Nocturnal emissions ...
in our space-deprived city.''" In her view, the NESW was "''certainly more impressive in size and facilities than existing local ARCs and arts initiatives such as ArtsHabitat''". In 2008, the North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop presented "AUTOGRAPH: Sculpture and Drawing by Rob Willms", the inaugural exhibition in Common Sense, their new gallery space; and "Peter Hide @ The RAM," an exhibition of major works by Hide on the Royal Alberta Museum
The Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is a museum of human and natural history in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum is located in Downtown Edmonton, north of City Hall. The museum is the largest in western Canada with more than exhibition space ...
's outdoor sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
patio.
According to a 2012 Edmonton Journal
The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network.
History
The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...
profile on the NESW, their ground level studio at 10546 - 115th street has 2100 square feet of concrete floor space, 20-foot-high ceilings, and a ten-foot by fourteen-foot sliding door that leads to a 2800-square-foot storage yard. Resident sculptors in 2012 include Ryan McCourt
Ryan McCourt (born February 23, 1975) is a Canadian artist best known for his sculptures.Terry Fenton, "Edmonton Sculpture: The Next Generation," Harcourt Expressed, Volume 12, Summer/Fall 2002
He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
Early life and edu ...
, Mark Bellows, Andrew French, Stephen Pardy and Robert Willms
Robert Byron Willms (born 1969) is a Canadian sculptor and teacher, best known for creating assembled, abstract steel sculptures.
Biography
Willms was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia in 1969 and resides in Edmonton, Alberta.He has live ...
. From 2008 to 2012, the NESW gallery Common Sense held twenty-nine exhibitions of artists from around the world working in a variety of media. The North Edmonton Sculpture Workshop formerly ran a widely read blog called Studiosavant, which discussed the Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
art scene.
References
{{reflist, 2
Canadian artist groups and collectives
Arts organizations based in Canada
Arts organizations established in 2002
Artist-run centres
Organizations based in Edmonton
Studios in Canada