community involvement
In 2005 and 2006 Terry Drahos, Patrick Farrell, and Nicole Evans anonymously presented a series of gestural figure sculptures in Wolfville Nova Scotia that are still affectionately known as “the twig people”. Sculptures were constructed in a single evening and placed around town under the cover of night. It was a year long game the artists played with the town. The fun and intriguing project gave the community a stronger desire for a need for accessible public art.
Since 2006 the town of Wolfville has drafted a public art policy, numerous permanent murals and sculptures have been commissioned throughout the county and a virtual map to all of these cultural treasures has been created by Kings County,
This simple project launched a desire for public art in Kings County’s rural community.
uncommon common art
In the summer of 2007 Terry Drahos conceptualized a public art project presented in a large rural environment. Inviting fellow artists Uncommon Common Art (UCA) was launched in the summer of 2008. Over the next twelve years Drahos grew the organization from an ad hoc group of artists to a year round register charity that not only presented public art but art education programming that touched the lives of thousands of children in rural Nova Scotia.
Having run its’ course UCA was closed at the end of 2019. UCA’s twelve years of public art has not only changed the face of Kings County, Nova Scotia but inspired new visual art maps and public art projects. Over the years UCA offered an opportunity for artists emerging and established, with varied art practices and backgrounds to collaborate and communicate.
uncommoncommonart.com ucaeducation.tumblr.com cbc.ca/news canadianart.ca saltwire.com
art in the garden
The best part of the summer is Art in the Garden Camp at the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens on the Acadia Campus in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Thirteen years ago the garden's horticulturist, Melanie Priesnitz and I designed a week long summer camp which emphasized outdoors, creativity, and beauty. Each summer I offer two weeks of camp which has grown into a tradition for the children in our community. Our first campers from 2007 are now all grown up and each year we welcome new children to experience our camp traditions.