Visitors to the Perron District might be under the impression the Studio Gallery location on the main strip is the full extent of the membership of the now five-year-old Visual Arts Studio Association (VASA) of St. Albert.
That would be false. Tucked away nicely in Grandin Park Plaza is the group’s lesser-known satellite studio. A keen corps of painters makes its home there. This month both spots have shows to entice observers, both casual and committed, into the world of St. Albert’s visual arts community.
The first show for the general VASA membership opened last weekend on Perron Street while the second one, called Small Paintings, comes to the mall location next week. Both are fine samplings of the work and the talent incubated here in the city. You never know exactly how much care and attention our local artists pay to their muses until you stop in at a local gallery and see the results staring you in the face. They never stop working and they never stop moving forward.
Pat Wagensveld is the head of the organization. She hinted that VASA membership is surging upward, leading her to implement some big changes in the near future.
“As of January 1, we’re moving totally into VASA,” she stated, referring to the planned name change. “We’ve got a sign up right now and it says VASA. We’re slowing moving into the different mode of working.”
The group of 34 members works to support the development of local visual artists through offering affordable studio space, exhibition space and educational resources. It hosted a series of lectures this past spring that saw promising attendance figures and sparked much interest.
For now, Wagensveld is happy that the shows are doing well and that more and more attention is coming VASA’s way.
“The studios are our primary function,” she said, adding studio space is filled with a growing waiting list. “It’s an absolute success.”
For more information on the group, call 780-460-5990 or visit www.vasa.ca.
