Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  What came first, the Chicken or the Dog? In the case of Canadian art expert Chris Finn and myself, it was the pigeon. It was 1970—way back in my second year at the University of Windsor. I picked up a gig to pose for a sculpture class for a whole semester. I needed the money. The class of about 12 undergraduate Fine Arts students had a choice: sculpt me or a live pigeon (I lied about the chicken). Everyone picked me. Only Chris Finn picked the bird. Probably a wise choice. The next year, my wife and I moved to Toronto. I got my degree in Journalism and didn’t see Chris again until I got some part-time work at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. It was 1999, and I kept the gig for 16 years. Small world—Chris was the resident expert there on Canadian Art. I promoted a number of shows he was involved in. No end of fun, no end of pigeon jokes. I moved on and took on some work with the Brampton Art Gallery after that. Chris eventually retired from the McMichael and moved back to hi...

Paradise Lost is found on one side of PAMA the Brampton Art Gallery Yesterday, Brampton's Main Street received a striking makeover as a massive two-story art piece found its place outdoors on the side of PAMA, the public art gallery and museum located on Main Street, just across from Gage Park. This awe-inspiring creation, named "Paradise Lost," is the creative art of Caribbean Canadian artist Chris Louis and Dillon Douglas ( pictured ), and it promises to inject a new level of intrigue into the daily commutes of motorists. "Paradise Lost" is a triptych artwork spanning three outdoor banners, portraying a journey from a thriving, healthy Earth to a desolate wasteland. Bursting with repetitive and overlapping motifs, some whimsical and others peculiar, Douglas and Louis guide us through a humbling exploration of monumental human failures. Their intention is to serve as a stark warning of the grim potential for our own future. The official launch of "Parad...

  Paradise Lost is found on one side ot PAMA the Brampton Art Gallery Yesterday, Brampton's Main Street received a striking makeover as a massive two-storey art piece found its place outdoors on the side of PAMA, the public art gallery and museum located on Main Street, just across from Gage Park. This awe-inspiring creation, named "Paradise Lost," is the creative art of Caribbean Canadian artist Chris Louis and Dillon Douglas, and it promises to inject a new level of intrigue into the daily commutes of motorists. "Paradise Lost" is a triptych artwork spanning three outdoor banners, portraying a journey from a thriving, healthy Earth to a desolate wasteland. Bursting with repetitive and overlapping motifs, some whimsical and others peculiar, Douglas and Louis guide us through a humbling exploration of monumental human failures. Their intention is to serve as a stark warning of the grim potential for our own future. The official launch of "Paradise Lost...

Industry panel asks are museums in crisis? By Stephen Weir : The winds of change are about to begin blowing through the boardrooms of public art galleries and museums in Ontario. On Thursday a panel of art experts will be meeting online at the  Ontario Museum Association’s  (OMA) annual meeting to talk the talk about the lack of diversity at the top! The  industry wide discussion is self-titled “ Are Museums in Crisis ” inspired by a number of recent articles in both the  Canadian Art Magazine  and the Toronto  Globe and Mail.   These well-respected publications have published articles that report that the vast majority of people running public art galleries and museums are white while employees and cultural consumers alike want change! A panel discussion about having more exhibition and shows by  non-white artists? No, right now the issue is diversity in terms of who is running our public cultural organizations - curators, executives and bo...

George Paginton. The man who quietly painted Peel, Mississauga, Toronto and Canada. New show. New book.   Rene Nand(l) PAMA, MPP Anand, curator author   Sharona  Adamowicz-Clements   By Stephen Weir and  P hotos  Herman Custodio  The 401 super highway winds through Peel County like a strip of concrete spaghetti.   There are glass and steel condos where cows once grazed.   Last century painting great George Paginton would not recognize his old stomping grounds where he loved to wander and paint. Back in the 1930s, 40s and 50s George Paginton was the patron saint of landscaping painting in a part of Ontario that would one day become the busy metropolises of the Toronto GTA, Brampton and Mississauga. Inspired by the Peel landscape like the Group of Seven’s love of the outdoors, Paginton's direct, truthful and rugged paintings of the land brought out a sense of beauty rarely seen now adays in art galleries and museums. Born in...

Sam Cronk at the always knocking door display New exhibition in Brampton shows what it was like for some  By Stephen Weir “The simple truth is this,” said Sam Cronk as he walked Caribbean Toronto News through a somber new exhibition at PAMA. “ No one wants to be a refugee. It is not something you strive to be.   But yet for so many it just suddenly happens. And, I guess it could happen to any of us.” Mr. Cronk is the Senior Curator of History at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) in downtown Brampton.   Earlier this month, he worked with a Halifax museum to open Refuge Canada, a travelling exhibition in PAMA’s main space gallery.   This multimedia exhibition (supported by the TD Bank)   is showing at museums and galleries across Canada – PAMA is the only stop in Ontario. “It is hard to believe that the world refugee crisis has impacted Peel,” he continued. “it is estimated that 75,000 refugees have settled in Peel County ...

Emerging American artist   Rupy  C. Tut's personal journey back to her Punjabi roots By K.J Mullins --  revised story by Newz4U publisher for Stephen Weir blog American artist Rupy C. Tut's work is currently being featured at PAMA (Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives) as part of Sikh Heritage Month. As the first large solo showing of her calligraphy and miniature paintings in Canada, Tut was excited to be part of the exhibition highlighting her culture at a gallery where Sikh people's culture is celebrated. As a woman, Tut is motivated to embody her heritage in beautiful ways. On Sunday, April 23 she presented a talk about her styles of art to a PAMA packed house. Artist Rupy Tut - Mullins photograph   The Sikh community in Canada has a very rich heritage Tut said during her talk. The struggles that the community experienced in India did not just disappear when people immigrated to North America. This has developed   into a North Am...