ArtPontiac hosted their first ever Professional Development Day at Café 349 in Shawville on May 1 under the title of Unleashing your Creativity – A Primer for Artists.

The event was largely coordinated, and emceed, by member artist Katharine Fletcher with association board members assisting on logistics. Three artPontiac board members, including president Cheryl Beillard, were in attendance and, while keeping a generally low profile, made themselves available for engagement at breaks, lunch and at conference end with the distribution of an attendee survey.

The idea for the day evolved early in the year and Fletcher was able to gather a compelling contingent of speakers which in turn elicited a lively arrangement of artists committed to the event.

Participants were particularly attentive to keynote speaker John Philippe Smith, the current Dominion Sculptor. Smith grew up in Bristol and so his tale of starting local, leaving, seeing the world and returning to take the helm of a prestigious job at perhaps our country’s most iconic location, Parliament Hill, resonated fully. Nothing inspires quite like hearing a dream come alive, and Smith brought his fellow artists into his.

The second speaker for the day was Laura Murray, a professor in the Department of English at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Her own life trajectory unexpectedly placed her on a path with copyright law and she brought her insights of that realm to bear with regard to concerns and considerations for artists. The topic was clearly a hot-button issue for those gathered as the question period risked taking over even the time allocated for lunch.

The third speaker was a last minute replacement for another. Nancy Dale Conroy is likely familiar to many as she has been actively speaking on various topics related to the history of the area thanks largely to her research on the topic for her recently published book, From Derry to the Pontiac. Indeed, THE EQUITY was present for her launch at the Little Red Wagon Winery back in October of 2022.

Her presentation focused on sharing her experiences in research and publication, offering attendees insight into challenges found therein.

The final speaker, Shane Lucas Bailey, is new to the area and his specialty is also somewhat new to the association. Bailey is a guru when it comes to using technology in the form of computer programs and peripherals as a way to express creativity. His talk was mostly technical, and a second workshop is almost surely in the works. Bailey is also on the current roster of instructors for artPontiac and will be delivering several courses later this summer as almost an extension to his presentation.

The day was sponsored in part by both the Regional Municipalities of the Pontiac (MRC) and Culture Outaouais and there are aspirations to host additional days later this year.

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