When owner and curator Fran Fearnley announced last fall that ZimArt’s Rice Lake Gallery in Bailieboro — Canada’s only outdoor gallery of hand-carved Shona sculpture — was permanently closing after 23 years, it was sad news for the many people who visited the cultural attraction, including art collectors and the artists who participated in stone-carving workshops there.
The good news is that the five-acre property is now the home of Rice Lake Arts, which is just as dedicated to celebrating nature and art by providing a creative learning space that offers visual art workshops and events featuring local and regional artists — and is continuing ZimArt’s tradition of summer outdoor concerts featuring local musicians.
“I know that there are thousands of people that have been there over the years and love the location,” says Rice Lake Arts owner and director Miriam Davidson, who had participated in classes at the outdoor gallery decades before she purchased the land this past March. “It’s such a magical place.”
While Rice Lake Arts has inherited several of the largest sculptures of the ZimArt collection, which remain on the grounds and are available for purchase through Wayne Gallimore of Zimsculpture, it is no longer an outdoor gallery of Zimbabwean stone sculpture.
“We really want to differentiate ourselves because we are not a sculpture gallery anymore, nor are we teaching Shona carving,” Davidson points out. “We have to be careful we’re not appropriating.”
One of the substantial changes made to the property is the restoration of the barn to now offer an indoor space that can be used for workshops during poor weather.
“The barn is so beautiful and it was falling into disrepair, so we decided to try and give it a bit of a new life,” says Davidson. “It’s an absolutely beautiful space and it could be a space for weddings down the road or to do our concerts indoors.”
Although Rice Lake Arts will not be teaching Shona stone carving, Rice Lake Arts has invited local and regional artists to host workshops in stone and wood carving, as well as fibre arts and paper works, including drawing, mixed media, quilting, and yarn dying, among others.
With some led by Davidson herself, workshops range from one to five days so artists can really immerse themselves in learning and creation.
However, Davidson says the experience at Rice Lake Arts extends beyond the workshops.
“It’s so much more than that because once you get there, it’s such a lovely place to spend the day,” says Davidson, noting the same applies to the summer outdoor concerts. “We encourage people to come early, have a picnic, enjoy the grounds, and then the music is a couple hours before it gets dark. It’s a bit more family-oriented and casual than a theatre ticket would be.”
The lineup of outdoor concerts, which run on four Wednesdays during the summer from 6 to 8 p.m., includes the Rice Lake Arts Jazz Quintet (July 17), The Weber Brothers (July 31), Al Lerman Trio (August 14), and The Receivers (August 28).
Like the gallery that was there before, Rice Lake Arts continues to play off the capacity for learning from and working alongside nature on the property — hence its slogan “Where Art and Nature Meet.”
“We’re really trying to keep the workshops connected to the environment, and to the landscape, and only using non-toxic materials as much as we can and trying to be good stewards of the land,” she says, adding Rice Lake Arts is sourcing soy-based inks and not using chemical dyes.
“We even bought old vintage sewing machines for the workshops, so instead of buying expensive new electronic machines, we bought them used. They’re beautiful.”
From July 8 to 12, the centre is hosting a Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough camp, inspired by Davidson’s own “little sister.” The camp will have the “littles” learning to sculpt in the morning with Davidson, before spending the afternoon engaged in other projects and sporting activities.
“It’s been a great experience getting to know Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Peterborough,” says Davidson. “I think it’s an amazing organization, so I thought they were a great first partner with us.”
Rice Lake Arts is also working with Thomas A. Stewart High School and their integrated arts program which has historically brought their students to interact with the sculptures. They will be offering scholarships to students in the visual arts streams.
“We were thinking about being a socially minded entrepreneur, thinking about ways to the community and its land,” says Davidson. “It’s belonged to people for hundreds and thousands of years out here and I want everyone to be able to enjoy it.”
To give everyone the opportunity to explore the new grounds and what will be available, Rice Lake Arts is hosting an open house on Sunday (May 26) between 1 and 4 p.m.
Representing the range of creative opportunities the property will be used for, the open house will feature live music, art demonstrations, the opportunity to connect with the artists leading workshops over the summer, and local food — including a lemonade stand operated by Davidson’s “little sister,” who is clearly following Davidson’s entrepreneurial footsteps.
“I think it will be a really lovely time for people to drop in and spend an hour wandering around, seeing what’s going on,” says Davidson, noting there will be opportunity to win workshops and other prizes.
While manifesting good weather, Davidson is hopeful the event will give her a better idea of what the public is looking for from the new arts centre.
“Because these disciplines are an experiment, we don’t know what people are going to be interested in,” she says. “We’re doing what we can to get people who have a love of the place, because it’s been a beautiful and beloved place for a long time. Hopefully some of the people who do love the grounds will come back and like what we’ve done.”
Unlike its predecessor, Rice Lake Arts is only open for specific workshops and events and not for drop-ins (other than the May 26th open house). For more information, including details about upcoming workshops and the summer concert series, visit ricelakearts.ca.
