Guest Lecturer - Betty Ann Keller

Today in class, we had Betty Ann Keller who is the manager of arts culture festival and events with City of Waterloo. Keller had graduated from the University of Waterloo with an Arts Degree and has been a concert promoter for 30 years.

Keller mentions how arts and culture is way down the list on the budget for the City. There is no mandate for cities to provide arts and cultures. It is important to work with other organizations to provide money, resources, and office space. Measuring success in arts and culture is a big challenge. Keller is responsible for: public square, City of Waterloo Museum, Princess Cinema & the Twin, etc.

Waterloo is a continuously changing city.

The Power of Policies

Keller mentions how there should be a collection policy, many of the artwork is chosen based on the art/design. Right now there is lots of intensification going on and many of these projects will need a public art master plan. The major project is going on in the area beside RIM park where they plan to provide residence for 4000 citizens. In order for any policy to be approved, the councilor has to make the decision.

Opportunities and Dreams


Keller hopes to have a creativity institute where people can have the chance to express themselves. Also, improving the facilities at Waterloo park would help in bringing more people to the many festivals/events that take place within the city.

Reflection

Betty Ann Keller's lecture was very interesting because it provided her insight on arts and culture in Waterloo for over 30 years. I can tell from her lecture that Betty is very passionate about her work.

Fireworks on Victoria Day

On Monday night around 11pm, my roommates and I decided to head down to the Columbia Icefield to light up some fireworks. This was my first time experiencing Victoria Day for a while, since I am not usually here in Canada for the summer. Our group definitely had the best firework display because looking at the other groups around the field, most of them got their fireworks from the convenience store. We actually drove to a fireworks store to purchase unique types of fireworks.

Golf on Victoria Day Weekend

So my good buddy Winston and I decided to head to the golf range this morning to hit some golf balls.  It started to rain but that didn't stop us from hitting buckets full of balls. Before I left Taiwan for Spring term here, I would often head to the golf range a lot but now that I am in Waterloo, I do not have the time.

The golf range we went to was right beside St. Jacobs Market so after we finished playing, we went out to look for fireworks for Monday night. We ended up finding a fireworks store inside a trailer.

Creating a e-Portfolio

On May 16, 2011 I finally learned how to create an e-Portfolio for my REC 348: Cultural Management course. In many cases it is like creating a web page, however, it is used for collecting my previous work and showing everyone what I have learned.

So far I have created an introduction about myself and a page on my travels around the world. I will soon be developing a list of objectives, goals, accomplishment, and struggles of the material that we have covered in class.

My e-portfolio can be found here:

http://eport.uwaterloo.ca/html/stitch.php?s=29868622803938&id=32301684778465


If any students at Waterloo are interested, here's the link: http://eport.uwaterloo.ca

About Me

Hi, I'm Robert Huang

Here are some quick facts about me:

-I was born in Taiwan but I came to Toronto, Canada at a very young age.

-I am turning 22 this summer.

-I have visited 10% of the world.

-I am the only one in my family in Canada.

Night Market

I grew up in the York Mills area in Toronto, where I attended high school. Each Summer I would travel back to Taiwan to visit my family. These two countries are important to me because they both mean something to me. When I think of Taiwan the first thing that comes to mind is the food and when I think of Canada, all I can think of is the fresh air / open space.

shaved ice (mango)

'Stinky' Tofu

(all images courtesy of http://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com/)

University of Waterloo Art Gallery - Heidi Jahnke & Gary Carlson

This was my first time visiting the University of Waterloo Art Gallery (UWAG), located in East Campus Hall. This particular exhibition had two showings: Gallery one by Heidi Jahnke and Gallery two by Gary Carlson. The exhibition was held in two separate, but still spacious rooms. 

Exhibition Hall

Heidi Jahnke's theme, 'weird fiction' captures her view of the world at large. Many of her paintings are unexpected and filled with designs from the unlikely to the absurd. She placed her drawings throughout the exhibition hall but it is at the maroon wall where she specifically designed the layout of the paintings. In many, if not all, of Jahnke's paintings used a large variety of bright colors.

Gallery 1

The image below depicts three painting that have caught my attention.

Towards the left you can see a ballerina who is cut in half. The background colors show a transition from bright to dark which provides a eerie feeling. The shades of pink and purple on the ballerina's dress are done nicely to show depth. In the middle painting, is a sculpture that is made out of hotdogs. You would never imagine someone creating something out of hotdogs. The painting on the top right  shows a pineapple head. The yellow background blends perfectly with the human body and pineapple head because it might be referring to what is inside the pineapple.

 Janhke's Work

I found that the exhibition as a whole was very successful. I loved the design of Jahnke's paintings on the background of the maroon wall. The rest of her work was placed onto the white walls. However, I believe that she could have had more artwork on these areas. It felt like there was large gap between paintings and a lot of the space on the walls were wasted.

Jahnke's other work

The gallery serves an important purpose towards the university community and the general Kitchener / Waterloo community. UWAG provides many artists with a place to both display and promote their work. It is important for the Kitchener and Waterloo community to support local artists.

One of the main issues with the gallery is that not a lot of students know about it. When I asked my roommates if they have ever been to the UWAG, none of them knew what I was talking about. I believe that in order to make the gallery more successful, more people have to know about these exhibitions. UWAG has to find a special way to promote the gallery.



We were told from the curator that most artists' dream was to head to Toronto to work and display their art there. However, due to the shift in the economy, many of these artists cannot afford a place to both sleep and work around such a high-cost living area. Due to the financial constraints artists are considering moving to locations like Kitchener/Guelph which is more feasible for them.




(all images courtesy of the artists and University of Waterloo Art Gallery)