WINNIPEG - September 20, 2022 - Media Release
 

Manitoba Arts Network is excited to announce that our 3nd annual online Manitoba Rural Northern Juried Art Show is now available online. This year's exhibit features 36 artists from various regions including Central, Northern, Parkland, and Westman areas. This exhibition will be hosted entirely online on MAN’s digital gallery from now through December 2022. 
 
The Manitoba Rural and Northern Juried Art Show (MRNJAS) is an annual exhibition held through Manitoba Arts Network. Artworks this year cover a diverse range of media, including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media and textiles.

MRNJAS creates an opportunity for artists and their art to be valued and admired across geographic and cultural boundaries, nurturing artistic exchange. With the success of last year’s virtual exhibition where more than 900 visitors from all over the world joined us online, MAN and our member organizations have decided to continue the online exhibition for 2022. The show is a valuable opportunity for us to learn more from the artists about their work. There will be three awards selected by a jury to be presented to the artists at the Art Show Exhibition. 
 
Our Opening Reception guest host, crafter Katrina Craig, will open the celebrations on October 5th at 7pm with a presentation on the importance of play and experimentation for artistic practices. Katrina will speak about her art practice and the importance of play and experimentation within our creative endeavors, and how play can allow us to grow our creative practice in new and sometimes unexpected ways. As the Programme and Outreach Coordinator at the Manitoba Craft Council, Katrina works with artists and craftspeople to build and shape their careers. She will discuss some insights on career building she has learned from her role at the Manitoba Craft Council, and from her own professional art career.

The MRNJAS Opening Reception will be held via Zoom October 5th at 7pm, where the audience will have the opportunity to talk with artists part of the exhibition. Three artworks chosen by an external jury will be given a cash prize, with winners being announced at the opening reception.

Shelley Dyck finds that the connection to the world around her helps with her art: “The quiet and more easy-going life we found in Manitoba has improved my painting.” (Artwork: Niblets)

Doug Dmytriw believes this program is great for all artists: "Times like we live in need communication to pass along ideas, warnings, and suggestions for the advancement of our species, making the world a better place with what you can represent. Shapes, sounds, colours, and media of all types gives each of us a voice. Why waste words, why beat around the bush. More horsemen can happen anytime, anywhere.” (Artwork: More Horsemen)

Lauren MacLean’s art is a practice of deep listening at the intersection of the body, mind, spirit, heart, and soul. When painting with acrylics, she strives to capture the essence of a subject while also making it look realistic.

However, she always wants to push the envelope further and invoke deeper questions about how the viewer sees the world by changing the traditional form. Her work, The Coin does this by showing what is going on behind the subject's smile, as well as the shallow box through which we may perceive it. (Artwork: The Coin)

As a self-taught artist whose only constant in life has been the joy and fulfillment that only learning can bring, Darlene Hunt finds it most difficult to label her work with a definitive style. Darlene can only offer what others have described her work to be 'unique', whose line work is 'expressive', 'intricate' and 'breathtaking’.” (Artwork: Perfectly Imperfect)

Betty Sawatzky from the Westman Region shared her thoughts on her art practice. (Artwork: Story Time Adventure with Dad) 

“Capturing nature through many mediums in art has been my life-long passion for 50 years!  Most recently I’ve come to enjoy charcoal drawing; both its gentleness and its grit! With each piece I try to achieve that ‘WOW!’ factor – that extra ‘something’ that causes the viewer to stop and take a second look, allowing themselves to be drawn in, and to connect with the piece in their own intimate way. I strive to do that through hyper-realism charcoal. If I can invite someone into the world I’ve created for them and hold them there, then I’ve achieved that ‘WOW!’ factor.” 

Please access the zoom link below to join us Wednesday, October 5 at 7pm for the opening reception to celebrate the accomplishments of artists across the province: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84259169900
 
Join Manitoba Arts Network for this year’s Manitoba Rural Northern Juried Art Show at https://artgallery.manitobaartsnetwork.ca/. Stay updated on MAN’s Facebook and Instagram pages for more details.