News

THANK YOU for being a VANS member!

As the end of the year approaches, remember to renew your VANS membership before it expires on December 31! If you selected an automatically renewing membership when you joined or renewed last year, then it will automatically charge your 2025 membership fees on December 1, 2024. No need to set a reminder – the website will…

You’re invited to the CFNS Holiday Party!

On behalf of the eight federations that comprise the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia, we warmly invite you to our 2024 Holiday Gathering! Join us as we celebrate the culture, artistry, and heritage of Nova Scotia with an evening filled with festive cheer on Thursday, December 12, drop in between 4 pm – 7 pm…

Workshop registration deadlines extended!

There are two workshops left in the VANS Fall Workshop Series – Taxes for Artists and Networking and Talking About Your Work. We have extended the registration deadlines for both of these in-person workshops. Take a look at the workshop descriptions below and sign up today here. TAXES FOR ARTISTS This workshop will go over…

Extra PAINTS Deadline – Tues. November 12

      Teachers! Get matching funds for workshops in your classroom PAINTS is delighted to be welcoming new artists to the program. To celebrate, we’ve created an extra opportunity for teachers to request workshops. Requests are being accepted now until November 12.  We’ll be supporting the first 20 projects requested. For this special deadline, only…

Call for pitches

Visual Arts News has put out an open call for the Spring 2025 issue (Volume 47, #1). We’re eager to hear from writers, artists, and critics to expand and deepen conversations inspired by the artistic vision of emerging and established artists who are pushing the boundaries of art and culture in the Atlantic. We will also…

Re/collections exhibition at VANS for Nocturne

Re/collections is a free, community group installation that invites the public to experience an interactive exhibition that charts and catalogs Visual Arts Nova Scotia’s forty-eight years of cultural impact across Mi’kma’ki. Taking place at the Corridor Gallery, located within the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia (1113 Marginal Rd, Halifax, NS B3H 4P7), Visual Arts Nova…

VANS Fall Workshops – open for registration

Check out VANS’ Fall Workshop Series! We’re offering Exhibition Prep and Installation with David Dahms online on October 10, DIY Website with Marie-Soleil Provençal online on October 24, Networking and Talking About Your Work with Christopher Webb in person in Halifax on November 23, Grant Writing with Becka Barker in Lunenburg on October 27, How…

Jupiter V in Conversation with Nocturne

Visual Arts Nova Scotia and Visual Arts News, in partnership with Nocturne: Art at Night Festival, present an in-person discussion: Jupiter V in Conversation with Shuvanjan Karmaker on Friday, September 27, from 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Are you curious about the behind-the-scenes of Nocturne’s logo, poster and graphic design? September 27 is your lucky day! Join…

VANS is hiring!

We are seeking a creative and detail-oriented Social Media and Community Coordinator to join our team. The ideal candidate will have a passion for social media and digital marketing, with a keen eye for trends and content creation, as well as the enthusiasm to connect with communities in many creative ways. The successful candidate will…

Win a prize pack from DeSerres and VANS!

Activate your Visual Arts Nova Scotia membership discount at DeSerres Halifax in September for a chance to win a prize pack from DeSerres and VANS! As a VANS member, you qualify for an additional 10% discount at DeSerres art supply stores, with your DeSerres’ Creative Club card (free to join) between September 1 – 30.…

Office drop in day!

The VANS staff will be opening our doors (and hopefully sitting at a table in the sun outside the office) on Thursday, September 19 from 11am – 2pm for a drop in day! Swing by and meet the VANS staff, get some info, enjoy some treats and pick up an art book (for a donation…

Meet the 2024-25 Mentorship Program

Visual Arts Nova Scotia is pleased to officially announce the participants of this year’s Mentorship Program. After receiving many great applications, the program will be supporting four dedicated emerging artists in Nova Scotia. Solmaz Asheri, Elise Campbell, Jools Annie (Julia Hutt), and Adam McNamara and have been individually paired with established artists and mentors François…

A Call for New PAINTS Artists

ARTISTS! Are you interested in working with students?  The PAINTS (Professional Artists In The Schools) Program is seeking professional artists and fine craft artisans who want to offer workshops to schools in their home community. Our program is available to schools throughout the province, for grades Primary – 12, so we need artists everywhere. Some…

Take our Workshop Survey (please)!

VANS will be offering online and in-person workshops for our Fall Workshop Series in October and November. We’d love to get your feedback about which professional development workshops we should offer and when. Let us know what you would like to see VANS offer by completing the Fall 2024 Workshop Survey, here: https://forms.gle/2WsiH5ddb6cqCxU28. Then we would really appreciate it if you’d share this…

Art book sale on Instagram!

To support our Artist Emergency Fund and share our resources with those in need, VANS is hosting three special book sales on Instagram on August 15 (10 AM), August 22 (10 AM), and August 29 (10 AM). On August 15th, we’re kicking off the first sale on VANS’ Instagram. Each week, we’ll feature ten books…

Sign up for a Peer Review Group!

It’s still summer, but we have started thinking about the fall application deadlines, which means it’s time for another round of the Peer Application Review Groups! Visual Arts Nova Scotia is facilitating this six-week peer-review process to help current members strengthen their upcoming proposals. Artists will get and give feedback by email on applications from…

Emerging Artist Talk on July 28!

Come to the Emerging Artist Talk for It’s Been A Year: the VANS 2023-24 Mentorship Program exhibition. Kristi Farrier, Pam Juarez, Kordeena Clayton, and Barbara Brown Conrod will be at The Craig Gallery in Dartmouth, Sunday, July 28 at 1 pm to talk about their work and their experience in the Mentorship Program. The exhibition closes…

Call for application to the Mentorship Program

We are accepting applications for Visual Arts Nova Scotia’s Mentorship Program. The program pairs emerging artists with established artists to take part in a ten-month mentorship from September to June. Focusing on supporting the goals and ambitions of emerging artists throughout the province, mentors may be asked to provide support in any one or more…

It’s Been A Year: 2023-24 Mentorship Program Exhibition

It’s Been A Year Visual Arts Nova Scotia’s 2023-24 Mentorship Program Exhibition The Craig Gallery, July 3 – July 28, 2024 Opening: Thursday, July 4, 2024, from 6 – 8 pm Emerging Artist Talk (in-person): Sunday, July 28, 1 pm  Highlighting the talents of emerging artists Barbara Brown Conrod, Kordeena Clayton, Kristi Farrier, and Pam Juarez,…

We’re Fine in the Lowlands, Oil on canvas, 2024, 48” x 36” “We’re Fine in the Lowlands” depicts an imagined and dream-like landscape, packed with abstracted water and plant-like forms, along with cartoonish blobs that are suspended within the scene. Referencing theatrical set design through proscenium arching, and the layering of forms and foliage to create an illusion of deep space, this piece is playing with notions of both personal and artistic space-making. The work involves vibrant colours, many layers of paint application, energetic brushwork, and shifting perspectives to create a cavernous environment that simultaneously pulls the viewer in and pushes them away. A picture light installed above the painting offers a humorous nod to traditional modes of scenic landscape painting.

VANS in Residence at ARTSPLACE Cortney Cassidy

Visual Arts Nova Scotia, in partnership with ARCAC, is so pleased to welcome Cortney Cassidy as the newest VANS in Residence Artist. Cortney will be in residence from June 2 – 28, 2024 at ARTPLACE in Annapolis Royal. Cortney Cassidy is an emerging painter, based in Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Canada). They are a recent graduate of…