Sudbury Living - Winter 2007 - (Page 59)

Celeste sCopelites is determined to lead the art Gallery of sudbury into the 21st Century BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN eleste Scopelites smiles as she watches visitors to the Art Gallery of Sudbury examine colourful paintings by artist Daphne Odjig. The Odjig exhibition is of such high calibre, it will be mounted at the National Gallery in Ottawa after it leaves Sudbury. It was put together by guest curator Bonnie Devine, and is a joint project of the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada. Odjig, who was born on Manitoulin Island in 1919, was instrumental in bringing to public prominence the pictorial style now known as the Woodland School. Scopelites, the curator of the AGS, said it took two years to make this special retrospective of work by one of the country’s top artists a reality. A colour catalogue of Odjig’s paintings has also been printed in three languages - English, French and Ojibway. “This is something hard for Sudburians to believe, that we were able to do this (exhibition) from here. It’s exciting. Because of the nature of the building, the gallery is seen as small and quaint.” She is referring to the 100-year-old Bell mansion on John St. As the director and curator of the gallery for the past five years, Scopelites has poured her heart and soul into making it a place people want to visit. She is responsible for both the day-to-day operation and long-term vision of the gallery. “There’s lots of challenges for the arts in this community, but I like building things. It’s a time in the gallery when we’re doing new things,” she said. Scopelites admires people in Sudbury’s artistic community. “I find many people in this community are selfmade individuals and are doing a similar kind of thing. As much as there can be conflicts and challenges, people are very strong and very determined and dedicated to the community. “At the same time, I find there’s an inferiority complex. My peers in the arts community, whether it’s in theatre or music, have really attained national recognition for their work. But (many) people don’t know what we do or they think if we were good, we wouldn’t be in Sudbury.” continued on page 60 C P HO T O BY M AR G S E R E GE L YI Winter 2007 Sudbury Living 59

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sudbury Living - Winter 2007

Table of Contents
Decor
Drink
Food
People
Travel
Passions
Indulgences
Fashion
Health
Weighing your options for the holidays
Arts
On the Cover

Sudbury Living - Winter 2007

https://www.nxtbookmedia.com