This weekend: Brampton's Best Undiscovered Comic Artist contest at Stadium Comics' Free Comic Book Day

Think you have what it takes to impress in the world of comic art? Submit a sample of your work to us on Free Comic Book Day. The submissions will go up on Stadium Comics' Facebook page, and the public will vote on which one is the best!

The winner gets a $25 Stadium Gift Certificate, and a two-week exhibit at Visual Arts Brampton's Fridge Front Gallery. The winner gets the "three door" case to themselves, and can display whatever comic art they'd like. The winner chooses the start date for this show, which can be anytime between June and August.

For Free Comic Books Day, Stadium Comics has invited a tons of guests, including Marcio Takara and Alex Milne. Both artists exhibited at Artway Gallery this January, in an exhibit presented by VAB and Stadium Comics. New this year is Ken Lashley, whose titles include Black Panther, X-Men, and The Flash. There's also a ton of stuff on sale in store, an exclusive t-shirt offer, costume creation company Heroes in Tights, raffles, contests, and giveaways.

The most notable giveaway is the reason for the international event, free copies of select comic books. This year's lineup includes titles based on Superman, Ironman, Thor, The Simpsons, Archie, Toy Story and more. But be warned, there's only a limited supply, and they go extremely quickly.

  

Here's two pictures from last year's event, that VAB posted to Twitter.

Bookmark contest at Shoppers World, Nov. 22

From the Shoppers World Brampton site:

KIDS BOOKMARK CONTEST
Sunday, November 22nd
12 noon to 4 pm in the Staples Court.

Young artists are invited to show their creativity in designing a bookmark. FREE for children ages 5 to 12 years of age.

Four winners in each age category will be chosen and will have their bookmark professionally printed and sold to raise funds for the Brampton Library Children’s Literacy Initiatives. Prizes include $50 in Shoppers World Brampton gift certificates!

Bookmarks will be judged on Tuesday, November 24th. All submissions will be proudly displayed on our ‘Spread the Words Tree’ in front of Sport Mart for the holiday season!

Paul Draper places second in memorial design competition

A belated congratulations to adult member Paul Draper, who won second place in the Memorial Design Contest on the Lakeshore Asylum Cemetery. The winners of this memorial design contest were announced in April by the Psychiatric Survivor Archives, Toronto (PSAT).

The Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital Cemetery (Evans Ave & Horner Ave, Etobicoke) is the internment location for 1511 people.

The contest brochure read: "The purpose of this campaign is to create a permanent public marker to remember the people buried here in a dignified and respectful way and to
acknowledge their contributions to our community. It is intended to right a grievous historical wrong in which we as a community say to the people buried here: 'You are forgotten no longer!'."

Read more on the newsgroup misc.activism.progressive

Inspirations awards ceremony held by library

Tuesday, June 9, the Brampton Library held its awards ceremony for their annual Inspirations competition. Visual Arts Brampton president Keith Moreau was a judge for this year's competition, finding the best entry from those in grade 7 and 8 who entered the visual art category.

Among the highlights of the evening at the Brampton City Hall council chambers was a speech from former VAB youth student Kelly Anderson, who has won awards from the library multiple times, who spoke of her experiences. A slide presentation of artwork was shown.

VAB hopes to post pictures of the event, when they become available.

Here is a picture, found on July 4...

Out and About: 36th Annual Juried Show of Fine Art at the AGP

Back on April 8, I had the pleasure of attending the opening for the 36th Annual Juried Show of Fine Art at the Art Gallery of Peel.

Having participated in and viewed the show regularly for many years, the selection in this year's show is, in my estimation, the nicest cross-section yet. At the opening, I didn't vote for the People's Choice Award, simply because there was so many great works. I overheard multiple people vocalize how impressed with the quality level of the work on display. Artist Lyn Carter and George Wale, Burlington Art Centre's Director of Programs, were the ones adjudicating the show.

A congratulations goes out to Lynne Schumacher, a regular at our Wednesday portrait sessions. Lynne's oil on canvas First Light won the Colony Ford-Lincoln Award. In total, 366 artists submitted works, and 61 pieces are on display; 20 are from Peel.

The show continues until May 17.

For more information, visit the press release.

BramLib launches Inspirations, for kids, teen to submit art

Young artists (grades 1 through 12) are encouraged to submit their unpublished short stories, poems, and/or artwork to the Brampton Library, from February 16 to March 31, 2009.

One short story, one poem, and one piece of artwork will be selected for each grade level by an independent selection panel; all the selected submissions will appear in a published book, Inspirations: Brampton Library’s Journal of Youth Writing and Artwork.

The selected authors, poets, and artists will be recognized for their achievements at a presentation reception to be held on June 9, 2009. For more information, visit their website, or download the grade 1 to 8 or 9 to 12 entry forms.

Kahani art contest for kids

For any kids or parents reading the VAB blog, literary magazine Kahani has an illustration contest available. If you illustrate the first or second winning short story, you have the chance to be published in their spring 2009 issue, and you receive $50. Pakistani-American artist Ambereen Butt is the judge.

To enter, read the stories, create an illustration, and send it in with this form.

EnviroArt exhibit extended

The exhibition of our first EnviroArt competition has been extended until Saturday, October 11, 2008. The following exhibit will be of works by students of Paulina and Emily's 6-to-8-year-old classes.

EnviroArt winners announced

As promised, here's the list of winners for the EnviroArt contest.

First place went to Ethan Peluso for "The earth cries out, won't you help?"

Runner ups

• Olivia Pietrangelo for "Putting paper back into trees"
• Daniel Battaglia for "Without care today could become tomorrow"
• Ian Eubanas for "World BBQ Day"
• Paulina Su for "City Imprisons Nature"
• Stephanie Czolij for "Untitled"

For more coverage, check out The Brampton Guardian article "Enviro-Art winners announced".

EnviroArt has been judged

Yesterday at 1:00 pm, Penny Karas and Ashley Goodfellow judged the EnviroArt Contest for Visual Arts Brampton's Fridge Front Gallery.

Karas, the marketing manager for Shoppers World Brampton, and Goodfellow, the new arts and entertainment writer for The Brampton Guardian, looked over the 44 entries yesterday. They made their choices based on both the artistic merits and strength of environmental message. The two jurors were able to select their 6 favourites, one grand prize winner and five honourable mentions.

The grand prize winner will receive a $75 gift certificate to Shoppers World Brampton, while the others will receive $25 each.

The display has been put up at Fridge Front, but until the winners have all been contacted, we're embargoing any further details here, and on exhibit signage.

Just 10 days until Juried Art Show entry starts

Easily one of Ontario's most prestigious juried art shows, the Art Gallery of Peel 35th Annual Juried Show is just ten days away.

The Gallery is extremely accommodating, as you can actually submit art to the show over an entire week, from Monday, April 14 to Sunday, April 20, at any point during gallery hours. Also, it's still just $15 to enter, $12 for members.

Artist Anna Yuschuk and Cambridge Galleries curator Ivan Jurakic are both jurying.

According to the Peel Heritage Complex, the show "frequently showcases artists on the tipping point of their careers." Almost half the entrants are from outside of Peel. Debra Ali, a Visual Arts Brampton member, was the People's Choice Award winner last year.

Awards
· Best in show, $1000
· Juror's award, $750
· Colony Lincoln Ford Award for Best Painting, $350
· People's Choice Award, $50

Links
· Juried art show office site
· Entry form

Vancouver 2010 looks for medals

Medal designers wanted:

On Thursday December 13, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) announced that it is accepting official proposals from artists and companies interested in designing the Olympic and Paralympic medals. From now until January 30, 2008, artists, designers and creative teams from around the world will have the opportunity to submit their response to the Request for Proposal (RFP), demonstrating their credentials, talent and motivation for developing the medals that represent the pinnacle of athletic achievement.

Art Gallery of Peel Annual Juried Show

Entry forms are available at the Visual Arts Brampton Creative Studio, at the Art Gallery of Peel, or online as a PDF.

The Art Gallery of Peel’s Annual Juried Show is one of the most popular shows of its type in the province. In the past, artists have been entitled to submit one or two works for a non-refundable fee of $12 for members; $15 for non-members. This year, submissions will be limited to one piece per artist with the entry fee remaining the same. This will allow the same number of artists to participate but not create the excessive volume of entries that can overwhelm the jurors’ decision making process.

This year, the Gallery is fortunate to have the expertise of artist Dan Kennedy and Director of the Varley Art Gallery, John Ryerson in adjudicating the show. Submissions will be received at the Gallery from April 16 - 22, 2007 and the opening reception and awarding of prizes will take place on May 2 from 8 to 10 p.m.

For further information, contact David Somers, Curator at 905-791-4055, Ext. 3632.

Kahani Young Illustrator's Contest

Kahani, a US-based South Asian literary magazine for kids, which is holding their second annual illustration contest. Go on to their contest page, and check out the two stories that you can illustrate.

There are two age categories, 6-8 years old and 9-11 years old, each with their own prizes.

As the top prize, the 1st place stories and illustrations will be published in the Spring 2007 issue of Kahani. The winners will also get a check for $50 each. Second place winners will receive a $50 gift basket, courtesy of Barefoot Books, a Cambridge-based publisher of multicultural literature. Our 3rd place finishers will each get a $25 Borders gift card. (You can use it online as well, so you don't have to go border hopping just for a book.)