In Fredericton's historic barracks, artists come together with each other — and the community

The soldiers' barracks in downtown Fredericton were initially designed to accommodate more than 240 British soldiers in the 19th century. Today, the barracks house local artists who create, showcase and sell their artwork. 

The artists are chosen each year by the Fredericton Arts Alliance (FAA) for its artists-in-residence program, which runs from June 26 to Labour Day. 

"I think a lot of people are intimidated by art," said FAA president Katie FitzRandolph.

"Having a chance to say, 'Oh, here's somebody I can talk to, somebody who could explain what they're doing, why they're responding to the world the way they are, what kind of art they're doing.' I think that's an important part of bringing the arts to the community." 

Each artist gets paid a $500 honorarium, in addition to accessing public-facing studio space — the goal being to get artists working together in public.

Celebration of in-person collaboration

The artists-in-residence program has been running for 22 years, but the past three years have been virtual due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

FitzRandolph said the theme this year is "collaboration," to celebrate breaking free from those years of social separation. 

"We were all sort of isolated in our own spaces and the residencies were virtual," she said.

"The artists were in their own studio working on their own and posting stuff on social media. But there wasn't any real interaction between the artists themselves and the public."

"Let's bring people together. Let's talk about collaborating. Let's talk about working together and sharing ideas and bouncing ideas off each other and spending time together in a studio," said FitzRandolph.

Being an artist isn't easy

Jessica Kenney is one of the artists-in-residence this year. They're a mixed-media artist, specializing in watercolour, illustration, and textile collages. But they said their most recent project is needle-felting a giant board with music notes.

"I wanted to kind of soften sheet music, so to speak, and maybe break down some barriers because a lot of people get overwhelmed with reading sheet music," they said.

Creating art can be tough on the body though — especially for Kenney, who said they suffer from fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder causing pain and tenderness in the body.

"I appreciate process a lot more now because I'm always planning in case I have a bad day.... I actually planned two projects in case my sheet music didn't work out," they said.

"I often have different mediums. So some days, when I feel really, really awful and I don't feel up to doing a lot, I'll crochet."

Laura Forrester is another artist in residence this summer. She paints florals and landscapes of New Brunswick. Although she works in a studio now, she first started painting when she was a stay-at-home mom during her maternity leave. 

She said juggling being a mother and an artist could get "a little hairy from time to time."

"There was one time that my son got up in the morning before I had a chance to get up, and he came out and thought he'd add a little something to a commission that I was working on. So there were some green hand prints and blobs added to a big floral commission," said Forrester. 

"He must have just thought that it was, you know, toddler painting time."

Leaning on community 

The collaboration theme this year resonates with Kenney and Forrester.

"I've got my own studio space by myself, so it's very isolated," said Forrester. 

"Just to have another person in this space to bounce ideas off of, you know, 'Do you think I should add a little more here or there, or what do you think about this or that?'" she said.

"Just giving feedback on each other's work is really valuable too."

"With chronic illness and disability I find you have to collaborate with people. You have to know how to collaborate just to kind of get by. So it's definitely a theme that hits home," said Kenney.

The artists will showcase their work in their fall exhibit at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre. The exhibit runs Sept. 21 to Nov. 13.