Artsy Opportunities at WBRL!

Whether you are dipping your toes in the art world, or you are a creative master, the Wood Buffalo Regional Library has services for you! 

Art Programs  

Starting a new artistic endeavor can be stressful! However, with the art programs offered at WBRL, picking up a new creative hobby is a little less fear-inducing. With our Community Engagement team’s many skills, they create easy-to-follow projects like Miki’s Adult Fibre Art: Cross-Stitch program where she had patrons create their own adorable toadstool or sunflower. 

Looking for a painting project? Keep a look out for Tia’s Watercolour and Acrylic Paint Nights where you can paint along with her to create your own masterpiece. 

We deeply value Melissa’s intricate and beautiful beading skills! She often pairs these projects with the ongoing Bead and Read program, an Indigenous book club where patrons have a month to read the selected text. The book is discussed at the end of the month as Melissa takes the group through a beading project that is themed with the text. Her latest work was a pair of braided sweetgrass earrings that paired perfectly with the selected book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Our Community Services team also creates fun and engaging art projects for children all over Wood Buffalo to participate in! Art is a regular and well-loved staple in our children's programming, from Kid Create for 6–12-year-olds, to Rise and Shine for newborn-5 years, we will plant the creative seeds to grow the minds of little artists. Our Community Services team doesn’t only create these engaging projects for children attending library programs in-house, they take the fun on the road and visit all the communities in Wood Buffalo! This Oil Pastel project was created in April’s monthly visit to Fort Chipewyan. Look at the joy and playfulness in those eyes! 

Photographing Artwork 

Once you have created your masterpiece, you may wonder what the best way to photograph your artwork is. We have a couple of free options that may be helpful to you! 

For 2D Artwork:  

If your artwork is 11 x 17 inches or smaller, you can use our scanner to take scans and send high quality image files of your work. You can alter the settings to scan at 600dpi—the best quality for artwork! The cost? Scanning to a USB or your email is free!  

For Large Masterpieces: 

For sculptures or artwork larger than 11 x 17 inches, you can check out our Photography Kit with your library membership. The star of the kit is a Cannon Rebel EOS T6i; a camera that will make capturing gorgeous, high-quality photos a breeze. Also included are several books on photography, a three-piece professional filter kit, and Opteka ultra bright digital 36 video light and more!  

Making Touch Ups  

If you need to do some minor touch ups of your artwork, we have you covered! You can borrow an iPad with your WBRL membership to edit a jpg you previously scanned or use the camera to take a photo of your art, like I did below. 

First, I used Apple’s built in photo editor to crop the background out of the picture. 

Next, I used the highlighter tool to change the colour of the Panda’s shirt collar to blue. 

Now the panda is refreshed with a snazzy new look!  

Low-Pressure Art Showing 

Putting yourself out there can be hard but putting your artwork out there can be anxiety inducing! At WBRL we have a low-stakes, low-pressure opportunity for artists to unveil their artwork for, potentially, the first time! Artists just need to return a completed Art Display Booking Form, which is available at any of our service desks, and choose the month they’d like to display their artwork. When the special month comes around, artists will set up their work on provided easels around the reference section on the second floor—in direct view of admiring patrons coming and leaving the upper floor of the library!

Shoutout to ACWB! 

We would be amiss if we didn’t do a quick shoutout to the amazing community resource that is Arts Council Wood Buffalo! They are a non-profit society and charitable organization that is determined to support the growth and success of the arts in our community. ACWB offers a variety of services and events including artist call outs, a toolkit full of useful information for budding creatives, a directory of Wood Buffalo artists from a variety of disciplines, and more! They have Marketplace, which acts as a virtual community market where ACWB participating artists can create a store and sell their work. Their Artist Directory has also helped us at WBRL to connect with community artists to book them as special guests in upcoming programming!  Be sure to check out their website.

Last But Not Least! 

Of course, we cannot forget to tell you about our most accessible commodity—books! If you are looking for ways to get creative, check out our list of books, Unlock Your Creativity and Get Artsy! After you comb through the items on this list, it will be no time at all before you have your very own masterpiece!