Branscombe House in Steveston will come alive with an artistic vibe come the new year as the city announced Rhonda Weppler as the heritage building’s first artist in residence.
During her year-long stay in the upstair’s portion of the restored Edwardian-style home that dates back to the early 20th century, Weppler will lead free workshops in painting, textiles, sculpture and photography.
She will also introduce the community to other visiting artists whom she is inviting to Steveston. And she will host monthly Open Studio days to provide visitors with a “behind the scenes” look at her own creative process while she works on a public sculpture commission.
Her programming will be focused around the theme of “details of place.”
“A lot of my collaborative projects with Trevor Mahovsky, and my own solo work, looks at objects as cultural artifacts and also the tradition of still life,” Weppler said by email from San Francisco. “Our world is filled with stuff. We are surrounded by material things that seem solid, but their identities are fragile.”
She added that an object may have a powerful meaning for people at one point, then later be tossed away, like it is beneath notice.
“This is as true for statues as much as it is for toys, and the digital era only emphasizes that,” she said. “I have always had an interest in what I think of as the ‘texture of the world’: the kinds of objects, or details, that make up our environment, and in part I am working through a desire to collect or archive them.”
An example of that is a project she has been working on in San Francisco for the past year, collecting pieces of debris off the streets on her daily walks, then photographing them at night in a still life arrangement
“It is interesting to me what these small bits can say about a particular neighbourhood, at a particular time,” she said. “For example, a cigar butt, a lost earring, and smashed car window glass can suggest people and a narrative. The end result is somewhere between documentary and fantasy.”
When it comes to engaging the community, Weppler said one of the free workshops she plans to hold at Branscombe House will focus on those overlooked details in the Richmond area.
Weppler said she applied for the position of artist in residence because she has, in the past few years, become increasingly interested in leading community projects, as well as working on them.
“I am optimistic about publicly engaged art pursuits in general, and what art can be and do for the public,” she said. “When I saw the call for the Branscombe House artist in residence I was thinking it would be exciting to have the opportunity to commit to, and shape almost a full year of programming.”
I loved that it seemed a blank slate and open to interpretation on how an artist, writer or musician could approach it. I have a big do-it-yourself spirit and am looking forward to seeing what things I can put in motion.”
For more information about the Branscombe House Artist-in-Residence, visit online richmond.ca/branscomberesidency. “I am also thinking of miniature flower arranging classes using local weeds and grasses which will then be photographed in extreme detail using a macro lens.
“I am primarily a sculptor, so I would like to extend this approach to three-dimensional mediums as well.”
Weppler said she is hoping to contribute to a sense of community in Steveston and Richmond that make the area unique.
“I have run other community projects and one thing that seems to be common to the experience is that people want a chance to connect to each other and to the place they live,” she said. “Providing open art activities is a great way to make this happen.”
