Showcase Kicks Off Year of the Model Ship

Frigates, sloops, barquentines and steamships are just some of the models on display at the Modelmakers' Showcase this weekend at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Organized by the Nova Scotia Ship Modellers Guild, the showcase will officially kick off 1998 as the Year of the Model Ship in Nova Scotia.

More than 150 new models, representing the work of 80 craftspeople, are on display at the exhibition. Scale models, working models, models built from scratch, and models built from kits are a few of the many different vessels on display. There are also half-hulls and the famous ships in bottles.

Each year, the province declares a craft medium as a theme for the year. The purpose is to expose visitors and residents to the quality and talents of Nova Scotian crafts and craftspeople. The Year of the Model Ship reminds everyone of the important role the ebb and flow of the Atlantic's tides have played in shaping, not only the coastline, but also the history of our province.

Throughout the year, there will be exhibits, workshops, regattas, and many other events around the province to celebrate this most maritime of crafts. A brochure listing the events for the year will be available in March and distributed throughout the province.

The Year of the Model Ship is Nova Scotia's 10th annual craft theme year. It is sponsored by the Department of Education and Culture through the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design. Partners include the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Continuing and Distance Education Division), Federation of Nova Scotian Heritage, and the Nova Scotia Ship Modellers Guild.

Past theme years were: the quilt (1989), metal arts (1990), basketry (1991), wood (1992), crafts of the Americas (1993), hooked mat (1994), weaving arts (1995), clay, earth and fire (1996), and needle arts (1997).

The Modelmakers Showcase will be on display Feb. 21-22 at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. For more information call 902-424-7490 or fax 902-424-0612.