Contemporary Women's Art Exhibited at Levee

The work of women artists collected by the Nova Scotia Art Bank will be exhibited at Government House and open to the public during the New Year's Day levee.

The exhibition -- Women Artists of the Nova Scotia Art Bank Collection: a 25-year Contribution to the Visual Arts -- is the first curated exhibition of women's art held at Government House.

Curated by Lorraine Field and Harry Hamm from the Nova Scotia Art Bank, the exhibition showcases contemporary works by women artists.

The pieces represent a wide range of peer-juried acquisitions by the Department of Tourism and Culture for the province from the past 25 years and includes such diverse pieces as hand knitted mittens, sweaters, marble sculptures, paintings, jewelry, ceramics, textiles and a neon sculpture.

The exhibition was initiated by Lt.-Gov. Myra Freeman as a means to highlight the contribution of women to the arts and cultural heritage of Nova Scotia. The exhibit also showcases how the arts can stimulate economic growth in the province.

"This exhibition of contemporary women's art, installed in the contrasting atmosphere of an historic residence, is intended to address the issues Nova Scotian women artists have focused on during the last quarter of the 20th century," said the lieutenant-governor. "Those issues range from aesthetic, conceptual, political and craft to representations of the body and examinations of domesticity."

The lieutenant-governor will be receiving the public at the annual New Year's Day levee, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 1, at which time the works can be viewed. Government House is located at 1451 Barrington St., in Halifax.