Drawing a decade’s worth of performers

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This article was published 16/11/2015 (3802 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Park Theatre, in its 10th year of operation, has grown into one of Winnipeg’s premier live venues.

The South Osborne neighbourhood theatre hosts over 300 events a year, spanning music, comedy, theatre, and film, and has become home to an expansive community of artists.

In celebration of its impressive 10-year contribution to the city’s arts, a special exhibit began this month featuring a multitude of drawings by local artist James Culleton.

Celebrating 10 Years: Drawings from the Park Theatre, by James Culleton is an exhibition of drawings from the Park’s past decade. The exhibit features drawings of musicians Luke Doucet, Hayes Carll, Keri Latimer, Amelia Curran, and many more.

Culleton is well-known in the city for his prolific collection of quirky drawings of local musicians. The busy father of two is himself a musician and creative entrepreneur. With an impressive list of artistic accomplishments, the recent winner of a Pinnacle Award (the Academy Award of Furniture Design) is proud to be part of such an important retrospective.

“The drawings I’ve selected for the exhibit were all drawn at live performances at the Park Theatre over the past 10 years. Included are portraits of some of my favorite songwriters and performers, like Scott Nolan, Amelia Curran, JP Hoe and Big Dave McLean. I drew them using a technique called blind contour drawing where I don’t look down at the page while I draw,” Culleton said.

At 41, Culleton is constantly looking forward to further creative collaborations and projects. He’s got a couple of self-published books and CDs under his belt, is excited about a new album, curating art shows, designing furniture, funky bow-ties and sculptures, and making more drawings to add to his gigantic collection. His countless sketchbooks could easily fill a floor of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, he said.

Making art accessible is important to Culleton. Many of his images can now be found on cushions, shower curtains and coffee mugs. People may not be able to buy an original piece of art but he suggests they may be able to afford a coffee mug, a T-shirt or a duvet cover.

Check out Celebrating 10 Years: Drawings from the Park Theatre at 698 Osborne St.

Admission is free and the exhibit will be up until the end of November.

To find out more about James Culleton, visit: jamesculleton.com

For more information about the Park Theatre see parktheatervideo.com

Janine LeGal is a community correspondent for South Osborne.