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SANJEEV SIVARULRASA is a gallery owner, art dealer, and a photographic artist focusing his lens on the night skies. His work also inspired him to write Vanishing Stars: Unravelling the appropriation of Art by Science. Sanjeev will talk about his travels to dark skies, his practice as an artist, and what led him to launch a contemporary art gallery.
Sanjeev will be accompanied one of the artists represented by Sivarulrasa Gallery, MARINA RAIKE, whose Almonte-based studio practice ranges from skulls to abstract works inspired by geology and the natural world. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2006. Marina will talk about her work exploring the interconnectivity between nature and humanity, combining imagery of ravens, crows, anatomical forms and regionally sourced minerals across Canada.
MARY PFAFF is an abstract painter shown extensively in centres like Toronto and New York. A recognized community art collaborator, Mary is an international presenter and a leading advocate for engagement in the arts and has done a great deal of work on healing through art. She is known for her focus on the creative process and how it affects positive change in our quality of life and our sense of well-being; both as individuals and communities.
STEPHEN BRAITHWAITE started his art filled life as an actor and puppeteer and has gone on to work as a visual artist creating public, corporate and residential multi-media installations. As an award winning heritage developer, overseeing the conversion of the many mills in Almonte, Stephen is a key figure in the transformation of our town into an artistic hub and model of revitalization. His own property out of town is further evidence of an apparently infinite artistic vision and commitment to making things happen...alameda anyone?
CHRIS GROSSET is a senior consultant and award winning landscape architect. For more than 2 decades he has specialized in land use design and planning projects across the Canadian Arctic that support indigenous protected areas, socio-economic development and heritage conservation. When not working in the uncomprimising environment of our north, he comes home to Almonte and creates amazing spaces in his own backyard.