In the cold and darkness of midwinter, We The Artists brought together people from all walks of life for a vibrant evening of music, theatre and visual arts, celebrating the works of University of Saskatchewan fine arts students.

We The Artists is a collaborative event organized by students from the fine arts departments at the U of S. Although music, drama and visual art are very different disciplines, these artists find common ground in their passion for their work and their desire to promote the arts, both on campus and in the wider Saskatoon community.

We The Artists brings attention to the arts in a time when they are often overlooked amongst other concerns at the university. For Stephanie Mah, a fourth-year fine arts student and one of the organizers of We The Artists, awareness was one of the main goals of the night.

“The arts are important to have in Saskatoon and to keep on campus, with budget cuts and everything. That’s why this project originally started — to showcase the arts at the university and to prove that they’re important and still need funding,” Mah said.

Now in its fifth year, the event was held at Louis’ Pub on Feb. 27 and featured a wide range of artistic endeavors from each of the artistic disciplines.

Several pieces by visual art students were displayed in a makeshift gallery at the back of the bar. Mediums ranged from photography to sculpture to printmaking and were all original works by U of S students.

Music and drama students contributed a number of creative performances to the evening as well. Highlights included a seven-person flute ensemble and an original play written by drama students.

Teamwork is an important aspect of We The Artists and the event is entirely run by a committee of students from the three different departments. Along with Mah, this year’s other student organizers included fine art student Kenton Doupe and arts education student Christine Czajkowski.

“We planned the event as a collaboration between the fine art departments and we kind of divided up the tasks between the different disciplines,” Mah said.

Visual art, drama and music are often viewed as very separate disciplines. However, the creators of We The Artists aimed to show the links between the different fine arts communities at the U of S.

“[We wanted] to make it visible that the arts can actually work together. Visual [art], music and drama are very spaced apart on campus especially. So it’s really good for people to have a visual representation that we can still actually come together,” Doupe said.

We The Artists doesn’t just showcase the works of U of S students — it also finds ways to give back to the community.

“The money that we raise goes to a chosen local organization after. Last year, it was Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Program; this year it’s the Open Door Society, which works with drama,” Czajkowski said.

One of the most striking things about We The Artists is how much effort went into creating the works that were exhibited during the event. The arts can be an extremely challenging field, but unfortunately it doesn’t always appear that way to those outside of a particular discipline.

“I feel as though it’s perceived as an easy degree,” said Mah. “[People think] that art is easy, that anyone can get an art degree and you just sit around and do your art degree and it’s super easy. That people do it as a throw-away [degree] — like ‘I can’t do anything else, so I’m going to do art.’”

If We The Artists achieves anything, it’s debunking the myth that art is an easy thing to do. The quality of performances, the range of talents and the attention to detail all showcase the dedication of Saskatoon’s up-and-coming artists.

In the end, it’s this dedication that will take these artists where they want to go in life.

“It’s a matter of how much you actually want to take out of it,” Doupe said. “If you do it with the intention of just getting through it, it’ll be easy, but there will be no rewards. But if you want to put in the effort, there’s nothing stopping you.”

—

Photos: Kyle Zurevinski