A picturesque town
Louise Cloutier has new initiative to promote local Pugwash art
Louise Cloutier has always seen the value of art in her community, and she continues to do her part to keep it going strong.
For Cloutier, a longtime art educator in Pugwash, art has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember.
“Where some people might meditate or pray, I’ve always been doing art,” she told The Cumberland Wire.
Cloutier attended McGill and Concordia universities, where she decided to become an art educator. She taught art in public schools for 35 years — 10 years in Quebec and 25 years in Pugwash.
Cloutier made the move to Cumberland County as she was drawn to the natural beauty of her newfound surroundings. She quickly found work with fortuitous timing.
“They were looking for a full-time art teacher and I just happened to appear at the door,” recalled Cloutier. “It was meant to be.”
After retiring from her role as a teacher, she continued to promote art in Cumberland County through education.
She says her husband owned a home in Pugwash and they decided to convert it, turning it into an art school, Art Quarters, which she ran for four years.
Cloutier frequently invited in professional artists to do workshops and saw the value in having them pass along their knowledge.
“It created a vibrant hub in our community and gave me great pride to see that people needed art in their lives and I was able to supply that niche,” she said.
She finds it rewarding to help people develop new skills, giving them something to feel good about.
While they have since sold the building, Art Quarters continues to exist as Cloutier still advocates for artists and maintains a Facebook page to help keep people up to date on cultural events, art and poetry in the region.
Cloutier was also invited by the East Cumberland Lodge to teach seniors.
PUGWASH
OPEN AIR GALLERY
Cloutier is now pursuing a unique venture to promote local art, increase community pride and foster economic development in Pugwash.
She is one of the organizers for the Pugwash Outdoor Art Gallery, a three-phase project to mount art on the exterior of local buildings in Pugwash.
Cloutier got the idea while visiting family in St. Lambert, outside of Montreal. The town had about 60 pieces of art presented on the exterior of buildings.
“When my sister took me for a tour of these outdoor exhibits, I thought ‘wow this is a fantastic idea, we should perhaps consider doing this in Pugwash,’” said Cloutier.
She knew it wouldn’t be at the scale of the St. Lambert display, which featured international artists. Instead, it would be a way to promote local artists.
“When my sister took me for a tour of these outdoor exhibits, I thought
‘wow this is a fantastic idea, we should perhaps consider doing this in Pugwash.’”
Louise Cloutier
Cloutier and two colleagues, Norene Smiley and Bonnie Bond, brought the idea up with Pugwash Communities in Bloom in the spring of 2019.
“They embraced the idea,” she said.
Communities in Bloom fundraised for the project and there were several community sponsors and donors. They also received a grant from the Nova Scotia Beautification and Streetscaping program. As Cloutier is a retired teacher, she also was eligible for a Nova Scotia Teachers Union grant.
According to Cloutier, there are three phases to the project.
The first phase, they put a call out to local artists to submit work to be judged by a panel of three judges. They received 55 submissions from 19 different artists. Eventually, they settled on eight works of art to mount.
The second phase would be to mount them. When The Cumberland Wire spoke to Cloutier, seven of them were already mounted with one left to go.
They matched specific pieces of art with particular buildings, she explained.
“We wanted to reflect what the building was about,” she said. “For example, on the Windsor Salt Mine building and we have this 10 by 12- foot panel which displays a sculpture by a local artist, Jenn Houghthaling, of an octopus.”
Furthermore, as part of the project, Cloutier also worked closely with the local elementary school and helped develop a project that would speak to community values.
The three-dimensional sculpture, which they completed over two months, depicts an assortment of characters, specific to the community, together in a boat. This, too, will be mounted on the school.
Meanwhile, at Pugwash District High School, where Cloutier once taught, her and two other artists led three teams to complete three different pieces for the Pugwash Open Air Gallery. Judges selected which one would be mounted on the school.
An elder’s artwork was also selected for the Pugwash Open Air Gallery.
For Phase 3, they will invite artists from beyond Pugwash, including throughout Cumberland County. The official launch will come later this summer.
To learn more about Cloutier and to peruse some of her work, visit her website at louisecloutierartist.com
To keep track of the Pugwash Open Air Gallery, follow the Facebook page Art in Pugwash.
A website, pugwashart.com is expected to be launched in August.