Studio on 20th has ‘tangible energy’
Meet the all-female artist group at the Studio on 20th
In one room, abstract paintings line the walls. In another, a couple doors down in the narrow but bright studio space on the second floor of a 20th Street building, there are mostly intricate portraits.
It’s one of the biggest strengths of the Studio on 20th, an artist collective comprised of 11 painters from in and around Saskatoon: a wide variety of art styles from each of the painters who work and display in the studio.
All of the 11 painters at the Studio on 20th are women. Together, they have well over two-and-a-half centuries of professional art experience.
“I come up here, and it’s like this tangible energy up here,” portrait specialist Carol Wylie said. “And I think that’s partly because of the focus each of the artists in the group have.”
The all-female studio did not happen by design (there was even an extremely short-lived male tenant at the Studio on 20th who never finished moving in), but it’s a unique dynamic all of the artists enjoy.
“It can be very lonely as an artist, if you’re struggling with a painting,” said Kathy Bradshaw, who focuses on nature paintings.
“And you know when you’re coming in here, there’s a sense of work everywhere around you that stimulates and keeps you going,” landscape artist Bridget Aitken added.
This isn’t the first stop for the bulk of the artists working at the Studio on 20th — many of them came from a studio on St. George Avenue that had been running since 1989. They said they’re quite happy with the fairly open and spacious studio they have to work in.
That kind of openness and accessibility for the public is important for the artists. While most have specific, dedicated followers who buy and share their work, their “open studio” days are critical to their success.
“It’s important, I think, for people to meet the artists,” Miranda Jones said. “We really enjoy meeting people … I think we do push each other, in a sense, because we have these events.”
Jones, one of the original artists at the St. George studio when it opened in 1989 and now painting at the downtown studio, said it’s a beautiful thing to be able to talk with other people who “don’t question the value of art.”
According to Aitken, there’s another plus to having open events and getting to know the public: the chance to break down some barriers between the artists and the community.
“People who might see an advertisement for an art opening sometimes feel intimidated … they’re not sure if they’re invited,” she said. “So I think this offers something to the public that embraces them into the arts community.”
Not only is the studio a great place to paint — with plenty of natural light and space, according to Wylie — it’s also a dedicated space for artists in a city that’s been steadily losing them. With the sale of the historic Tees and Persse building in Saskatoon in the spring of 2018, several artists were evicted from their studios.
It’s not only about having a space to call your own, Wylie said — it’s also having the comfort and peace of mind that you aren’t in danger of being kicked out. It’s the kind of comfort an artist can get with a group of 11 dedicated, like-minded painters who are determined to have a communal work area.
“I would find that I would become very tentative … the consistency is critical, and the security of knowing that we have this place,” abstract artist Jan Corcoran said.
The artists are happy with the group they have painting side-byside in the studio. Everyone’s styles are very different, but that doesn’t stop them from asking for the opinions of their fellow painters.
Occasionally that advice comes unsolicited, but never in a critical or negative way. Corcoran joked that it wasn’t totally uncommon to come back into her room in the studio to continue working on a painting only to find a note stuck to it telling her to stop there because it looks great.
Despite the plethora of different artistic styles — or perhaps because of it — there’s a sense of camaraderie they all feel is unique.
In the end, the 11 women of the Studio on 20th are there for the same thing: to create beautiful paintings. Most of them admitted they often do a lap of each other’s work spaces whenever they come by, just to see what’s being worked on.
“You have to have this drive that makes you want to create,” Wylie said.