Guest Blog by Rachel Tirone

Volunteer, graduating McMaster student, and 2013 Slow Art Day host at the McMaster Museum of Art (MMA)

Saturday’s Slow Art Day event at the MMA was a huge success! Slow Art Day is a volunteer run event, designed to break down the barriers between art and the public by showing participants that anyone can appreciate art – you don’t have to be an expert!

The Museum was one of more than 250 venues.

This being the first Slow Art Day at McMaster, I was thrilled by the level of interest. Registration was full!

Our participants began the day with a short introduction to the day’s activities before they got started on their slow looking – 5 works of art, 10 minutes each.

As this year’s host, I tried to choose a variety of works that conveyed the diversity of the three exhibits that were on at the Museum. The list included works by K. Nicol and Henri Le Sidaner, as well as three works from the McMaster Studio Art graduating exhibition. We were lucky enough to have artist Kaylyn Roloson with us to discuss her work, “It’s a great day for maple trees and evergreens…” (pictured above left), a metal wall-sculpture indicative of Roloson’s cottage-country nostalgia, her love of colour, and the physicality of her welding practice.

After viewing, participants gathered in the Education Gallery for a catered lunch and some interesting discussion around the chosen works. A gallery or museum setting can often be intimidating, and as such the MMA and the discussion portion of the event work to create a casual and open environment for learning. I was impressed by the all of the attendees’ willingness to participate in the discussion, as well as the confidence with which they shared their insights into the works.