News Release

MIRAMICHI (GNB) – Artist Gloria Savoie showcased her artist-in-residence project this week promoting the poems and stories of celebrated Miramichi writers David Adams Richards, Wayne Curtis, Doug Underhill and Ray Fraser.

The artist-in-residence project serves to showcase New Brunswick’s emerging and professional artists by selecting artistic initiatives that reflect the province’s unique heritage and culture. Savoie’s project focused on telling the story of the Miramichi through visual representation of three Miramichi writers.

Part of the project included exploring what the Miramichi means to young people by engaging them with the literature of local authors. This is intended to lead to a performance piece as well as workshops for students attending Miramichi Valley High School.

The program is intended to provide artists with resources, supplies and space to develop a creative body of work while engaging the host community in a meaningful exchange. Each artist received $10,000 towards supplies, fees and living expenses. Held in conjunction with local arts organizations and not-for-profit groups, it aims to raise the profile of arts and culture in the province.

“The artist-in-residence project gave me the opportunity to tell the story of the Miramichi through woodwork or wood etching and literature, connecting the Miramichi’s founding industries of forestry and shipbuilding to the writings of the some of the region’s most celebrated authors, David Adams Richards, Ray Fraser, Doug Underhill and Wayne Curtis, all the while sharing my artwork with Miramichi youth and the public,” said Savoie.

“We are pleased to have so many incredible artists from our region represented in Gloria Savoie’s artwork and through the artist-in-residence program,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Bill Fraser.

Fraser spoke on behalf of Tourism, Heritage and Culture Minister John Ames.

Artist residencies are intended to bring art and artists closer to communities and to generate tourism in the province by reaching new audiences, and strengthening the existing ones. The New Brunswick Tourism Growth Strategy will invest $100 million in tourism over the next eight years, with a goal of growing tourism-related GDP to $2 billion by 2025. Tourism visitor spending is estimated at $1.3 billion, making it the third-largest service sector in the province.