Grace Nickel was the focus of a homecoming celebration Saturday during Plum Fest, serving as parade marshal and also officially opening her latest exhibit "Full Circle" at the Plum Coulee Elevator Museum. The exhibit was installed earlier this year, and will be on display through the end of the season at the museum.
The renowned ceramics artist was raised on a farm about three and a half miles outside of town and grew up in the community, going to elementary school there before attending high school at Garden Valley Collegiate (GVC) in Winkler.
Last March, Nickel was named the recipient of the 2023 Saidye Bronfman Award which recognizes her remarkable contributions to visual arts. Bronfman was also born and raised in Plum Coulee.
"It means a lot," shared Nickel when asked what it meant to have all of these things coming together in her childhood hometown. "I wouldn't ever have imagined I would be a parade marshal, and also have this opportunity to have an exhibition in what's almost very close to being my hometown. I did grow up 3 1/2 miles outside of Plum Coulee, but of course my whole childhood was centered on the elementary school, and all the friends I made, and of course, many family members. I'm happy to see many of those here today."
With the Plum Coulee connection between Bronfman and Nickel, as well as being the recipient of the award named after her, the artist noted it was an affirmation of many, many years of effort.
"It does connect to a lot of hard work, a lot of hours in the studio, a lot of dedication, a lot of times being late to family gatherings, because of course, it's hard to extricate myself from the studio," she explained. "It's just that kind of devotion, I think, to a passion. To be recognized for it is a massive bonus."
During her comments to the crowd assembled for a question and answer session before the exhibit opened Saturday, Nickel noted she knew about the Saidye Bronfman Award her entire career, but didn't know she was connected to Plum Coulee.
"It just makes it, I think, all that much more significant, and so much sweeter to be recognized here," she said. "And in that particular context, given the award in my field is the top honour for what we do, I'm very grateful."
During the session, Nickel also reflected on how she was drawn to art in the first place, acknowledging her parents and pointing to her father who had sketchbooks that she would see, leading her to feel it was perfectly natural to spend time drawing.
"But I have to say, without any art classes in high school when I was there, and happy to say that's changed and they have a very strong program now, this of course is now GVC, I just tried to keep the creativity going of painting theater sets, doing makeup for the plays, that sort of thing," she reflected. "I was also very, as the family will know, keen on academics and loved studying. When it came time, when I finished high school, right at the very end, a very young teacher, her name is Virginia Doell, she said to me, 'Grace, you should consider going into Fine Arts."
Nickel shared with the crowd, with a chuckle, she had no idea what Fine Arts really meant, and, "like almost everyone in the mid 70s, first my only goal was to go backpacking in Europe, so I did that first, and then I went into art school."
It was in her second year in art school she had to take a three dimensional medium, either ceramics or sculpture.
"I have to confess, I had never done any clay work, at the time," she said. "The first three months I found it quite ridiculous. It was extremely difficult. It's a very challenging medium to work in. After the first semester, I was pretty much hooked, and I can say to this day, it is still completely intriguing, and it just hasn't lost any of its appeal at all."
She followed up that comment, by noting it's the malleability of clay that she fell in love with.
Nickel pointed to a few specific pieces she would like visitors to take in, including a tribute to her late mother Elma titled "In Memoriam"
"Most of my siblings are here today, and I wanted to do something in Plum Coulee quite specifically to commemorate our mother," she said. "As you can imagine, over the years, it's your parents that end up with a lot of your work, especially your early work, so you're going to see some of that, and I basically reenacted what she had hanging in her living room for many, many years."
Grace Nickel Full Circle: Saidye Bronfman Award is on display now at the Plum Coulee Elevator Museum.
You can listen to our entire conversation with Grace Nickel, below.