The new library in Antigonish, Nova Scotia (about a half hour from the causeway to Cape Breton) is getting rave reviews for its public art. I haven’t been there yet but am really looking forward to seeing it. The Halifax Chronicle Herald newspaper just had an article featuring Alan Syliboy’s work The Dream Canoe and listing all the other artists and their pieces.
You can also watch a video about this artwork: Alan Syliboy, The Dream Canoe.
Just outside of Halifax in Hammonds Plains, the nondescript road suddenly comes to life with a huge sign announcing “Swoon” in swashy white letters on a brilliant raspberry background. You realize immediately that you’re not in Kansas anymore.
You stop and enter a 9-room Victorian farmhouse. Each room has been painted a different brilliant colour. In one large room elegant antique furniture contrasts with bold abstract paintings. Another room features Nova Scotia pottery, functional pieces and delightful faux baskets of berries. Rotating exhibits by painters, sculptors and photographers fill more rooms. Intricate stained glass creations hang in many of the windows.
Upstairs, a tiny room has more than a thousand vintage salt and pepper shakers, most of them humorous. Clothes by a local designer, retro fashion and jewelry made with found buttons fill one room, and around the corner is a room with brightly painted folk art. Even the two washrooms have art and collectables including a large stack of old books, many on the royal family.
This is the magical experience of Swoon – Fine Art, Antiques & Fashion (also on Facebook). Owner Brandt Eisner, an artist himself and the former assistant director of Argyle Fine Art in Halifax, cares about promoting the work of Nova Scotia artists, craftspeople and designers. I’m very pleased that he will be including my silk scarves, fabric cards, and painted T-shirts in this wonderfully eclectic mix.
