Amy Lockhart will be the third artist to participate in the 2006/2007 Open Studio artist-in-residence programme at Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Arts Centre. Now in its tenth year, the Open Studio programme has brought twenty-seven artists to Sackville for periods of four to six weeks with support through the New Brunswick Arts Board. During the current yea artists from Vancouver, Halifax, and Montreal - six in all - will be guests in the Sackville community.

Amy Lockhart attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax and has subsequently participated in programmes with the National Film Board of Canada and the Atlantic Film Makers’ Coop where she studied advanced techniques in experimental film animation. She participated in the Independent Imaging Film Makers Retreat at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario and spent five months in residence at the Quick Draw Animation Society in Calgary, Alberta. Recently, Lockhart has received support from the British Columbia Arts Council and from the National Film Board for post-production work with new films.

During the course of her Open Studio residency Lockhart will use the Centre’s 7 Lorne Street galleries as an animation studio to work on several new non-narrative animations based on paintings, drawings and costumes which she will create while in Sackville. Her passion for animation has lead her to experiment and explore a variety of techniques in the production of her award winning films. She has used everything from paper cut-outs to story boards, paintings on glass and two- and three-dimensional puppets. During her five weeks at 7 Lorne Street she will continue these visual explorations.

Important aspects of the Open Studio residency programme are the opportunities for the guest artists to open their studios to the public and to make themselves, and their work, available through a variety of events. Lockhart will offer several workshops both for working artists and for younger, interested audiences. She will present her work in several screenings including a first on October 5 as an introduction to the weekly Sackville Film Society presentation at the Vogue Theatre. This screening is part of the 11th Annual Symposium of Art, You Gave Me Hope When I Was At The End.

Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Arts Centre are open to the public. Everyone interested in the dynamic contemporary art form of film animation is encouraged to stop by during Amy Lockhart’s Open Studio residency from October 5 through November 9 which has been made possible through the Artist-in Residence programme of the New Brunswick Arts Board.