If you are entering the Conservatory and haven’t noticed, please take a look to your right, you will be pleasantly surprised! Within our ensemble room, against an exposed brick wall is a new member of our team, the painting Fantasia.
There are numerous reasons why we love spending time at the MCMA, hearing student recitals, listening to faculty perform, and getting feedback from someone who has been inspired by our community. In 2012, there was another reason added to the list – a generous donation of art work.
Sometime in November we received a call out of the blue from a friend of the Conservatory, Victoria Lehmann. She had recently purchased a piece of art and thought it was a great fit to display at our downtown space in the Exchange district. Victoria mentioned that she fell in love with this work at an art show the weekend previous and the creator was Winnipeg painter, Shirley Elias. Unbeknownst to Victoria, the artist she had selected to display at the MCMA used to be the Executive Director! A good fit indeed!
The title of the painting is inspired by the music of pianist/composer Chopin and sits in our ensemble room next to our grand piano. Shirley was a concert pianist for years and has continued her output artistically through oils on canvas. Many of her paintings relate to music and are shown or purchased internationally. We encourage you to take a good look: you will see an abstract of a piano, a bit of Chopin’s score, and masterful painting technique with rich colours. For more info on the artist Shirley Elias, please visit http://www.emotesart.com/shirley
At the intermission of our June 1st Conservatory Players Concert we were grateful that Victoria and Shirley could finally meet and welcome this work into our community. Co-President, Marie Christian received the painting on behalf of the MCMA from donor Victoria Lehma. Artist Shirley Elias was in attendance and provided the audience some insight on her work.
On behalf of the board, faculty, students and staff we would like to thank Victoria Lehman on making time for our presentation and donating this inspirational work. Please make sure you enjoy Fantasia the next time you come by!