The Department of Illumination

Happy International Women’s Day! What a perfect occasion to introduce you to Myka, a Queen’s University student in the Artist in Community Education program. We’re delighted that she’ll be joining our merry band on an internship for the next few weeks as we’re working on lots of big collaborative projects. Welcome to the team, Myka! @queensuniversity #queensuniversitykingston #mentorshipmatters #deptofillumination #princeedwardcounty #princeedwardcountyontario #thecounty #pec #countyup #iwd2021 #graffitiwall #internationalwomensday

No in-person ICE BOX this year meant no closing ceremony. But the conclusion of months worth of working together towards a common purpose is worthy of celebrating, so we had an online gathering this week to raise a glass and give ourselves a sense of completion. This photo is from last year’s closing; just remembering all the good vibes of being together with our wonderful artists & crew and can’t wait until we can do this again! #iceboxpec #bringonthevaccine #latergram #lifebeforecorona #artistsincostumes #costumes #winterfestival #letyourfreakflagfly #princeedwardcounty #thecounty #pec #countyup #countyarts

Thanks to Cheryl Pawziuk for sharing her creative upcycling of her ICE BOX in a box ! Our boxes were illustrated by Milé Murtanovski and screen printed at Spark Box Studio The design depicts what ICE BOX looks like in the real world: kids in papier-mâché animal heads, a parade through our ICE BOXes in the snow, and if you look closely you might even spot silhouettes of our friends Justin Rutledge with his guitar and Gavin North on the bass drum! #iceboxpec #cathouse #catinabox #screenprint #festivalinabox #winterfestival #deptofillumination #princeedwardcounty #princeedwardcountyontario #pec #thecounty #pec #countyup #countyarts

We want your jugs! Over the last month we have collected more than 100 plastic containers that we are transforming into an epic art piece for a project with Kingston’s Calliope Collective We’re hoping to double that number in the next few weeks. Can you help? The larger the container the better: laundry detergent jugs or pod containers, vinegar or windshield fluid containers, or other plastics in that vein. Pick-up or drop off in Picton area. Please message if you want us to turn your recycling into art! #recycling #upcycling #rainbow #recyclingart #plasticrecycling #princeedwardcounty #thecounty #pec #countyup #countyarts #deptofillumination

On Monday our community lost much-loved artist Peter Mennacher. Co-owner of Blizzmax Gallery, he was a man of many talents and a brilliant artist who worked in many different media. We will forever remember him for his twinkling eyes and superb sense of humour, evident here in these two self-portraits that are in our current Art in Isolation PEC exhibition. Peter emailed us on Friday to congratulate us on the show, and it is hard to believe that we won't be seeing him again. Our sincere condolences go to to his wife Alice Goodfellow- Mennacher and the rest of their family. Peter will be greatly missed by all who knew him. RIP.

We’ve been loving everyone’s photos of their ICE BOX in a Box creations - keep ‘em coming! Here are a couple of masks inspired by Andrea Piller’s TRANSMUTE project. Want to see how it’s done? Andrea made a gorgeous how-to video and downloadable instructions which you’ll find on our website www.deptofillumination.org ICE BOX At-Home Programming #iceboxtransmute #iceboxpec #deptofillumination #clay #mask #festivalathome #creativeathome #princeedwardcounty #princeedwardcountyontario #thecounty #pec #countyup #countyarts