Old Town Hall curator and artist goes full circle

Chelsea Brant, part-time curator at Old Town Hall in Waterford, stands beside sculptures by local artist Kathryn Hogg. 

Brenda Moser

Advocate Contributor

I will be the first to admit that art is not my forte.

ln fact, I confess that drawing a straight line with a ruler is a bit of a challenge for me. With that being said I do appreciate the work of those who have that talent to create and those who recognize that talent. Every good artist needs a way of sharing their work with others and a good... no, great curator would be that person.

I recently met with the new Gallery Curator for Old Town Hall in Waterford, Chelsea (Neufeld) Brant, and I was, to say the least, very impressed with her resume. Not only is Chelsea an artist herself, she also has the schooling for her work in the field of art. Her post secondary schooling includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Guelph as well as a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Saskatchewan - seven years in total. While a student at the University of Guelph, she took an elective in Studio Arts and she fell in love with it.

"l changed my major because it felt good to be there," and she has not looked back since.

Brant's art career has afforded her the opportunity to serve as a professor at universities and colleges including Brock, Sheridan, McMaster and the Dundas Valley School of Arts. Brant is herself a painter in the field of oils. Her work has been exhibited at Lynnwood Arts in Simcoe as well as Old Town Hall.

"l've had two exhibitions myself at Old Town Hall in my younger years. I guess you could say l've gone full circle and now I get to choose who gets to exhibit at OTH," added Brant.

"l love curating and the 10 hours a month that I do at Old Town Hall gives me the opportunity to do my own work while still holding the position of curator. Artists in the community can approach me if they are interested in exhibiting. With the artists that I know of already, we are booked almost a full year in advance. Each show runs for two months and we have a Sunday afternoon opening reception for each artist. It’s an opportunity for the artist to get their work into the community. Most of the art work is available for sale.

"This is my 'baby.' All of the shows go through me so if an artist is interested in exhibiting they can approach me at curator@oldtownhall.org or for other enquiries, chelseabrant.art@gmail.com.”

Brant added that almost all of the shows this year are full with possible openings in November and December.

“While they would be limited to only one or two pieces, it would still give them the opportunity to get their work into the community. lf they approach me about a show we will have a discussion on what will be a part of the show. lt's my job to make sure the artist is happy with the way it is presented."

Brant is originally from Waterford and she and her husband Ryan moved into a century home in Oakland last summer. They are working on restoring it, one room at a time, as time allows.

"My husband does cabinetry and we both love working with our hands."

Brant can work from home so she is able to help her husband with their own restoration projects.

"I'm a full-time artist, then a part-time professor and part-time curator. I also have my own studio in Simcoe. We'll see where life takes us."

When finished, I am sure they will have captured the true history of the home.