The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery has teamed up with the RBC Foundation for a second year in a row for their RBC Emerging Artist Network – an eight-month program that provides emerging artists with mentorship, networking, skill-building opportunities, professional development, and more. For their 2022/2023 cohort, they chose 25 artists out of the over 150 applications. We are proud to announce that Sara Vargas Nessi, a 2016 graduate of our Fine Arts Studio program, has been selected!
When Sara received the acceptance email in October 2022, she was elated. “As soon as I received the news, I was already looking forward to meeting the other artists participating in the program and the team of The Power Plant. I thought about how exciting it was going to be to learn and ask questions to all the art professionals.” She continues, “I was extremely excited to have been selected to participate in this opportunity, which came just at the right moment in my career as I was preparing the launch of my latest art collection based on Toronto’s sunsets called Sundown.”
The program commenced in November 2022 when Sara first met with the other selected artist and the team at The Power Plant. Now a couple of months into the eight-month program, she shares that it is “a series of monthly events where we as a group of emerging artists can meet curators, tour exhibitions, have portfolio reviews, and participate in workshops about grant writing and more. We are also granted a Power Plant membership.”
Sara shares how this opportunity is rare and unique and says it will impact her career in several ways, including how she will learn different skills that she can implement in her art practice immediately. She adds, “I am excited about building meaningful connections with the group of emerging artists and possibly collaborating on a project together. Learning from the art talks and the portfolio reviews will be very enriching opportunities. I am particularly excited about the public art commission art talk, as I would like to follow the path of public art opportunities.”
If you’ve visited the Story Arts Centre campus, you may already be familiar with Sara's art. Through our main doors, you will find Sara’s installation mural, Light Source, displayed on our windows as one of the features in our main foyer. She worked on the mural with the help of the Dean, Nate Horowitz, Marketing and Communications Officer Scott Hosmer and SCMAD Chair, Arts and Design, Christopher Jackman. “I am grateful for this opportunity and the creative freedom I was given to make this project a reality. This opportunity shaped my career and made me envision and pursue more public and private art projects,” she explains.
While the installation holds a wonderful meaning behind it, which you can read more about here, Sara's personal connection involves its placement in our main foyer. It stems from a noticeable feature that both her earlier education and our campus share – the ramp. “From the moment I set foot into the Story Arts Centre lobby, I instantly knew this was where I wanted to study. It may sound silly or made up, but my university campus in Caracas had a ramp similar to the one in the main lobby of Story Arts Centre. This little detail made me feel at home, and the feeling only grew when I met David McClyment, coordinator of Fine Arts Studio and all the faculty who welcomed me with open arms.”
Now having her installation in front of the ramp that stood out to her from day one, Sara shares how funny life can be and how hard work always pays off. Not to mention, Light Source was featured in Toronto’s Nuit Blanche in 2022 – something she says participating in (along with her second art installation, Memories) was a dream come true.
Before moving to Canada in 2013, Sara attended university for an Arts degree at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. “I was exposed to many different art disciplines where I deepened my knowledge of theatre and learned about music, film, and fine arts history. This is where I reconnected with my love for fine arts, and a deep curiosity grew inside me,” she shares.
Since she was young, Sara knew she wanted to be an artist, especially since she loved drawing, dancing, and performing. Having taken drawing lessons at twelve years old, she switched gears to theatre during high school and discovered how much she enjoyed acting. She continued her theatre education for eight years through different theatre companies around Caracas. Upon graduating high school and enrolling in university, Sara fell back into her love of fine arts. In 2013, she came to Canada to continue this passion, as she enrolled in our Fine Arts Studio program the following year.
Sara shares, “I was looking for a way to continue the Arts degree I had started in Venezuela. I knew I wanted something related to art history. My dad mentioned that Centennial College offered arts and design diplomas, so I researched different options. I was thrilled when I read the program curriculum and found that it integrated everything I was looking for. I was excited to reconnect with painting and sculpture, which I loved as a child. Nevertheless, I was not ready to set aside my love for theatre and promised myself to find ways to continue doing both. I started my program and actively integrated theatre elements into my assignments.”
Throughout her studies, Sara explains that the faculty introduced students to a number of art practices, helped guide them when building their portfolios, encouraged them to find their own creative voices, and introduced them to opportunities. “I joined every art opportunity that resonated with me, which helped me discover what about fine arts I loved the most so I could focus my artistic journey toward that path.”
While in her program, she shares, “I got the opportunity to be a tutor for the Fine Arts programs and to help and support the life drawing studio sessions that were offered at the college. Also, I co-created the Latin American club with a group of other international students at Story Arts Cnetre, where we offered different activities. I was happy to direct the first theatre club ever created in SAC and had the great privilege of offering free theatre classes to the students between classes. After I graduated from the Fine Arts Studio program, I was invited back to talk to the students about my professional journey outside of school.”
Reflecting on some key lessons from the Fine Arts Studioi program, Sara shares that she has flashbacks of her professors and their teachings as she works in her studio. “I can still hear the voices of David, Neville, and Carlo in my head after six years since I graduated.”
She adds, “The lessons that stand out to me the most are staying true to my art and ideas, not being discouraged by rejections but instead saving some of them (as many are hilarious!), always charging for my work as it is the result of years of studies and practice, knowing that there are infinite possibilities of path careers as fine artists, always keep in mind the opportunity of collaboration… and be the kind person in the room (be the change, make a difference).”
As for advice for future students of the Fine Arts Studio program, Sara says she can’t stress enough the importance of applying to all of the art opportunities that interest you. “Do not wait to feel ‘ready’ to apply because that will only hold you off from amazing opportunities. Make amends with rejection, as it is part of the art journey. A rejection does not mean that your art is not good enough; it just means that it was not what they were looking for at that time. If you receive a rejection, I encourage you to apply again next year, as your art may be the perfect fit that time around. Be constant by showing up in your studio, be patient with yourself and most importantly, be true to yourself and your ideas and stand by them.”
For those wanting to start their art career, she shares, “I would say that it is never too late. It really isn’t! Do not feel discouraged if you have never touched a brush; just start from the beginning. The key is to practice and be constant.
You can learn more about Sara and her artwork via her website and Instagram, @saravnart, or you can connect with her on LinkedIn.
Congratulations, Sara, on this exciting opportunity with the RBC Emerging Artist Network, and we are thrilled to follow along in your journey as an artist!
Article by: Alexandra Few
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