However, it’s the painters, sculptors and photographers from ART@RCA who are opening their studios for public viewing on May 10 from 5 to 8 p.m., May 11 from 1 to 5 p.m. and May12 from 1 to 5 p.m. Among them are three well-known Westmount artists: Hannah Franklin, Shelley Freeman and Claire Salzberg. Franklin is working on a new series of paintings and sculptures about the desert; Freeman’s work depicts underground landscapes such as abandoned mines, caves and rock formations; and Salzberg creates unique ceramic sculptures of Montreal landmarks, such as Schwartz’s and St. Viateur Bagel, which must be seen to be believed.

During the Open Studios event, the hallways of the fifth floor will be lined with artworks by many of the more than 30 ART@RCA artists, including Richard Ancheta, Katerina Bedregal, Maguy Carpentier, Benoît A. Côté, Mary Drummond, Amneris Fernandez, Sherrill Girard, Francine Hébert, Anita Mellul, Chris Riley, Hélaine Roux, Diane Simard, Hubert Tison, Ymilse Tozer, Graeme Welch and Harry Vandelman. Also on view will be exotic floral photographs by Linda Rutenberg whose new book, The Garden at Night, will be released in October. The Musée des ondes will be open for visits.

While ART@RCA primarily hopes to attract art-lovers, they also invite members of the neighbourhood and the wider community to discover the historical and architectural significance of the RCA building and the Musée des ondes Émile Berliner.

In the spring of 2003, a small group of artists renting studios in the Centre RCA started to meet monthly at lunchtime to discuss art. Since the Centre RCA is such a huge, labyrinth of a building, where most of the artists work quietly in isolation in their studios for long periods of time, the meetings were seen as a way of getting to know each other, sharing information and ideas about art, supporting each others’ creative projects, and providing solidarity in negotiations with the landlord. Each monthly meeting was held in a different studio.

In the autumn of 2003, the first Open Studios event was organized by this group. Friends of the artists were invited to visit their studios and tour the building. The event was so successful that in 2004, Open Studios events were held in the spring and autumn, this pattern has continued since then. The group officially named itself ART@RCA and a logos was created at the time to reinforce our image and artwork. In addition, the Musée des ondes, also located in the Centre RCA, agreed to participate in Open Studios events.