Rural art studio in Minnedosa aims to inspire
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- Published on Friday, December 4, 2015
Photo by Val Dornn. Marlies Soltys, center, was a big winner at October’s “What’s the Big Idea?” entrepreneurship event, taking home three awards. Five weeks later, Soltys has signed a lease to launch an art studio in Minnedosa.
Submitted by Vern May
The Neepawa Banner
A generation ago, the thought of an art gallery becoming a fixture on Main Street in any rural Manitoba community may have been summarily dismissed. The belief that art represents too small a market within our towns would label the proposal to be a risky endeavor. However, increasingly, our communities are seeing an adoption of arts and culture and the heart of that activity is making its way “downtown” in our commercial neighborhoods.
In Minnedosa, the lease has just been signed and renovations underway for the development of the Inspire Studio of Fine Art. The site, sandwiched between a bakery and a hair salon on Main Street was formerly a restaurant and had been earmarked for development as a residential suite by the owner. The introduction of a gallery and community arts and culture hub is being viewed as a welcome addition to fill the vacancy.
The studio is the vision of local artist Marlies Soltys, who has operated her own art business, Modern Mosaics, as a home based venture in recent years. Her work is primarily ceramic tile art and commissioned work for custom home interiors and kitchen backsplashes but has also included some instruction. She has delivered programs through ACC’s continuing education program, through local recreation offices in Neepawa and Gladstone, as well as hosting students from surrounding towns including Erickson and Onanole in her own home. However, with a growing inventory of her own work and an increase in requests for classes and workshops, it was time to look at a more formal environment.
Her story is similar to that of Kathleen Lagasse in Souris, who initiated a swell of interest in oil on canvas painting over the past year. Lagasse started teaching classes out of the basement studio of her home and at the end of her first year, had a roster of more than 40 budding artists developing their craft through her program. This fall, she needed to grow her operation and opened her own gallery on Crescent Avenue, just steps away from the community’s iconic Swinging Bridge. Lagasse’s success, Soltys hopes, can serve as a model for what is possible for other rural centres to embrace art – not only as consumers, but as artists themselves.
Renovation work is currently aggressively underway with multiple phases of development identified. First is the gallery and retail space, offering not only Soltys, but all area artisans a venue to display and sell their work. In addition, the site offers the layout for two teaching spaces to host classes in various art disciplines.
“It’s been very exciting,” says Soltys. “I have already had calls from both artists and instructors who are interested in what we’re doing here and are looking to get involved and share their art or their talents. There’s a very active art community in western Manitoba that many people might not even realize. Painters, photographers, sculptors and quilters. We need to showcase them all.”
For more information on the Inspire Studio and the opportunities available to artists, Soltys can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
In the weeks ahead, Soltys and her team are ambitiously at work, aiming for a launch date prior to Christmas to help out the last minute shoppers looking for a unique treasure for a loved on this year.
