Open Sky Creative Society (OSCS)

The Open Sky Creative Society (OSCS) was formed in 1999 by local artists & arts supporters who saw a need for an arts & cultural service organization as well as presentation & artist outreach opportunities in the Dehcho. The society’s presence in our region is vital as extreme distances to the nearest urban centres, result in few opportunities for audiences & artist alike.

The OSCS fulfills a unique role in the community & the Dehcho as the only active non-profit, non-governmental, artist, & cultural supporter run organization. The volunteer-based society provides artists & audiences with an informed professional forum for research, production, presentation, promotion & dissemination of new works in contemporary visual arts & traditional Dene crafts as well as networking & educational opportunities, & a general resource centre.

Services

The Arts

Open Sky Festival - late June or early July each year.

The Open Sky Festival (OSF) is an annual multidisciplinary arts festival held since 2001 in Fort Simpson, NWT. It is the largest single programming event for the OSCS. The festival serves as one of the only presentation & dissemination opportunities for artists & audiences in Fort Simpson & the Dehcho region. The festival strives to program an annual special project running for at least one week in conjunction with the weekend long festival.

Audiences can expect to see a range of art forms from storytelling, moose hair tufting, theatre, modern dance, traditional fiddling, new media screenings & more.

Workshops are available for audience participation which creates unique opportunities for audiences to gain appreciation for the chosen crafts & art form of the various participating artists.

Art and Crafts

OSC Gallery

In 2008 the OSCS opened the first & only artist-run gallery to be funded by the Canada Council for the Arts through the Assistance to Artist Run Centres Program. This allows the society to operate the only professional venue in the NWT dedicated to presentation of contemporary visual arts.

The OSC Gallery presents six, six week exhibitions per year featuring works by contemporary visual artists from across Canada (with minimum one exhibition per year guaranteed to an NWT artist), with a additional annual exhibition featuring Dehcho artists.

Operator Information

Website:

Contact: Michael Blyth

Serving Locations:

Fort Simpson

Address:
Box 575
Fort Simpson, NT
X0E 0N0
CANADA

Country: CANADA

Phone: (867) 695-3005