University Club staff serve up impressive art collection

By Costa Maragos Posted: April 20, 2017 2:00 p.m.

The people who provide the excellent service and food at the University Club have now added some of their prized possessions to the menu.

On display at the University Club is an eclectic and very impressive works of art from the personal collections of the staff of the University Club itself. Ten of the University Club employees have offered their pieces for display at this unique art show until May 5, 2017.

Look around the club and you will be impressed seeing works by Fafard, McKay, Cicansky, Perreault and Thauberger.

Joy Stehr next to a piece by Regina-based artist Scott McLeod. “I enjoy the Saskatchewan artists, very much. That’s what I usually buy and collect." Photo External Relations

Next to the buffet table is a Norval Morrisseau from the collection of Stan Slopek, a cook and baker at the club who also happens to be an art lover and avid art collector.

On the same wall as the Morrisseau painting, are two other paintings donated by Slopek. They are works by acclaimed Canadian painters Ted Harrison and Joe Fafard.

Slopek is also showing a prized piece titled “Light Salt Air” by Regina-based artist Ken Bray who studied under members of the famed Regina Five.
 
In the lounge, rests a tiny work from one of the giants of Canadian painting, Art McKay, a member of the Regina Five.

His signature mandala painting (with a blue border) is part of the impressive collection that belongs to Terry Haczkewicz Ring, University Club kitchen manager who has worked at the Club for 33 years.

The McKay piece is one of the few signed by the artist.

“I think it’s great. Everyone can see what we own and what we appreciate in art,” says Haczkewicz Ring, who knew McKay personally and served him at the University Club.

McKay was a regular at the Club from the mid-1960s to the 1990s.

Glenn Sastaunik with memorabilia from one of his favourite bands, Deep Purple. “This is a different type of art but the bottom line is it makes me smile." Photo by Rae Graham - U of R Photography

“I do have a picture of him and I together when he signed it. He said he didn’t usually sign his works. That’s what he told me. Mine is signed on the back,” says Haczkewicz Ring.

Haczkewicz Ring is also the owner of what is believed to be the only painting by Roy Bonisteel, who was a visiting professor at the School of Journalism and head of the department from 1999 to 2000.

Bonisteel was known by Canadians as the host of the long running network television program Man Alive on CBC.

Bonisteel was respected and revered by his colleagues at CBC and adored by the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who tuned in regularly to his program.

Bonisteel was a regular at the University Club.

“I bought Roy’s painting in a silent auction at a fundraiser,” says Haczkewicz Ring.  

“The fun stories and the laughs we had serving him. He was just a normal person like you and I. He was a big celebrity but he didn’t think of himself that way or he didn’t come across to me that way. He was funny. So funny,” says Haczkewicz Ring.

The art tour continues.

Along one column near the bar is a prairie landscape piece by Regina-based painter Scott McLeod. That work belongs to Joy Stehr, who has been a server at the Club for five years. She spends some of her spare time painting.

“I enjoy the Saskatchewan artists, very much. That’s what I usually buy and collect,” says Stehr.
 
For Stehr, the McLeod piece speaks to her home province of Saskatchewan.

“I like the prairies. The hills. This one here (points to the McLeod painting), you see the water around Saskatchewan. You can just tell when you see Saskatchewan art,” says Stehr.  

Norval Morrisseau - 'Family'	Roy Bonisteel - 'Early Riser '	Ted Harrison - 'Northern Camp'

Ten of the University Club employees have their pieces on display.

“There are some very creative artistic people in our group and they have some very diverse interests and it’s wonderful we can showcase some of that,” says Liz Dusyk, University Club General Manager. “People like the diversity of this show. This one is so different because it comes from so many different backgrounds. I think people are enjoying that especially.”

Dusyk has lent two exquisite etchings – “The Gleaners” (1908) by English artist Frederick Morgan and “Mother’s Treasure” (1911) by Arthur J. Eisley. Dusyk is also featuring a framed group of her own photos which commemorate harvest time on a family farm and fine Saskatchewan landscape paintings she owns.

As for eclectic pieces, go no further than the one behind the cash register at the Club’s entrance.

There, you will see a collage of photos and memorabellia that pays homage to Deep Purple, the pioneering 1970’s heavy metal band. The collection includes a drum stick from the band’s original drummer Ian Paice. The proud owner is Glenn Sastaunik, assistant manager of the University Club.

“I walked into my brother’s room when I was eight years old and I put in a cassette that said Deep Purple - 24 Carat Purple - and from then on I bought all of their albums. I met the band at a concert in Calgary. It was a great experience and the time of my life,” says Sastaunik. “I know this is a different type of art but the bottom line is it makes me smile.”
 
This exhibit will make all visitors smile. Drop by for a visit.

The University Club on the second floor in College West has been operating for 52 years and has a long history of encouraging and exhibiting original art. This latest exhibition, though, is the first to feature the works owned by club staff.

While the exhibit is on display until May 5, the University Club is holding a public reception, Thursday, April 20 at 5 p.m.