About the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec

Group of professional artists, doing sculpture, installation art and 3D work, the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec is a not for profit organization with the following main objectives: offer professional services to its members and promote Quebec sculpture through a variety of events, such as symposiums and exhibitions, which can be international. 

The Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec is actively involved in governmental policy making concerning visual arts, and wishes to become an essential partner for the distribution, promotion and information exchange with respect to the practice of sculpture and the evolution of trends in this domain. 

History

In 1961, a few sculptors gathered to create an association that would be incorporated in 1962 under the name of Association des Sculpteurs du Québec. In 1978, the corporation would become the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec. 

The Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec collaborated from the outset for the creation of symposiums throughout Quebec (Chicoutimi, 1980), organized numerous events such as "Confrontation" (1980-85), as well as group exhibitions in Quebec and abroad, i.e. "Québec en 3D", a traveling exhibition presented in Paris, Lyon and Cannes before being presented throughout Quebec (1986). In 1981, the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec initiated the publication of ESPACE, the first Quebec specialized magazine on sculpture.

In 1990, the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec organized a major public art event ("Sculpture: SÉDUCTION 90") which led to the creation of a permanent exhibit of sixteen (16) monumental sculptures integrated in the parks of eight cities of the Communauté Urbaine de Montréal. Still in 1990, the "Code d'éthique des sculpteurs", was published, a guide and reference tool that establishes standards with respect to the market of original sculpture, ordering works of art, the organization of symposiums, as well as relations between art lovers amateurs, sculptors, and distributors of artwork.

The council was created in order to offer professional services to its members and to promote Quebec sculpture, but it also participated in the development of government policy concerning visual arts and has been instrumental in recommendations aiming at the improvement and recognition of the socio-economical status of the artist. It has been an important author in the development and distribution of model contracts, the application of the Act on 1% and reflections preceding the revision of the federal Copyright Act. It also argued in favor of a Quebec act on the artist's status, which in 1989 led to the creation of the Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (RAAV). 

Over the last years, the Council has published an inventory of Quebec sculptors that was distributed throughout Quebec and Canada, in Europe and the United-States, and that was partly reproduced and integrated in its web site. It also published a legal information package in collaboration with Maître Nathalie-Pascale Boisseau; it works diligently on the distribution of its reference and documentation centre towards experts and the larger public; it publishes a suppliers list. In the fall of 1996, the "Salon C.S.Q." is inaugurated. This place of exchanges and exhibitions wants to trigger encounters between artists, specialists and the public. It currently works on the development of a specialized information and training program on artist studio management.

A fundamental divergence in the attitude and expectations towards the needs of support at a structural level and support for the profession currently oppose the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. The latter has ceased all support to the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec through is grant programs. Notwithstanding, in this context of controversy, the Conseil de la Sculpture du Québec continues to fulfill its mandate of supporting professional practice and promoting the field thanks to the unconditional dedication of its members. A new team is looking for a new structure in a collaborative, participative way and the demonstration that its presence is essential to the practice and promotion of Quebec sculpture.