Artist migration is a normal part of life in any small centre, and Regina in particular is known as much for its fertile artistic soil as for its cultural exports. Why do artists leave? Here are the musings of four recent expats on why they left and what they found when they got there.

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“It’s Frustrating To Fight Everything”

 

David Geiss

Filmmaker

Victoria

 

Why did you leave? Did you jump or were you pushed?

Pushed by love and grad school.

 

What was your experience as an artist in Regina?

The arts community is so tight-knit and welcoming. The friendliness and supportiveness isn’t just for once you’ve done your work, but it’s also in the conception and production of work. It is easy and fun to be successful there.

 

I did want to leave Regina, not because of disliking it, but just to spread my wings, so to speak. Regina became quite comfortable for me, but I wanted to challenge myself with a new environment and crowd. Dealing with the city itself was frustrating, and I didn’t even realize the extent of it until I left. It’s frustrating to fight for everything: the politics of city council were just so backwards it’s amazing to me. I enjoy Victoria in a completely different way, the openness of people about community, and the environment and transit and eating local food, urban farming and that sort of thing.

 

Is the grass greener?

It’s greener, but maybe only because of the rain.

 

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“An Overriding Conservative Culture.”

 

Nikko Snyder

Filmmaker, Musician, Writer

A Farm Near Wynyard After A Summer In B.C.

 

Did you jump or were you pushed?

Jumped (because I was restless) and pushed (because I was frustrated), and not entirely sure how much of either.

 

What was your experience as an artist in Regina?

I love the community of artists and other revolutionary types in Regina, and the way they cross over. I also love how there is opportunity to step into new creative spheres. I certainly had opportunities to learn about film in Regina that would have been way more difficult to access in Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver.

 

There were things that drove me crazy. There is a wonderful progressive, creative community in Regina, but there is also an overriding conservative culture and that definitely pushed me away. It made me miss the big cities, which in some ways are further ahead in terms of sustainable and creative policies. The size of Regina became unbearable: big enough to need a car, but too small for a decent public transit system.

 

Part of why I moved to Regina was because I could afford to buy a house and live comfortably. I never had much luck earning even a basic living in Regina — where I could use my skills and experience but not spend all my time working. It keeps getting more and more expensive to live there.

 

I’m glad to be back on the Prairies, but I don’t want to live in Regina.

 

Is the grass greener?

No. Just a different shade of green.

 

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“Something Innocently Benevolent About The Saskatchewan Attitude To Culture.”

 

Lee Henderson

Visual Artist

Toronto

 

Did you jump or were you pushed?

I jumped, but I’m not sure I didn’t feel Pat Fiacco’s hand on my back as I did it.

 

What was your experience as an artist here?

The U of R’s MFA program is among the best in the country, very rigorous academically. I was able to produce a lot of work in a few years because it was so inexpensive to live there (which is less the case now).

 

But it got to a point where I spent more energy and resources getting the work out there, into the world, than I saved by living in Saskatchewan. The horizon can only be infinite if you’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s something innocently benevolent about the Saskatchewan attitude to culture in that it doesn’t seem to prioritize or judge the results of cultural production; it just wants to be involved with the process, if only in a superficial or rhetorical way. To illustrate with a more ready example: nobody really cares if the Riders are a good team or not, they just want to belong — we’ve replaced social value and efficacy with a mirage of togetherness.

 

Is the grass greener on the other side?

Living in Toronto has been incredible. I need a cultural environment that’s challenging and stimulating; that’s what I was lacking in Regina, and what I’ve found in Toronto.

 

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“An Abundance Of Individualistic And Creative And Quirky Talent.”

 

Evan Tyler

Visual Artist

Toronto

 

Did you jump or were you pushed?

Jumped.

 

What was your experience as an artist here?

Saskatchewan is a province with an abundance of individualistic and creative and quirky talent, but it’s easier to make it as an artist in Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver. It’s not that there’s better art, there’s a just better scene because it’s bigger. In the few weeks I’ve been here I’ve met great, wonderful people who have plugged me into opportunities that I never would have run into in Regina. There’s good things about both, but if you want to be a professional visual artist or curator or gallery owner or musician you’ve got to leave Saskatchewan.

 

There’s so much great stuff in Saskatchewan that it seems we need to export ourselves to validate our talent. I don’t agree with that — it’s just a reality. I wish it weren’t that way. I wish there were some kind of revolution that happened so I could stay at home — I liked my life there.

 

Is the grass greener?

No, there’s just more grass.