ALBERTA WILDLIFE CARVING ASSOCIATION
The Alberta Wildlife Carving Association (AWCA) currently meets at Amiskwaciy Academy
101 Airport Road Edmonton T5G 3K2
Tuesday Evenings starting in October to the end of April.
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm in the Industrial Arts shop.
Members work on their own projects or take one of the many courses offered for Beginning to Advanced carvers.
Click here for information about current classes at Amiskwaciy
Special demonstration nights and workshops are also offered covering painting, detailing, and creating habitat. The association also sponsors weekend courses and a week long summer carving school called “Carving in the Park” featuring world class instructors from Canada and the United States.
The wood we use as our first choice for carving is Tupelo; Basswood is another popular wood for carving projects. Most members use rotary tools such as Dremels or a smaller micro-carving machines, however, hand carving is another technique used by club members. We will explain the benefits of each machine during our courses or seminars
AWCA also has an extensive reference library available to assist members with their carving projects. This library includes books, patterns, casts, and photos. Members can sign out these items for one-month periods. Members are encouraged to browse through the library on Tuesday nights as they prepare for their next art project. Our librarian is also available to assist members with questions or in locating reference material.
Once members complete their art carvings they are able to enter them into competition and have them reviewed by a panel of judges. The feedback from judges is very beneficial for carvers as they continue to improve their skills. AWCA hosts and annual carving completion each May called “Images of Nature” that attracts not only AWCA members but carvers from across the country. Some of our members in turn travel or send carvings to various parts of Canada and the United States to enter their carvings in other competitions.
Throughout the year AWCA offers field trips and social events for its members. These have included visits to the Royal Alberta Museum for a behind the scenes tour, banding Northern Saw-Whet Owls, and visiting the Beaverhill Bird Observatory. In addition AWCA hosts an annual December Christmas party and an end of the year barbeque.
Our members are found throughout the province and Edmonton area members come in every Tuesday evening to participate in our regular carving nights.
Please feel free to drop in and visit us on Tuesday evenings, the coffee is always on. Check the schedule on our website to confirm the dates.
CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS: CARVING – DETAILING – BURNING – PAINTING – FEETMAKING - HABITAT