Le7 Tmicw

July 8 to September 9, 2023

Le7 Tmicw (Secwepemctsin for Good Earth)

Using natural, upcycled or repurposed materials, these artists highlight acts of healing in the current climate crisis. This exhibition strives to bring hope to viewers that climate catastrophe is not inevitable, and that actions are happening everywhere to help heal the planet.

Leilani Ambrose | Lex Bryson | Jennifer Chernecki | Lisa Figueroa Linda Franklin | Hop You Haskett | Sarah Hope | Frieda Martin Jose Narbona | Clea Roddick | Valerie Rogers | Mary Thomas Gordon Wallace | Members of Kamloops PrintMakers Society

A Cast of Characters

January 28 to April 1, 2023

A Cast of Characters is an exhibition of theatre masks by Melody Anderson spanning four decades. From The Number 14 to The Coyotes, visitors will be able to see up close the incredible art forms that informed performances featured at Caravan Farm Theatre, Runaway Moon Theatre and beyond.

The Coffee Break and Curatorial Talk is on Thursday, February 16 at 2pm, featuring guest speaker Astrid Varnes. A Theatre-Lover Mixer Night will be on Thursday, March 16 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm welcoming folks to come and share stories. The Artist Talk and Fast-Mask Demo will be on Saturday, April 1 at 1pm with artist Melody Anderson. Everyone welcome.

Gratitude is extended to Lois Higgins, exhibition sponsor.

A Place to Belong

October 15 to 29, 2022

The Pride Project continues in 2022 with the exhibition A Place to Belong. The completion of the 3-year Cultural Mapping Research project in partnership with Thompson Rivers University will be part of the exhibition, with many of the maps on display. In addition to collaborative and photographic artworks on the theme of belonging, bask in the warmth of the Progress Pride Flag Community Quilt to be unveiled in this exhibition.

Opening day is Saturday, October 15 beginning at 11am. Everyone welcome. Enjoy all fourteen arts-based inclusive activities in the Pride Project, happening between October 15 and 23.

Pull: Printmaking in the Time of Covid

August 28 to October 9, 2021

Artists in the Kamloops Printmakers Society explore printmaking in the time of Covid, using multiples as a form of storytelling, and featuring a variety of printmaking processes.

Featuring the contemporary printmaking artwork of Ila Crawford, Linda Franklin, Linda Jules, Darlene Kalynka, Maureen Light, Susan Miller, Kelly Perry and Elizabeth Sigalet.

Sponsored by Friends of the Art Gallery Lois Higgins and Joyce Henderson.

Sound Machines

July 2 to August 21, 2021

Eight artists create installations that explore the intersection of sound, voice, music and noise. Featured artists are Alison Beaumont, Doug Buis, Daryl Kehler, Geri Matthew, Daniela O’Fee, Louis Thomas, and the 2021 Marie Manson Virtual Artist Residency artists Lucas Glenn and Heather Yip.

This exhibition was generously sponsored by Song Sparrow Hall.

Walking at 6000’

April 10 to June 19, 2021

Painter Lisa Figueroa and audio artist Phil McIntyre-Paul tell their individual stories of walking BC’s alpine and sub-alpine trails.

Piqw

(Pek-whe) a Secwepemc word meaning “to look”

January 30 to March 27, 2021

An open member exhibition featuring 470 miniature artworks 6x6” or smaller, created by 140 Shuswap artists of every age.

Dust to Dust

Dust to Dust featured the work of 11 BC artists and one local arts group, each responding to themes around death, dying, grief, loss and transition.

Guest Curator: Kate Fagervik

Featured Artists: Nasim Abounourinejad, Layla Kutschker, Scott Crocker, Sarah Hope, Laura Hargrave, Erin Azalea Moen, Elizabeth Sigalet, Salmon Arm Sketch & Paint Club, Margaret Robertson, Jillayne Wickware, Elizabeth Pattie, and David Jacob Harder

Pride!

October 13 to 17, 2020

Salmon Arm Art Gallery invited members of the LGBTQ2S+ community to create artwork that would offer information, understanding and awareness of important issues. The exhibition featured three community collaborative works; a collage installation about terminology and pronouns created by a group of three young LGBTQ2S+ artists, a quilted PRIDE flag installation representing 15 identities within the community by the group Proud Grammas, and a soft felted rainbow that was installed at the front entrance of the Art Gallery through which every visitor passed. Amazing individual artworks were featured, including two mixed media installations by Karmen Krahn, a digital poem by Nathan Blue, one painting by Chey Rathbone, and a short film co-created by SPAT, the youth PRIDE group at Salmon Arm Secondary, and Shuswap Immigrant Services. Maps from the Cultural Mapping Project were also on display, showing safe and unsafe spaces within Salmon Arm’s downtown.

The Forecast

August 15 to October 10, 2020

An ever-evolving media, photography is everywhere; we have all become documentarians. To record climate change is a particular challenge – how does one show the world photographic evidence when we know how easy it is to manipulate the data? A photograph used to be proof, like science, but in today’s rapidly changing landscape, evidence is often interpreted through a multitude of lenses. In 2020, how do we discern what is true?  

Since climate catastrophe is now a reality, it is was opportunity to examine how artists who use photography are responding to this issue with their media. Aaron Leon, Zev Tiefenbach, Krystal Burgess, Mary Thomas, Patrick Hughes, Vanessa Skotnitsky, Kenneth Whyte and Myna Button displayed their work without the use of traditional frames. Each artist used contextual presentation systems, so that the viewer understood that the story was more complex than the imagery.

20/20 Open Member Show

February 22 to March 19, 2020

As we approached 2020, phrases such as 20/20 vision and hindsight is 20/20 beckoned to us in the visual arts. The beauty and diversity that comes from an open exhibition, where artists of all ages, media and abilities are welcome to display their work, was the best way to celebrate the entry into this year. Instead of a subject theme, the cohesive element was the size. All the work in this show was presented on a 20x20 inch canvas. 70 artists participated with 240 total works, and the exhibition was installed in grids that covered the Art Gallery’s walls.

20/20 was on display when the world shut down due to Covid-19.

She She

Julie Oakes

January 18 to February 15, 2020

Vernon artist Julie Oakes presented a stunning exhibition aglow with purple and blue that was filled with symbolism. Her installation reflected a domestic setting, but with chairs that one could not sit upon, tapestries one could not sleep beneath, and scents one could not apply to themselves. There was an implied fragility, paralleling the decorative role that women once played and are still asked to play. Julie's commentary on style is layered with symbolism and myth, and brought an intergenerational perspective with the collaborations between her and her 7-year-old granddaughter, Wren.

SheShe attempts to align to one of the original aims of the Bauhaus -  to break down the barrier between the monumental and the decorative and thus join together the psychological, aesthetic and utilitarian.  SheShe presents a traditional domestic setting in order to elevate it and affirm the strength of that world once held by women.

The Little Lake

Community Collaborative Felted Fibre Exhibition

October 5 to December 14, 2019

The Little Lake had been percolating in Director/Curator Tracey Kutschker’s mind for many years. In 2010, Gwen Martinuk was a guest facilitator for one of the Art Gallery’s spring break art camps. The theme was “Monet Monday,” and the group created a dozen beautiful, soft, impressionistic waterlilies. The process was fascinating, and as the finished waterlilies were being admired, Kutschker said “wouldn’t this be amazing if we could fill the gallery floor with waterlilies?”

From that experience an exhibition grew; a Monet meets McGuire Lake concept. During “The Knitted Tree” exhibition in 2015, many visitors asked what the next big community collaborative project would be. Kutschker explained her idea to a few people, and it was then that she learned that McGuire Lake used to be known as Little Lake. Suddenly the idea of placing a truly little lake inside the gallery seemed a perfect fit.

In 2017, the team of fibre artists and eager volunteers got to work. Gwen Martinuk, Anne Long, Gudie Hupfauer, Jennifer Rodgers, Allison New, Jean Brighouse, Gudrun Malmquist and Myrna Button worked over the next two years at work bees, workshops and design meetings to bring this concept to life. Waterlilies, frogs, dragonflies, bees, sedges, willow branches and rocks were created by over 200 contributors over the two years. Melissa Nasby sculpted a Great Blue Heron that became a focal point in the exhibition, and turtles by Gwen Martinuk and a blackbird by Jean Brighouse added detail to the story of the Little Lake. A wooden bridge co-created by Julia Armstrong, Eric Fagervik and Eric Kutschker gave visitors a delightful view of the whole sculpture.

Deborah Chapman, archivist and curator at Haney Heritage Village and Museum, offered the historic photographs of Little Lake, which became known as Mrs. McGuire’s Lake, then McGuire Lake.

Following the exhibition, the parts and pieces of the Little Lake sculpture were sold at a fundraiser, and generous members of the Spinners & Weavers Guild spun the lake fibre into yarn. Not a single piece of this exhibition went to waste, it lives on in people’s homes, in mittens and in our hearts.

Devenir

August 10 to September 21, 2019

Devenir /To Become/ is an installation of five mobiles symbolizing the development of ideas. This exhibition aims to share the creative spirit of an artistic project. How is an object or a painting conceived before becoming a reality? Devenir reveals the mystery of the process of artistic creation by staging what happens in the artist's head before and during the manual work of a project.

An artist collective from Alberta, DEVENIR pools ideas and skills to expand the reach of each of its members. Five Francophone artists from Edmonton and Calgary, Doris Charest, Danièle Petit, Karen Blanchet, Sabine Lecorre-Moore and Patricia Lortie founded DEVENIR in June 2016. The richness of their various perspectives and their artistic abilities feeds the collective. They create artistic events that contribute to the vitality of Franco-Albertan culture.

A Seat at the Table

June 8 to August 3, 2019

An exhibition about food sovereignty, security and sustainability featuring five artists; Delores Purdaby, David Wilson, Anne Long, Krystal Burgess and Sara Wiens, as well as a community collaborative installation about five important Secwepemc food plants. The project was created in consultation with Shuswap Food Action Society and Neskonlith First Nation to highlight local food issues. Special gratitude is extended to Knowledge-Keeper Louis Thomas, whose goal it is to bring Secwepemc cultural knowledge to the wider community.

Nearly 100 young people co-created the Kume sculpture as they learned about five traditional Secwepemc food plants; wapato, high-bush cranberry, soopalallie, Spring Beauty and Avalanche Lily. Workshops led by Susan Miller and Director/Curator Tracey Kutschker started with paper-making using local plants and recycled fibre, then drawing and painting the bud, blossom and fruit stages of each plant. Visitors to the gallery were interested to learn that these plants were a main staple of the diet of Indigenous peoples. A Secwepemc feast was held on July 22, 2019, and the 50 people in attendance felt privileged to be able to sample these plants, and many more, cooked in a traditional way. Storytelling by Kenthen Thomas enraptured the audience.

The exhibition, feast and related workshops encouraged people to discover new things about the "grocery store" on the mountains around Salmon Arm.

Flight

April 13 to June 1, 2019

The Flight exhibition used the songbird decline as a lens through which to view the climate catastrophe we are living in. The artists participating in this exhibition were equally passionate about the human and environmental impacts that propel this decline, and developed engaging works that invited viewers to connect.  Installation artists Aidan Sparks, Cathy Stubington and Deb Humphries. Sculptors Hop You Haskett, Carol Schlosar, Lottie Kozak, Marla Bjorgan. 2D artists Jane Byrne, Valerie Rogers, Joanne Sale, Frieda Martin, Janet Aitken, Lee Rawn. Photographers Roger Beardmore and Clive Bryson.

Bird Conversations were held in the Art Gallery, facilitated by Tom Brighouse, Dick Mann, Roger Beardmore and Alex Inselberg.

Kids These Days

March 2 to April 6, 2019

An open exhibition for young artists aged 15 to 24, inviting them to create up to four works in any media of any size. In this biennale exhibition, we are given a glimpse into the inner workings of the young mind. Perhaps it is the thousands of new neuron connections that are constantly rewiring themselves in the teenage brain, but we have noticed an emphasis on the human face in the artwork of this age group. It could be a fascination with a favourite character or celebrity in pop culture, or a mirror that helps them build or experiment with their own identity. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of eyes confronting the viewer in “Kids These Days.” 58 young artists participated in this show, featuring 2D and 3D works, installations, audio work, digital work and collaborative work.

The Curator’s Awards are a $50 cash award given to three artists for works of excellence. As youth create their own narratives, they are borrowing and adapting from the world around them. It is more challenging for them to forge their own path, and so we wish to acknowledge the ones who are brave enough to stand out and push their skills and ideas to the limit. In 2019, the winners are Kobe Adrian, Meaghan Krause and Kodie Snow.

In Dialogue with the Collection

January 19 to February 23, 2019

The Shuswap District Arts Council has held the Community Art Collection since 1972. This collection contains 170 works, and is an incredibly valuable asset for the whole community. It is our responsibility to show the works as a living collection, one that helps us see our progress and illuminate our ever-changing views.

For this exhibition, we asked contemporary Shuswap artists to re-ignite the story through dialogue. When a working artist views works from the past, their response is influenced by their own artistic experiences. The new work is a lens through which the viewer might see an entirely different picture. Each of the contemporary artists had a spark of a story that connected them to a piece in this collection, and it spurred them to further explore that connection.

Lisa Figueroa, in dialogue with Howard Johnston

Gudie Hupfauer, in dialogue with Gudrun Weisinger

Dawn Scott, in dialogue with Frances Hatfield

Annie Martin, in dialogue with Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher

Sherry Kalloch, in dialogue with Josephine Parrott

Laura Sprovieri, in dialogue with Marcel Asquin

Suzi Dalton, in dialogue with June Mitchell

Betty Schriver and Blind Bay Painters, in dialogue with Margaret Lund

Maureen Howard and Tina Letham, in dialogue with Mary Letham

Marg Robertson, in dialogue with Bern Smith

Susan Miller, in dialogue with Vivian Lindoe

Myrna Button, in dialogue with Marie Manson

Terry Norys, in dialogue with Louise Silver

Dark Nights/White Lights

November 17 to December 22, 2018

For this exhibition, artists were challenged to integrate new technology into their work and use the theme of illumination as their guide. Innovative media offers us new ideas all the time, and in this age of digital leaps and bounds, it is coming our way at warp speed.

Our human eyes are always capturing light. Light can illuminate darkness, but too much becomes sensory pollution, throwing off our circadian rhythms, disrupting our connection with the night sky, the stars, with something larger than ourselves. This exhibition invites the viewer to contemplate the darkness, and experience the light of the stories our local artists wish to tell.

3D/Installation artists Ana M. Bayona and Hector Alzate collaborative, Daryl Kehler and Eric Kutschker collaborative, Elizabeth Pattie, Lori Talerico. 2D artists Frieda Martin, Valerie Rogers and Tatianna O’Donnell. Digital/video artist Alex Jensen.

Peak Year III:

A Climate of Change

September 15 to November 10, 2018

In 2010, an unusual phenomenon occurred at the Adams River Sockeye Salmon Run at Roderick Haig-Brown Park. A pre-season estimate was a return of three million sockeye, already a large increase over an expected 75,000. Shockingly, escapement totals were over nine million – 51% higher than the previous record set in 2002, and the largest Late Run escapement since comprehensive surveys began in 1938 (Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Sockeye Salmon 2010 report).

After 20 years of slow but steady decline, this sudden spike in spawners was seen by some as a recovery, while others saw it as the last gasp of a dying system. The Art Gallery responded in the fall of 2011 with an exhibition exploring this dichotomy called “Peak Year,” featuring ten artists in a visual conversation of how this run fit into our historic understanding of resources. When the next four-year cycle was approaching in 2014, the Art Gallery offered Peak Year II: Return of the Salmon, with artists sparking conversation about whether this peak year would show us the death or recovery of the run. It turned out to be a poor run, with few fish making the journey to the mouth of the Adams River.

As the 2018 run approached, it became clear that the fragile ecosystem that is the Adams River Sockeye Salmon Run has been impacted by more than overfishing and careless salmon farming. Effects of climate change are warming the waters, causing drought, and increasing pressures on the smaller waterways from agriculture. The Shuswap is a paradise, not fully exposed to the global pressures of migration, extreme weather events and other climate change outcomes. Our comfort can contribute to cognitive dissonance, and the arts sector can offer a path to confronting these beliefs.

Artists were asked to address these pressures on the salmon run - a highly visible and culturally significant Shuswap phenomenon to which we all feel connected. Peak Year III has become about climate change and its effect on this system.

Each of the eight artists in this exhibition are offering an entry point to this conversation, prompting us to face some hard facts about resource mismanagement, uncontrolled growth, and how settler abuse of the land has led to this current crisis. Others are offering solutions – a way of re-learning through respect and sustainability. Within this collection of work, we can each explore where we fit into this issue, and how we can affect change.

Featuring 3D/Installation artists Hector Camilo Alzate Ramirez and Flo Wong collaborative, Patrick Hughes, Rebecca Shepherd, Karen Raven and Myrna Button. 2D artists Linda Franklin and Lottie Kozak. Audio artist Steve Mennie.

Scenery

Herald Nix

August 11 to September 8, 2018

Herald Nix is a visual artist and musician, who attended the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University). Born and raised in Salmon Arm, Nix is considered an astute colourist, whose painting is as much about the paint as it is about the places. He makes almost daily trips into the bush around Salmon Arm or takes his rowboat onto the lakes to paint using oil on board. In his home studio, these small panels become the basis for larger works and experiments in line and colour. In addition to his work as a visual artist, Nix is an acclaimed musician who has performed throughout Canada and internationally.

“When you pull forms from the natural world you can do anything with them. If you become so familiar with those landforms, you assimilate them. You transform the landscape and the landscape transforms you. Repeated observation changes your perception, the way you think of the world, and ultimately leads to abstraction.” - Herald Nix