The Art Gallery of Alberta. Photo: Robert Lemermeyer.
Our editors’ weekly roundup of Canadian art news.
The Art Gallery of Alberta announced this week that, beginning March 28, children, youth under 18 and Alberta students will have free access to the gallery. The move is a part of the AGA’s five-year strategic plan to reach new and broader audiences and increase accessibility. More changes to the admission models will be announced this year. “Through the generous support of the City of Edmonton, we have the opportunity to explore how we can connect more Albertans to the incredible art and ideas at the Art Gallery of Alberta,” said Darcy Trufyn, chair of the board of directors, in a press release.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly is currently in Florence, Italy, attending the inaugural G7 meeting dedicated to culture and heritage. Joly’s itinerary includes various meetings with various cultural representatives from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan and the US. Yesterday, she presented a talk on “Culture as a Tool for Dialogue Among Peoples.” According to Canadian Heritage, Joly’s aims for the trip were to “reinforce Canada’s continued commitment to culture and heritage as it relates to multiculturalism and inclusion, as well as to discuss the importance of cultural diversity in the digital age.”
The Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver announced on Tuesday that Kimberly Phillips has been hired as the institution’s curator, and will begin working at the CAG in August. Phillips comes to the CAG from the Vancouver artist-run centre Access Gallery, where she has worked as director/curator for the last four years. She previously worked at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and holds a doctorate in art history from the University of British Columbia.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery announced two new appointments on Thursday: Andrew Kear will assume the role of chief curator, while Radovan Radulovic takes over as head of museum services. Both Kear and Radulovic are current employees of the WAG, and Kear will retain his position as curator of Canadian art while taking on the role of chief curator. Kear joined the institution in 2008, while Radulovic began at the gallery in 2001 as conservator.
A Waterloo man, Adam Michasiow, has been charged with careless driving and changing lanes unsafely after a fatal collision with the artist Robert Linsley, who was riding a bicycle. Linsley lived in the Kitchener area since moving to teach at the University of Waterloo in 2002. Over the course of his career, which included time in Vancouver, he built a wide network of artist peers and students—some of whom spoke to Canadian Art about his influence after his death.
Toronto artist Lee Henderson has won the 2017 Canadian Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Prize. One of seven international artists selected for the residency, Henderson will live and work in Dufftown, Scotland, where the Glenfiddich distillery is located, for three months beginning in early June. His project for the residency will focus on “the multiple meanings of the word ‘spirit’ and ‘consider whisky as a vehicle for commemoration and an expedient to shared rituals of mourning.’”
