Alberta Culture Minister Ricardo Miranda visits the Edmonton studio of Alberta's first artist-in-residence, Lauren Crazybull. Photo: Government of Alberta.
Indigenous Art and Design
Lauren Crazybull is the first Artist-In-Residence of Alberta. The Blackfoot Dene painter, illustrator, advocate and documentarian was chosen from more than 100 applications. Based in Edmonton, Lauren Crazybull will, according to a release, “travel to communities across Alberta to promote the importance of artists and the arts; attend cultural events like Alberta Culture Days and the Lieutenant Governor’s Art Awards; and create a painted collage of Alberta using portraits and Indigenous languages to highlight Indigenous stories across the province.” The position comes with a grant of $45,000 and up to $30,000 in additional funding to help cover travel and material costs. (press release)
Rebecca Belmore’s ice-sculpted tribute to Neil Stonechild is now on view as public art in Saskatoon. “Stonechild’s frozen body was found in a field in the northwest industrial area of Saskatoon in November 1990,” Global News reports. Belmore’s sculpture, created with her partner Osvaldo Yero, consists of large blocks of ice spelling out the word “Stonechild.” The work is called Freeze and, installed outside Remai Modern, will melt as temperatures warm in spring. “The work was originally made in 2006 for an art festival, which is called Nuit Blanche in Toronto,” said Belmore to Global News. “We are pleased to have it here, because it feels like the work is coming home.” (Global News)
The art of the late Beau Dick will be on view at White Columns Gallery in New York this spring. According to a release from Fazakas Gallery in Vancouver, “Beau Dick: Devoured by Consumerism” is the last exhibition conceived by the late Kwakwaka’wakw artist, activist and chief. “By sharing works inspired by the Kwakwaka’wakw Winter Ceremonies, Beau hoped to spark change in a world he saw devouring itself under the ravenous pressures of capitalism,” says the release. The show will run until May 4. (emailed release)
Canada Goose has collaborated with Inuit designers on a new collection. “Canada Goose commissioned 14 Inuit designers to create one-of-a-kind jackets,” Fashion reports. The coats are available for purchase online, with “100% of the proceeds [to] go back to the community.” Some of the items in Project Atigi are also showcased at Canada Goose stores. (Fashion)
Commercial Updates
There are some Canadian galleries at the Material Art Fair in Mexico City this weekend. Among them are Projet Pangée of Montreal, Macaulay & Co. of Vancouver, and Clint Roenisch and Art Metropole of Toronto. The fair runs February 7 to 10. (Material)
And some Canadian galleries are confirmed for Frieze New York in May. The exhibitor list, just released yesterday, indicates that Vancouver’s Unit 17 will be featuring Leslie Thornton in the Frame section; that Toronto’s Georgia Scherman Projects will be featuring Suzy Lake in the Spotlight section; and that Montreal’s Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran will be featuring Ambera Wellmann in the Frame section. (Artnews)
Art Beyond Borders
Kapwani Kiwanga opens a show this week at the MIT List Visual Arts Center in Cambridge. “Safe Passage,” opening February 8, includes “our recent interconnected bodies of work that address the history of forced visibility, strategic concealment and networks of resistance.” The show continues to April 21. (e-flux)
Myfanwy MacLeod will be in focus at Canada House in London this month. Her exhibition “Neighbours” opens there on February 28, including the artist in conversation with Nigel Prince of Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery. The show, featuring drawings of birds and referencing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, will be Myfanwy MacLeod’s first solo show in the UK. The exhibition is part of the CAG’s partnership with Canada House. The show will run from March 1 until June 8. (release)
Tau Lewis has a show up at Night Gallery in Los Angeles. The show, titled “I’m countin’ on you to ground me again,” opened February 2 and continues to March 2. (release)
Awards and Honours
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has been recognized as a model museum. The new OECD/ICOM guide Culture and Local Development: Maximising the Impact features the MMFA in case studies on partnering for urban regeneration; promoting inclusiveness and diversity; partnering in education; working on museums and restorative justice; and promoting health and wellness. (press release)
New Brunswick has a new cross-cultural creation residency. “The Acadian Association of Professional Artists of New Brunswick (AAAPNB), ArtsLink and Mawi’art are teaming up to create a cross-cultural residency between an Acadian artist, an Anglophone artist, and an Indigenous artist,” says a release. “The residency will be in three stages, one week in each of the following communities: Caraquet, Saint John and the Metepenagiag First Nation. Through this residency, artists will have the opportunity to create new work while immersing themselves in the artistic process of fellow artists.” (release)
Fundraising is now complete for the Susan Wood Award. Visual Arts Nova Scotia announced on social media this week that it has reached its $20,000 goal to create the award. Distributed by the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, the award will offer $1,000 annually to an emerging artist in the province. Wood, a longtime artist, mentor and friend to the arts in Halifax, died in 2018. (Facebook, VANS)
Staffing Changes
Karen Tisch is the new executive director at the Koffler Centre of the Arts in Toronto. She succeeds Cathy Jonasson, who is stepping down after a six-year tenure at the Koffler. Tisch has worked previously at the Ashkenaz Foundation, Hot Docs, Images Festival and Toronto Arts Council. She begins her new role at the Koffler on March 4. (press release)
In Case You Missed It
Staff are on strike at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
An unprecedented art-law appeal is in federal court today.
More teens visit art galleries than you might think.
A new House of Commons report says more gender parity is needed in arts leadership across the country.
