A Life Collected - extended exhibition dates

Good news; if you haven't had a chance to check out the exhibition A Life Collected: The Vernon MacKelvie Gift of Canadian Art, it's now on display until October 15 in the Hamilton Galleria and the University Archives, both located in the UofW Library (4th and 5th floors of Centennial Hall). There are some real gems in this exhibition, including the above pictured Bertram Brooker, but also a Paraskeva Clark, Dorothy Knowles, Phililp Surrey, William Winter and much more. Check it out!

Admission to exhibition and opening reception is still free and open to everyone.
Exhibition Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Image: Bertram Brooker, Houses on a Hill, undated, watercolour, 30 x 21.5 cm.

The Ephemerals: Trending, September 6 - December 3, 2011

Performative embedment (across campus): September 6 - 9

Installation (Anthropology Museum, 4th floor, Centennial Hall): September 6- December 3

Reception (Gallery 1C03): September 9, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Artists' roundtable discussion: September 30, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Gallery 1C03 is pleased to celebrate its 25th anniversary with the first programming project of our 2011-12 academic season, Trending!

Trending is a four-day performative embedment on The University of Winnipeg campus by The Ephemerals, an all-female Aboriginal collective of artists and curators. By inserting themselves into the university community, The Ephemerals will interrogate the trend of Indigenously-influenced clothing and accessories among post-secondary students, encouraging a critical reading of fashion as codified text and highlighting the need for a deeper awareness of its cultural implications. Images from performances and information related to the project will be uploaded to Gallery 1C03’s website as the embedment progresses. Further supporting this project will be an ongoing intervention in the public display windows of the university’s Anthropology Museum, drawing from and responding to the Anthropology Department’s Ethnographic Collection. Additional affiliated programming will include a roundtable discussion with the artists, a public lecture and a public film screening.

The Ephemerals is an emerging collective of Aboriginal women based in Winnipeg, Manitoba who are interested in curatorial and creative research. The collective was established by founding members Jaimie Isaac, Niki Little and Jenny Western to function as an outlet to foster and motivate artistic production within their individual practices and to develop collaborative projects that revolve around contemporary Indigenous art. Jaimie Isaac is an artist, curator and writer engaged in the arts on both a local and national level through her work with boards, collectives, juries and artist-run-centres. Isaac holds a Bachelor of in Art History of Art and an Arts and Cultural Management Certificate, both from The University of Winnipeg. She is currently a pursing a Master of Arts in Creative and Indigenous Studies at UBC Okanagan. Niki Little is an artist/observer who is interested in artistic and curatorial strategies that explore the reasoning of identity, culture and social exchanges. Little has studied at The University of Manitoba, the National Screen Institute and the Camberwell College of Art in London, UK. Jenny Western is a curator, writer and educator who holds an undergraduate degree in History from The University of Winnipeg and a Masters in Art History and Curatorial Practice from York University in Toronto. One of Western’s recent projects includes co-curating Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, a multi-venue group exhibition of contemporary Indigenous art from around the globe.

Gallery 1C03 gratefully acknowledges financial assistance from The University of Winnipeg and the Manitoba Arts Council for this project. We are also grateful for the support of the Anthropology Department of The University of Winnipeg, the University of Winnipeg Students' Association and CKUW 95.9 FM.

All programming is free and open to everyone!

https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/art-gallery-the-ephemerals-trending

A Life Collected: The Vernon MacKelvie Gift of Canadian Art

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. at The University of Winnipeg Library

A public exhibition highlighting exciting works recently donated to The University of Winnipeg’s permanent art collection by alumnus Vernon MacKelvie (BA ’44) will open Thursday, June 16 at 3:00 pm. The works, all of which are by Canadian artists, will be extended until October 15, 2011 in the Hamilton Galleria and University Archives, both located in The University of Winnipeg Library (4th & 5th floors of Centennial Hall).

Though MacKelvie reveres the arts and has been attending exhibitions and collecting artworks for more than sixty years, he does not count himself as an art expert but, rather, an art appreciator. He comments: “You don’t have to be wealthy to build a fine art collection. You just have to have good taste and educate yourself.”

Vernon MacKelvie’s life and voice as a collector speak to the viewer through the works presented in A Life Collected. Of the selected twenty-four pieces on display, all are by Canadian artists, many of whom practiced on the Prairies and in Ontario and Québec. These were the places between which MacKelvie divided his time, and where he sought out new images by Canadian artists to add to his collection.

Featured artists such as Bertram Brooker, Paraskeva Clark, Betty Dimock, Dorothy Knowles and Philip Surrey represent various styles and movements of the last six decades of Canadian art. MacKelvie’s total gift of fifty pieces is a fine complement to the University’s permanent collection, whose purview is work created by established twentieth-century and contemporary Manitoba and Canadian artists.

A Life Collected is curated by Alexis Kinloch. Both the curator and collector will be in attendance at the opening reception.

The University of Winnipeg Art Curator Department wishes to thank The University of Winnipeg Foundation and the History of Art Programme for their support of this exhibition project. We also gratefully acknowledge the Museums Assistance Program, Department of Canadian Heritage.

Admission to exhibition and opening reception is free and open to everyone.
Exhibition Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Image: Bertram Brooker, Houses on a Hill, undated, watercolour, 30 x 21.5 cm.

Prairie Excellence Panel Discussion

Thursday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m. Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall (3rd floor of Centennial Hall), University of Winnipeg
ADMISSION IS FREE

To accompany the Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta Craft Councils’ presentation of the group exhibition Prairie Excellence at Gallery 1C03, the Manitoba Craft Council, in partnership with Gallery 1C03, has organized a panel discussion with Prairie Excellence Selection Committee Member Helen Delacretaz and Prairie Excellence artists Tibor Bodi, Grace Nickel and Sue Sutherland.

Prairie Excellence is a juried exhibition representing the very best of contemporary fine craft from the Prairies. Featuring pieces in various media by 35 artists, the show is a unique and balanced blend of work from each of the Prairie Provinces. While some of the featured artists, like Winnipeg’s Grace Nickel, Kathryne Koop and Keith Oliver, are well established, the exhibit also showcases craft artists who are relatively new to the scene. This is a unique opportunity to view the work of emerging, mid-career and established artists in one place.

The panel discussion will focus on the state of contemporary craft practice on the prairies and how the work in Prairie Excellence contributes to this dialogue. The three artist panelists will explore how their work reflects a prairie aesthetic, how it pushes the boundaries of their chosen medium and how they balance questions of form/function with the conceptual aspect of their work. Selection Committee Member Helen Delacretaz will consider trends and shifts in the contemporary craft scene more generally and how these developments might apply to works in Prairie Excellence in particular.

Prairie Excellence has made Winnipeg its third stop in a tour of Western Canada after presentations in both Edmonton and Saskatoon, showing at Gallery 1C03 (1st floor of Centennial Hall at The University of Winnipeg) from April 28 - May 28, 2011.

Admission to gallery and panel discussion is free and open to everyone.
Regular Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday from noon until 5:00 p.m.

Image: Tibor Bodi, Voice of America 1956, 2009, cast glass, forged steel and metal (tin smith), 24" x 11" x 9". Courtesy of the artist.

Review of Prairie Excellence

Check out Alison Gillmor's review of Prairie Excellence in yesterday's Winnipeg Free Press. The show will continue at Gallery 1C03 until May 28 and there will be a free panel discussion related to the exhibition on May 26 at 7 p.m. at Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall.

Prairie Excellence Opening

Manitoba, Saskatchewan & Alberta Crafts Councils present Prairie Excellence

at Gallery 1C03

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 28 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Gallery 1C03

Admission is free and all are welcome!

For more information please visit: http://www.prairie-excellence.ca/

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta Crafts Councils to exhibit Prairie Excellence at Gallery 1C03, April 28 – May 28, 2011

Prairie Excellence is the very best of contemporary fine craft from the Prairies distilled into one exhibition. Featuring work by 35 artists (selected from 163 submissions) the show is a unique and balanced blend of work from each of the Prairie Provinces. While some of the featured artists, like Winnipeg’s Grace Nickel, Kathryne Koop, and Keith Oliver, are well established, the exhibit also showcases craft artists who are relatively new to the scene. This is a unique opportunity to view the work of emerging, mid-career and established artists under one roof.

The “call for entry” for Prairie Excellence was widely distributed throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in late 2009. The response was both exciting and daunting—276 pieces were submitted by 163 artists. A selection committee consisting of one curator from each province was assembled. In their first round of review based on submitted photos, resumes, and print material, the committee selected 50 pieces. An in-person selection stage was held at the Alberta Craft Council Gallery in Edmonton and 35 pieces were eventually chosen for the exhibition. The committee was challenged to look at work in all craft media, ranging from jewellery to large sculptural pieces. They discussed and sometimes argued about issues of conceptual, creative and technical excellence. They were further challenged to choose recipients for best of province awards, and recipients for best emerging, mid-career and established artist awards. To reflect the breadth of the submissions, the committee members also opted for an honourable mention in each of the emerging, mid-career, and established artist categories.

The show marks an exciting new collaboration between the Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta Craft Councils. These organizations exist to promote the work of craft artists from their own province by developing the careers of new and veteran artists and by increasing public awareness about great art being created in our midst. By working together, the prairie Craft Councils can take this mission even further.

Manitoba artists in this exhibition include Grace Nickel, Kathryne Koop, Robert Wilson, Sue Sutherland, Teresa Burrows, Dave Wasylyshen, Jordan van Sewell, Crystal Nykoluk, Keith Oliver, Nancy Hall, and Tibor Bodi.

Prairie Excellence will make Winnipeg its third stop in a tour of Western Canada, showing at Gallery 1C03 (University of Winnipeg) from April 28-May 28, 2011. An opening reception is planned for Thursday, April 28, 5:00 - 7:00 pm, with many of the Manitoba artists in attendance. A panel discussion will take place on Thursday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall.

Image: Robert Wilson, Sliced Antler Vessel, Antler, pine form, casting resin, dark roast coffee, 2009