Archipelago – Contemporary Art of the Salish Sea

Cross-border creativity, connection, and cultural exchange the inspiration behind new contemporary art exhibition centred on Salish Sea.

Salt Spring Arts and ArtSpring to debut collections of Southern Gulf Island and San Juan Island artists April 14 through May 24, in the first of two installments which will continue at the San Juan Museum of Art late September 2023.

Archipelago: Contemporary Art of the Salish Sea is a new international art exhibition that showcases the work of twelve artists, six from the Southern Gulf Islands and six from the San Juan Islands, two of North America's most celebrated art communities. The exhibition is a collaboration between Salt Spring Arts, ArtSpring, and the San Juan Islands Museum of Art, and marks the first time a cross-border exhibition of this size and caliber has been launched in the region. The exhibition runs from April 14 to May 24, 2023, at Salt Spring Island and will continue at the San Juan Museum of Art from late September 2023.

The exhibition highlights the theme of cross-border creativity, connection, and cultural exchange. Salt Spring-based co-curators Richard Steel and Pat McCallum asked each artist the question, "How does living and working in the Pacific Northwest inform and influence your work?" The artists responded with a tidal wave of answers, sharing how the Salish Sea has impacted their perspectives, techniques, mediums, and subject matters.

The exhibition includes a variety of mediums, such as painting, printmaking, sculpture/installation, glasswork, photography, and tapestry/textiles. Each artist differs widely in age, medium, background, ancestry, and the scale of their work. However, they all share a sensibility, a spirit, and a profound sense of place that binds them together more by commonalities than distinguished by differences.

The artists have created bold and beautifully crafted statements on the vulnerability of our environment, with some like Canadian tapestry artist Jane Kidd and installation artist Anna Gustafson making bold statements. The voices of Indigenous artists are present in the exquisitely rendered glassworks of American Raven Skyriver and the nature-inspired carvings of Canadian Salish artist TEMOSENG Chazz Elliott. The list is rounded out by celebrated American stone sculptor Tom Small, renowned for his skill and sensitive use of materials.

The exhibition brings a starting point to dialogue with our neighbors across the water, and art is the perfect vehicle for sparking such conversations. According to Yael Wand, Executive Director of Salt Spring Arts, "The work of the artist is to challenge our understanding and to shift our perspective; to encourage us to get to know ourselves, and one another, better."

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Exhibitions

Southern Gulf Island Artist Exhibition

Mahon Hall, Salt Spring Arts

Opening Reception April 14, 6:00 – 9:00pm | Hours 10am-5pm Spring Show Artist Talks and Events throughout Spring Show.

San Juan Island Artist Exhibition | ArtSpring Gallery

Opening Reception by RSVP April 21 5:00-7:00pm | Hours 10am-4pm

Artist Panels for the Community

Saturday April 22: 10:30am at ArtSpring: Joe Miller, John MacDonald, Sam Montalbetti, Danielle Dean, Glenn Hendrick, Anna Gustafson

Saturday April 22: 2:00pm Mahon Hall: RaVae Luckhart, Joanna Rogers, Jane Kidd, Raven Skyriver, Tom Small, TEMOSENG Chazz Elliott

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