FRIDAY, July 13, 2018
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arts&entertainment
FRIDAY | JULY 18, 2018
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Past curators return to help gallery mark 40 years DALE BASS STAFF REPORTER dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
J
ust like most celebrations, there will be a homecoming as the Kamloops Art Gallery prepares to mark its 40th birthday. Among those who have come back for the event are many former curators, each of whom has picked some of the more than 3,000 works in the gallery’s permanent collection for Through the Memory Atlas: 40 Years of Collecting. Among those who said yes when the request came out from the gallery are Roger Boulet, Jen Budney, Susan Edelstein, Adrienne Fast, Andrew Hunter, Jordan Strom and Tania Willard. Current curator Charo Neville also chose works from those created by former curator Annette Hurtig, who died in 2012, and former executive director Jann Bailey, who died in 2015. Executive director Margaret Chrumka said one of the most gratifying moments in the conversations with the former employees is the role the gallery played in their lives. “Our gallery was pivotal in their careers,” she said, a result of their work, the mentoring they received and the reputation the city’s gallery has. It’s not uncommon for another art gallery to contact them at the KAG looking for advice. “They ask ‘How did you do this?’ on programs like Baby and Me, Ladies Drawing Nights, Drink and Draw.” The show opens on Saturday, July 14, with a curator’s tour at 5:30 p.m. — and it will be a show for the ages. Chrumka said usual exhibitions in the main gallery include between 60 and 100 works. For the anniversary, there will be almost 300 on display. It continues to Sept. 15. Voice is a key element in the selections, she said, and that’s why the group of curators were asked
DAVE EAGLES/KTW As Kamloops Art Gallery prepares to celebrate its 40th year, curator Charo Neville, left, collections manager/registrar Krystyna Halliwell and preparator Matthew Tremblay install a wide collection of works from the past four decades.
to take part. Each will bring their own attitudes and inspirations to the works they choose, highlighting works in the collection they want included in the celebration. Chrumka acknowledged there can be a sense of elitism connected with art galleries, something that may have been a holdover from the 1970s and 1980s, when the prevailing belief was galleries had to be quiet places where people would silently contemplate the works. That’s still important, Chrumka said, but not an overriding belief.
Psychiatric Nursing
“We have to try and strike a balance and not create a place where community doesn’t feel this isn’t their place. This has to be a community place.” The expansion of the building on Victoria Street, which also houses a library branch and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District administration, will help grow the community sense, Chrumka said, particularly with the addition of a cafe. There will also be more gallery space, she said, with the potential to add another up to 200
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works in major exhibitions. There are other aspects of the celebration. In the gallery are limited-edition anniversary pins for sale for $10. There are commemorative mugs and greeting cards as well. Emily Hope, the gallery’s education and public programs coordinator, has also created a scavenger map showing the location of public art in the city. People will be encouraged to take selfie photos at each site and the first 25 who make it to every location and do so will receive a prize.
Luminosity returns in midOctober and the gallery has commissioned some area artists to create some new art to be shown during the week devoted to it. Chrumka said a mailing to members and donors has elicited some touching moments. While there were the large donations that come in regularly, there were unexpected ones, perhaps $50, maybe $100, “that are reminders of how deeply and profoundly we are connecting with out community.”
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INFORMATION SESSION Tuesday, July 17 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Sandman Signature Kamloops Hotel 225 Lorne St Kamloops, BC V2C 1W2 Register online at stenbergcollege.com/events or Toll Free: 1-855-227-3460