News – Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

Artist Talk w/ Kenzie Housego

Join Grande Prairie native, Kenzie Housego, Thursday December 7 at 6PM, as she talks about her art practice and about the works in her TREX Wall exhibit, ‘

: Digital Courtship’.

December marks 1 YEAR for the TREX WALL!! The wall is a prominent space for Alberta based artists to display their artwork located just outside the doors of the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie . We have had over 70,000 people walk past the TREX Wall this year. Thank you to our TREX Program Sponsor, KMSC Law for the support to make the TREX WALL a reality.

Artist Bio:
Kenzie Housego recently completed a Master of Fine Art specializing in new media at the University of Calgary, Mohkinstsis, in Treaty 7 region southern Alberta. As a multidisciplinary artist, her practice includes fiber, embroidery, new media, and assemblage mediums. The use of technology such as LEDs, Arduino micro-controllers, texting, and screens within her research is symbolic of the virtual realms in which we participate as a society. The virtual encompasses social media platform activity, online personas, online dating, and online branding. The digital world has become ubiquitous in communication, shaping contemporary society, particularly in relation to online representation.

It’s important to her that her artwork always offers an invitation for interactivity, encouraging viewers to shift from passive observers to active co-producers as they engage with the digital media, experience other points of view, and ultimately, form their own individual meanings. ‘

: Digital Courtship’ explores contemporary courtship, romance, technology, and historical signs and signifiers connected to dating and romance.

Housego has had the opportunity to showcase her art nationally and internationally at Beakerhead festival in Calgary, CURRENTS festival, Santa Fe New Mexico, Rome MakerFaire, MakerFaire Bay Area in California, Fashionwear New York, CES Vegas, Xiamen Fashion Week, China, CES ASIA, Shanghai, China, Dublin Ireland, and at a two-week art residency in Shenzhen, China.

Artists Website : https://www.kenziehousego.com

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Closed November 11th

The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie will be closed on Saturday, November 11, 2023 for Remembrance Day.

We will resume regular hours on Sunday, November 12th.

REGULAR GALLERY HOURS
Sunday: 1 pm – 5 pm
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 10 am – 6 pm
Wednesday: 10 am – 6 pm
Thursday: 10 am – 9 pm
Friday: 10 am – 5 pm
Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm

Learn more about current exhibitions.

A Message from the Board of Directors

Dear valued stakeholders,

The Board hopes this message finds you well. We are writing to inform you of an important change at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie. Our Executive Director, Daniel Becker, has made the decision to resign from their position, effective Monday, October 02, 2023. The Board of Directors thank him for his contributions and wish him well in his future endeavours.

We will be initiating a thorough search for a new Executive Director who will build upon the foundation laid by Daniel Becker and lead AGGP into its next phase of growth. We are committed to finding a highly qualified and visionary Executive Director who shares our mission and values, which will drive AGGP forward.

We want to assure you that our commitment to delivering exceptional programming and maintaining strong relationships with our stakeholders remains unwavering. We will continue to prioritize transparency, open communication, and collaboration throughout this transition.

The Board extends our heartfelt appreciation to all our stakeholders for your understanding, continued support, and trust in the AGGP.

Kindest regards,

Vaughn Bend
Chair

Upcoming: ThreadsThrough Time and Weaving Cultural Identities

October 26, 2023 – March 17, 2024

We are pleased to host two travelling exhibitions from the Vancouver Biennale titled ‘Threads Through Time and Weaving Cultural Identities’ on October 26th, 2023. The exhibitions feature weaving as a central practice and an important cultural life-force of Muslim and Indigenous communities, transcending time, space and language.

‘Threads Through Time’ is a manifestation inspired by the monumental Vancouver Biennale public art installation ‘Paradise Has Many Gates’: a life-size chain-link mosque created by the Saudi Arabian artist Ajlan Gharem installed at Sen̓áḵw – Vanier Park, Vancouver. During its installation for the 2018-2020 Vancouver Biennale exhibition, the artwork inspired a historic collaboration amongst Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Islamic weavers and designers. For ‘Threads Through Time’ the Muslim community and Jacquard weavers responded to the mosque, creating a 15’ x 32’ prayer rug covering the floor. The second exhibition ‘Weaving Cultural Identities’ features 10 woven artworks as part of the dialogue inspired by Gharem’s mosque.

For this exhibition, textile artists and graphic artists from diverse cultural backgrounds were asked to collaborate based on their own experience and histories, creating a series of works that celebrate the rich significance of textile arts, with a focus on the payer rug and weaving traditions. Together, participating artist developed a platform and process for community dialogue through arts-based discussions around often complex issues of belonging, diaspora, assimilation and honouring the land.

The Vancouver Biennale is a non-profit charitable organization that exhibits great art in public space, creating a catalyst for learning, community engagement, dialogue, and social action.

Upcoming Exhibition: Collective

October 5, 2023 – February 11, 2024

We are pleased to announce “Collective,” an exhibition of large-scale printed photographs by Miranda Bellamy and Amanda Fauteux, opening at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie on October 5, 2023.

Miranda Bellamy and Amanda Fauteux’s collaborative practice identifies and extends the stories of plants through site-specific research and experimentation. By listening and responding to plants, they make space for the critical revision of settler-colonial histories, reflect on material accountability, reciprocity and ways of seeing.

“Collective” has been a process of accumulation. Over several years and across many seemingly disparate locations, Bellamy and Fauteux have met with and photographed hundreds of marked trees. The trees and their marks tell us stories of loss, trauma, healing, renewal, cooperation and guardianship. These stories speak to the immediacy of a moment, where bio systems strain under intersecting crises. Bellamy and Fauteux’s work considers how we might approach our relationship with trees through a new lens and to recognize the significance of our inter connectedness, honouring the autonomy of trees as living beings.

Curated by Jessica Groome, Curator, Exhibitions & Collections

This project is supported by the New Brunswick Arts Board

Featured image: Collective, digital c type print, 2023

Alberta Culture Days – September 2023

Alberta Culture Days are an opportunity for Albertans to discover, experience and celebrate arts and culture through local events and activities across the province. This event is part of National Culture Days, which includes more than 800 communities from coast to coast, to increase awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities.

Events and Programs at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

In-Person Events:

Weave Party
Saturday, September 16, 2023
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

We’re having a Weave Party and you’re invited! Watch how cloth is woven and yarn is spun by experienced Weavers. Help add colours, textures, and patterns, to the community tapestries crafted for Weave and Intertwine: Interactive Community Art Exhibition. Join the Saskatoon Lake Weavers, a generous and welcoming community, and watch their fascinating Spinning and Weaving Demonstrations!

Everyone is welcome to this FREE event. All materials are provided. *While quantities last.

Take Home Art Activities:

Free Creativity Kits
September 1 to 30
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Reception Desk

We have created one FREE take home creativity kit for you to explore your creativity and enjoy art-making your way! Draw, colour, glue, layer and enjoy! Feel free to mix and match the materials provided however it makes sense to you! Pick up your FREE Creativity Kit at the gallery during our regular hours. Kits are for all ages. Limit 1 of each kit per person. *while quantities last.

Balance Creativity Kit

Inspired by our current exhibition Powwow! Ohcîwin: The Origins, this free creativity kit invites you to design a cloth sharing symbols meaningful to you, your family, and your culture.

If you are an organization or group interested in a larger order of any creativity kits, please contact garry@aggp.ca or call 780-357-7480.

Exhibitions on Display

Powwow! Ohcîwin: The Origins
On view until October 8th
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

Powwow! Ohcîwin* The Origins features 7 Powwow dance styles, with full Regalia and craft work. Curators and creators Patrick Mitsuing and Marrisa Mitsuing have gathered the stories, worked with the Artisans, and carefully built the Regalia for this exhibition organized by the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery. Working with a diverse team of Indigenous Artists from Western Canada and the US they assembled each of the individual dance regalia on display. During the 2019 and 2020 Powwow season, they met with knowledge keepers across North America to record the origin stories of the dances they perform.

Honing this exhibition to represent our specific region, guest curator Fran Rogers-Chowace brings us a collection of work titled Sakâwiy’niwak— People of the Forest (The Woodland Cree). This sub-exhibit creates space for local Powwow dancers and Woodland Cree history to shine, featuring work by local artists, the Traditional Paths’ Society dancers and local elders / knowledge keepers.

* Ohcîwin is a Cree word meaning “The Origin” or telling of a story where something originated.

Edward Bader: Drawing Conclusions
On view until September 17th
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

Drawing Conclusions is a retrospective exhibition of artist Ed Bader’s drawing practice, spanning over 3 decades of work. Investigating the relationship between the local and global, Bader examines how history, society and culture determine our experience of place and time, utilizing narrative signifiers found in pop culture. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Bader is interested in the performative aspects of queer identity, gender roles and how sexuality impacts our relationship to place. Through the inherent directness and intimacy of traditional drawing methods, Bader’s work reveals metaphysical questions below the surface: a meditation on purpose and the meaning of existence depicted through the life’s work of an artist.

Weave and Intertwine: Interactive Community Art Exhibition
September 7, 2023 – March 30, 2024
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

Weave and Intertwine explores the intricate nuances of weaving as an artform as well as a community practice. Integrating hands-on studio-based learning, exhibition and interpretive gallery space, Weave and Intertwine encourages the interactive exploration of the multi-faceted ancient craft of weaving in a vibrant artistic atmosphere.

At its simplest, weaving involves two sets of threads: the warp and weft. These threads are intertwined with each other to form a fabric or cloth. The weft runs horizontally and is interwoven with the stationary, often vertical, warp. Generally, a device called a loom holds the warp under tension so that the weft can go easily over or under them. Its moving parts separate the warp threads so that the weft threads can be sent across the warp in one movement.

Weave and Intertwine invites all community members to share their creativity by adding colours, textures, and patterns to collaborative tapestries for display in an evolving community art exhibition. Enveloped by the exquisitely handwoven cloths from the Saskatoon Lake Weavers, Weave and Intertwine shares a refreshing blend of traditional textiles woven by experienced Weavers and contemporary tapestries co-created by new Weavers.

Thank you to all contributing artists for sharing their creativity and inspiration.

How Does a Moose See the World?
Artworks from the Permanent Collection
On view until November 19, 2023
Art Gallery of Grande Prairie

How Does a Moose See the World? is a selection of work from our permanent collection exploring the theme of animals in art. This exhibition celebrates the lives of animals and acknowledges their intrinsic value as beings rather than interpreting their existence from the human perspective, inviting us to see the world of animals from their point of view. How Does a Moose See the World? showcases the legacy of Canadian artists and the inspiring animals that have captured their imagination. As we explore these artworks, we are reminded of the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world, and of the need to protect and preserve the habitats of these stunning creatures.

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Annual General Meeting 2023

Celebrate last year’s successes and contribute to the future! We are pleased to invite you to the Prairie Gallery Society’s (o/a Art Gallery of Grande Prairie) Annual General Meeting.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
When – Thursday, September 21, 2023
Time – 7 pm
Where – Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, located within the Montrose Cultural Centre, 9839 103 Ave

At the meeting, the 2022-23 Financial Statements will be approved by the Board with copies provided to members, and the 2022-2023 Annual Report will be available. View previous Annual Reports

All are welcome but you must have a valid membership in order to vote and make nominations.

Questions?
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us by phone at (780) 532-8111 or by email at info@aggp.ca. We look forward to seeing you!

Membership Renewal
Purchase a Membership Online
You may purchase memberships in person at the Gallery or online HERE. If you’d like to inquire about the status of your membership, please email melanie@aggp.ca.

Nominations to the Board of Directors

You may nominate yourself as a candidate for a vacancy on the Board. To do so;

Email your intention, and a bio up to 250 words, to info@aggp.ca.
Organize for two (2) existing members of the Gallery also email their support of your nomination to info@aggp.ca.
This will be a similar process if you wish to nominate someone other than yourself.We accept nominations from the floor at the AGM, however our preference is to assist and educate potential new Directors, so please reach out to us in advance of the September 21st meeting if you’re interested.

Interactive Online Exhibition

We are excited to announce the launch of our 3D Interactive Online Exhibition!

Now, art enthusiasts from anywhere can experience the magic of our gallery from the comfort of their homes.

Our virtual tour allows you to walk through the gallery halls at your own pace, dive deep into the stories behind each artwork, and get up close to see their details.

Explore the Virtual Interactive Gallery for the “Powwow! Ohcîwin: The Origins” and “Drawing Conclusions” exhibitions by clicking on the images below.

Click to open Interactive Online Exhibition

Artist Talk w/ Michael Flisak

Join Jasper Artist, Michael Flisak on TUESDAY, JULY 25 at 12 – 1 PM as he talks about his art practice and his exhibition, Approaching the Speed of Light, on display outside the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie until October 12th. *Light snacks and refreshments will be served

Michael Flisak is a long-time resident of Jasper, Alberta. He is very active in the local art scene, as a member of CARFAC and a founding member of the Jasper Artists Guild. Graduating from the Victoria College of Art in 1983, he stayed on at the college for an additional year as an associate, and then stayed to instruct art at the college for an additional three years. After that he moved to Quebec where he studied Fine Art for two years at the Université Laval. He had a studio in Quebec City and became deeply involved in the Quebec art scene.

Much of the content of his work comes from found objects. An abandoned gasoline nozzle mysteriously left at the campground where he worked, glass blocks dropped off outside his studio door or even the bar codes found on commercial objects have all found their way into his work. Found ideas as much as found objects feature in his work. All can be abandoned, picked up and expressed in a new way. Flisak met Chris Cran when he was the master artist in residence at the Banff Centre when he was attending the Optic Nerve Thematic Residency at the Banff Centre back in 2005. Mr. Cran’s interest in perception and illusion resonate with the work he does. Michal sees him of one of greatest artists working in Canada today and this show is partly an homage to him. Flisak recently contacted Cran and asked for images of himself to use in this art project. Chris graciously sent him photos to use however he wished in his art.

In his show, Approaching the Speed of Light, the ideas of modern physics provide the dislocation as he imagines images moving at a high rate of speed, entering the space time continuum where everything is flattening, stretching and the edges of forms begin to blur. The intention is that the viewer be immediately transported into a different way of seeing.

The TREX WALL is supported by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Alberta Government and sponsored by KMSC Law.

Image credits : Chris Cran in Space Time #1 (4’ X 8’) Mixed Media 2022
Shown with the artist, hanging at the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum

Art Gallery of Grande Prairie welcomes new Curator

The staff and board of the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie are pleased to introduce Jessica Groome as the Gallery’s new Curator, Exhibitions and Collections.

Jessica Groome (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and administrator, originally from the unceded and unsurrendered lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops, BC). They completed their Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2007 and obtained their Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Guelph in 2011.

Over the past decade, Jessica has been based in Berlin, Germany, where they have been actively involved in the field of visual arts. Their primary focus since 2018 has been establishing and facilitating programming at La Datcha, a garden project space and residency program located in Berlin, Wedding.

For the past five years, La Datcha has created opportunities for dialogue between visiting artists and the local Berlin art community, offering artists a place to establish roots and cross-pollinate beyond the conventions of a typical gallery setting.

Jessica’s ability to connect communities, their resourcefulness, and their firsthand understanding of the art-making process make them a valuable addition to the role of Curator, Exhibitions and Collections at the Gallery. Jessica started their new position at the Gallery on June 1st.

Jessica shared, “As I’m new to Grande Prairie, I’m also looking forward to connecting with the local Indigenous community and it was wonderful for me to arrive when the Gallery was about to open the “Powwow” exhibition. Since starting at the Gallery, it’s been great getting to know the Permanent Collection, planning for exciting future programming, and being introduced to this diverse and vibrant region.”

Welcome, Jessica!

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