Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
11 September 2018 Vol 3 No 19 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2018
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
It’s back-to-school time and that special ritual of clearing the slate, er, laptop, for the coming year.
I’ve done my share of back to school, starting in the time before dinosaurs with grade school and, eventually, university, along with bits and bobs of courses here and there. I love learning.
Here at Galleries West, we have talked several times about doing a special issue on art education. So I was excited (and, let’s admit it, a little envious) when I heard that one of our writers, Winnipeg teacher Stacey Abramson, was heading to New York for the Art21 Educators program.
You may have heard of the Art21 film series, Art in the Twenty-First Century. Like Stacey, I first watched it at art school. The educators' program allows teachers to learn more about contemporary art and how to apply its lessons in the classroom. If Art21 had a program in New York for writers, I’d be on it like an ink spill. Instead, I asked Stacey to tell readers about her experience.
Another interesting story comes from John Thomson, who spent much of the summer in Los Angeles, where he visited galleries and studios, chatting with any Canadians he could find about life in La La Land. His story is encouraging, but also sounds a cautionary note about what it takes to make it in a hot art city.
Meanwhile, I had a fascinating conversation with Vancouver Island artist Sheri Bakes about how she copes – and continues to make art – after a stroke left her with a form of mind blindness.
We round out this issue with stories about Anna Wong, an accomplished but little-known printmaker in Vancouver; Manitoba-raised artist Mary Riter Hamilton, who painted the devastating aftermath of the First World War; and Kirsty Templeton Davidge, an emerging figurative artist in Edmonton.
Looking forward, we’re working on stories about Marsha Kennedy, Paul Freeman, Darrell Bell and Ulrich Panzer for our next issue.
I have no plans for formal study this fall – other than a daily yoga class. But if you're back at school, I wish you all the best for your studies.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Stacey Abramson, Beverly Cramp, Paul Gessell, Agnieszka Matejko, John Thomson