Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
21 April 2020 Vol 5 No 8 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2020
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
If you've visited Galleries West recently you may have noticed a new donation pop-up box that encourages readers to support our coverage of the visual arts in Western Canada and the North.
This is a step that publisher Tom Tait has taken reluctantly in the wake of economic turbulence from the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen the magazine's already tight budget suddenly become even tighter.
As part of efforts to stretch editorial resources, we are publishing only three full-length stories in this issue, down from the usual six.
The stories are interesting and timely. In The Joy of Teaching Art at Home, Winnipeg art teacher Stacey Abramson offers useful advice to parents taking on home-schooling duties. Her story has already been shared more than 450 times.
Meanwhile, in Digital Dash, I look at how galleries have embraced virtual connections with their audiences after the pandemic forced them to close their doors.
And finally, Mark Mushet writes about Iranian-born artist Gohar Dashti, whose photographs about conflict and upheaval are part of the Capture Photography Festival this month in Vancouver.
We have also launched two series of short features as part of our recalibration during these uncertain times.
Winnipeg artist Diana Thorneycroft has generously shared her reflections for the first, House Call, which lets artists talk how they are doing, creatively and otherwise, during the current crisis.
Our other series is called Sneak Peek. It offers a glimpse of things you might not be able to see in real time – perhaps a show installed at a shuttered gallery or a new artist project. Vancouver-based artist Damian Moppett launches this series with a fascinating mobile that was installed in the atrium of the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton just before it closed temporarily on March 17.
If you want to participate in either series, please send a note to editor@gallerieswest.ca. We'll get back to you if it's something we are able to publish.
Looking ahead to our next issue in two weeks, we are featuring two book reviews. Vancouver writer Dorothy Woodend looks at Everything is Relevant: Writings on Art and Life, 1991-2018, a new anthology by Ken Lum. And Madeline Bogoch reviews Hinterland Remixed: Media, Memory, and the Canadian 1970s by Winnipeg’s Andrew Burke, who explores the decade’s persistence in Canada's cultural memory.
I do want to assure our community that Galleries West will remain freely accessible to everyone – there are no plans to introduce a pay wall. That said, we genuinely appreciate any support you can offer to help the magazine continue providing quality writing about the visual arts during these tough times. We know many people are struggling right now and we completely respect that. But we are hoping some amongst you will be able to demonstrate the tangible value you place on a magazine that has celebrated Western Canadian artists and galleries for the last 18 years.
Take care and be well,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Stacey Abramson, Mark Mushet