Western Canada’s art magazine since 2002
10 June 2025 Vol 10 No 12 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2025
Shelley Boettcher
From the Editor
I'm sitting here with a delicious fresh cup of coffee, thanks to friends who brought some of my favourite beans from Nelson, B.C. The sun is shining. My hydrangeas are alive. (I am not the world's greatest gardener.)
I try to take pleasure in the small stuff. But given the state of the world these days, that isn't easy for me, for anyone. Just ask Sarah Swan.
“At this moment in time, does my art matter? Does yours? Can it do anything to lift this psychic toll? Can it, in fact, be revolutionary?” Swan writes in her latest essay, Artists, Save Yourselves. Dig in and read and let us know what you think.
Speaking of the state of the world, let's talk about artists whose work has been knocked off without permission by e-commerce sites. We're not talking about Frida Kahlo or Leonardo da Vinci fridge magnets here. We're talking about real-life living Canadian artists.
Our Galleries West intern, Janille Delos Reyes, interviewed a couple of Canadians who have had images of their art stolen and reproduced as wall decor: Popular E-commerce Site Uses Canadian Artwork Without Permission. If you are also an artist, you may want to look around at e-commerce sites to ensure your own work isn't being used without permission.
In Edmonton this month, Agnieszka Matejko visits Margaret Witschl's new exhibition Piece of Mind, at Edmonton’s Bugera Lamb Fine Art until June 22. Witschl has been using her painting to capture her journey as a caregiver to a family member with Alzheimer’s.
West Coast writer Lin Li checks out Charlotte Yao’s solo exhibition, Let’s Go to America, at Canton-sardine in Vancouver until July 12. “As viewers move among these lens-based works, they are drawn into the artist’s memories — immersed in a space of recollection that evokes an overwhelming sense of suffocation,” Li writes.
And all eyes are on the Bow Valley in Alberta during the G7 this month — but there's more going on than global politics in the region. Stop in to see painter Pascale Ouellet’s new exhibition, Past/Futures, on view June 7 to July 5 at Concourse by Elevation Gallery in Canmore.
Happy summer and thanks for reading.
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Lin Li, Agnieszka Matejko, Janille Delos Reyes, Sarah Swan
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Periodical Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
