Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
16 June 2020 Vol 5 No 12 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2020
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
Like many people, I’ve been thinking about how to support Black Lives Matter – how to be a better anti-racism ally, and, more specifically, what concrete things Galleries West can do to support inclusivity.
Since signing on as editor in 2012, I've tried to regularly feature Indigenous and multicultural artists as I organize coverage that focuses on exhibitions by Western Canadian artists, as well as exhibitions in Western Canada by artists from elsewhere.
I've noticed that galleries seem to be organizing more shows by Indigenous artists, but don't think this is happening to the same extent for those who are Black or People of Colour, although there has been some movement in a positive direction.
I began to wonder how Galleries West is stacking up, so I looked back over the stories we published in 2019. Almost one in four stories dealt with artists from BIPOC communities, which is almost in line with the overall proportion of the Canadian population.
But probing further, I realized that there are gaps in our coverage and we could be offering readers more stories about artists from specific under-represented minorities.
Last year, for instance, we wrote about three exhibitions by Black artists, including Edmonton-based Emmanuel Osahor, originally from Nigeria, and two leading American artists, Alicia Henry and Nick Cave, who exhibited in Alberta.
When the pandemic forced gallery closures in March, our coverage necessarily moved away from exhibitions. But last month we featured politically charged textiles made by an emerging artist from Calgary, Simone Saunders. She was the only student graduating from art school this year to let us know about her work. I'm glad she did.
I mention Saunders as a way to encourage other artists to let us know about their projects and exhibitions. We're always looking for new things to write about so this is really a case of win-win.
On another front, I’m expanding the House Call series, started as a way for artists to respond personally to the pandemic, by inviting artists to share how the Black Lives Matter movement is affecting their creative production.
I also want to encourage arts writers from diverse communities to pitch stories and reviews.
I intend to spend more time reaching out over the coming year to listen and learn. But in the short term, I've commissioned a story that explores how well minority artists are represented in public gallery collections and am also arranging coverage of a show by international artist Santiago Mostyn, who looks at the history of Black homesteaders in Alberta.
In the meantime, please enjoy this issue. You’ll find stories about Saskatchewan artist Zachari Logan’s busy career, Vancouver-based scientific illustrator Julius Csotonyi’s work with dinosaurs, and Saskatchewan artist Zoë Schneider’s challenge to common perceptions about fatness.
We also feature a House Call with Anne Steves and two more instalments in our Sneak Peek series – photographs of museum specimens by David Ellingsen and Jeanne Randolph’s documentation of the last telephone booths in Manitoba.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Dorothy Woodend