The Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge is searching for an executive director. A large part of the job will be overseeing the gallery's upcoming $5.8-million renovation, which enters a planning phase next year. Send a CV and cover letter to applications@saag.ca by Sept. 10. Find more information here.
The National Gallery of Canada is using funding from RBC to buy work by emerging artists. Up to four purchases will be made each year for three years. The gallery has already begun acquiring work through the fund, including From 1848 to the Present/Cross-section of a Slave Ship by Montreal-based Canadian Congolese artist Moridja Kitenge Banza. The drawing is featured in the gallery's current Rembrandt exhibition. Three more works have been purchased, two by Toronto-based artists Michèle Pearson Clarke and Esmaa Mohamoud, and one by a Montreal-based artist, Myriam Jacob-Allard. Some of the $900,000 from RBC will support commissions from Indigenous artists and an exhibition by Stan Douglas at the next Venice Biennale. More information can be found here.
The Federation of Canadian Artists is partnering with the Nature Trust of British Columbia to present a $500 award for an exhibition of provincial landscapes. Federation members are asked to submit works that represent the province's natural beauty. The Nature Trust will receive $5 dollars from each submission. See details here.
The Eastside Arts Society in Vancouver has launched its CREATE! Art Festival from Aug. 21 to Aug. 22. The event includes affordable and accessible art workshops in Woodland Park in Vancouver and at studios in the city's Eastside, as well as an art installation the pubic can help create in the park. Pre-register for workshops here.
Griffin Art Projects in Vancouver is partnering with the Bag Factory, a visual arts organization in Johannesburg, on a virtual art residency program. The residency, in August and September, will connect Western Canadian artists Nura Ali, Josephine Lee and Xwalacktun with South African artists Pebofatso Mokoena, Lebogang Mogul Mabusela and Wezile Mgibe through virtual Zoom meetings and studio visits. The residency will focus on resilience and advocacy. Check the schedule for upcoming public programs with residency artists.
Vancouver's Small File Media Festival is back this summer. The festival, which runs from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20, aims to curb the environmental impact of streaming digital content by celebrating small files, defined as 22 megabytes or less. The festival includes 90 movies from 16 countries. Tickets are priced on a sliding scale and are free to those without the means to pay. Find more information here.
Artist Debra Rushfeldt has painted a large mural of a toad for Nakusp, a village in the B.C. Interior known for its hot springs. Her mural, which measures 10 feet by 25 feet, was funded by the Columbia Basin Trust and local supporters. Rushfeldt created three toad paintings and asked people to vote for their favourite, which was featured on the mural.