Alberta's annual Exposure Photography Festival kicks off Feb. 2 at Contemporary Calgary.
Throughout the month, the festival will feature exhibitions that showcase photo-based work by internationally renowned practitioners, alongside emerging and established talent from Alberta. The exhibitions present photocollage, conceptual photography, politically engaged practices and works that embrace social and individual experience, as well as visual explorations of identity and personal narratives. For more information, go here.
Vancouver drug-user group denied city funding for art program.
City councillors voted to cease funding an art program for drug users run by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, CBC News reports. The program received $7,500 in grants during the pandemic to run an art table, where participants created art to honour people lost to toxic drugs. It was the only grant of 84 recommended by city staff that was not approved. A media report the following day indicated Vancouver activist Karen Ward had raised $10,000 on a crowd-source platform so the program could continue.
Historical Dutch and Flemish prints displayed at the Audain Art Museum in Whistler.
The Collectors' Cosmos: The Meakins-McClaran Print Collection, on view until May 15, features prints dating back to the 16th century. Collectors Dr. Jonathan Meakins, an officer of the Order of Canada and former head of surgery at the McGill University Health Centre, and Dr. Jacqueline McClaran, the founder and first director of the McGill Centre for Studies in Aging, had an abiding love of prints. The exhibition, circulated by the National Gallery of Canada, was brought to Whistler because it's rare to see prints from this era in British Columbia, said the gallery's director, Curtis Collins. It includes some 170 works by notable European artists, including Rembrandt van Rijn, Hendrick Goltzius and Jacob van Ruisdael. For information, go here.
The Kingston Prize is seeking submissions of portraiture for its 2023 competition.
The deadline for submissions to the ninth biennial is April 26. The contest is open to Canadian artists aged 18 years and over, with a top prize of $20,000. Two runners up will each receive $2,000. Each exhibition venue, will offer a people's choice award of $1,000. The opening exhibition of 30 finalists is at the Firehall Theatre in Gananoque, Ont. in October. For information, go here.
The Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George, B.C., is losing its executive director.
Sara Knelman says she is leaving the Northern B.C. gallery after more than two years in the job. In an email newsletter, Knelman said the gallery is emerging from the pandemic with "renewed strength, empathy and purpose." She cited the gallery's new strategic plan and programming, as well as ongoing reconciliation work with Indigenous communities. She did not specify her plans or who would take over the gallery's leadership. Knelman, who has a PhD from from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, has worked as curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
Capital Power renews Indigenous Art Fund partnership with the Art Gallery of Alberta.
The Indigenous Art Fund supports Indigenous artists by funding exhibitions like Dean Drever: In Black and White, showing now at the Edmonton gallery. The fund also supports free admission on June 21, the National Indigenous Peoples’ Day; Aug. 23, the Treaty No. 6 Recognition Day; and Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Upcoming exhibitions supported by the fund include kisikayastew ᑭᓯᑲᔭᐢᑌᐤ moonlight from April 1 to August 13. It explores nêhiyaw teachings of the Thirteen Sacred Moons. For more information, go here.
It's time to make nominations for the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta's Distinguished Artist Award.
The deadline for the 2023 award is March 8. The winner will be selected by a peer jury in a process overseen by the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The Lieutenant Governor presents the award at a celebration hosted by a different Alberta community each year. Past recipients include Faye Heavyshield, Katie Ohe and Alex Janvier. For more information, visit this website.
The Nelson Museum and Art Gallery is offering free memberships to youth under 18.
The new youth access program at the B.C. Interior museum aims to remove barriers to art and encourage youth to engage with regional history. The program is funded through monthly sponsorships by regional businesses. To learn more, visit this website.