Visual arts news in brief
Aboriginal artist Alex Janvier will create a circular floor mosaic for Edmonton’s new downtown arena. The $700,000 piece is one of the largest public works commissioned in the city. Inspired by the sun, sky, hills and rivers, the colourful mosaic will be located in the entrance and walkway to Rogers Place Winter Garden.
The Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary is launching its first graduate program, an MFA in craft media. The college, which has facilities for ceramics, glass, metal, jewelry and fibre arts, says the program will offer a collaborative, cross-disciplinary environment. For information, go to graduatestudies@acad.ca.
Photo: Nick Siu.
Orijit Sen discusses his mural, "From Punjab, With Love"
Orijit Sen discusses his mural, "From Punjab, With Love," last year at the Surrey campus of Simon Fraser University.
A mural that blends historical and everyday scenes by Indian graphic artist Orijit Sen will be displayed at the Surrey Art Gallery for six months. From Punjab, With Love is a digital reproduction of Sen’s popular fibreglass and acrylic mural at the Virasat-e-Khalsa Museum in Anandpur Sahib, India.
Victoria-based photographer John Taylor is one of 12 artists across Canada to be inducted this year into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Taylor’s focus is architecture. His work includes conceptual images that describe new ways of seeing existing spaces, and autobiographical pieces that place personal experiences in symbolic and surrealist contexts.
The Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts, one of B.C.’s most prestigious honours, has been awarded to Michael Morris, a key figure in the West Coast art scene since the 1960s. The VIVA Award went to mid-career Vancouver artist Elizabeth Zvonar, while Cate Rimmer, curator at the Charles H. Scott Gallery, picked up the Alvin Balkind Curator's Prize.
Popular artist Ted Harrison, whose colorful paintings of the Yukon brought him to national acclaim, died in January at age 88 at his home in Victoria. A member of the Order of Canada, he received honorary doctorates from several Canadian universities.