Events from March 31, 2021



  • - Presenter: Yorkton Arts Council
    - Location: Community pARTners Gallery

    Diggers showcases humankind’s obsession with altering our habitat for ease of mobility, pleasure, and comfort. Goretzky has a fascination with the heavy-duty equipment that was used in the transformation of Wascana Lake in Regina. The sheer size of the equipment and the magnitude of the project was impressive to the artist; the removal of 1.3 million cubic metres of mud, at a cost of $18 million, was an interesting concept. As a species, we have created machinery specially designed for executing construction tasks like earth moving operations. Although, we are transforming the earth for our own particular tastes, nature is ever present. Nature shows itself as a small plant pushing its way between the cracks in a sidewalk or a jack rabbit bolting across an asphalt parking lot. Nature is ever present and waiting to burst forth and reclaim the world. We walk a thin line with our obsession of transformation and conservation of the natural world which surrounds us. Goretzky hopes that the viewer leaves with a sense of their actions and how we end up reshaping the world.


  • - Presenter: Station Arts Centre Cooperative
    - Location: Station Arts Centre Cooperative

    Signposts brings together three Saskatchewan based artists who examine the familiar imagery that dots the Saskatchewan landscape.

    In the summer of 2015, Bonnie Conly was an artist in residence at the Grasslands National Park (GLNP). "I drew numerous small sketches while taking daily walks in GLNP. This was an exercise in understanding the land and its relationship to me. Through the act of walking I found much needed quiet. The walks became moving meditations...In the quiet space of a gallery there exists an opportunity for a shared meditation as visitors engage with the images through their personal experiences." (Bonnie Conly, Artist Statement).

    William Philpott paints from the rural area farmlands and landscapes near his home at Central Butte in Southwest Saskatchewan. Depicting scenes of familiar rural life, and with titles like 'Checking the Calves 6AM' and 'Entertaining Bull Buyers' Philpott evokes collective memory of our shared landscape.

    Crystal Rassi paints surreal images that pull from rural architecture and still life objects. An old barn sits perched upon a table, an oil drum tops a floral table cloth and pedestal table, a sewing machine quietly waits on a treed path. These images conjure memories for the artist and the viewer- creating a common reference point that can be examined and interpreted individually. Signposts reflects our shared memories and understanding of place and time. A contemplative exhibition that will create space for personal rumination.


  • - Presenter: Biggar & District Arts Council
    - Location: Biggar Museum and Gallery

    "Common Truths continues my work of examining how challenges facing Indigenous people today can be identified and addressed artistically with reference to traditional teachings and concepts. Since 2015 I have been specializing in the use of the Woodlands style innovated by renowned Anishinaabe painter Norval Morrisseau. This was at the encouragement of recognized elders and practitioners in the Woodlands movement. As a member of Fishing Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan [Plains Ojibway], my ancestral roots are Anishinaabe. I have been drawn to this movement and my voice is wholly authentic and endorsed by this community of artists. This has served as a calling for me, and has proven to be immensely fulfilling artistically.

    Because the lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples under colonial dominance represent a set of Common Truths, this project looks to another shared manifestation within Indigenous cultures to confront them: the organization of social structure and roles as represented by the clan system and the totems. For purposes of this project I use the corresponding Anishinaabe/Ojibway term doodem. [The works and titles] outline the connections I am making between the five classes within Anishinaabe clan structure [using four representative doodem per class] in order to confront 20 common truths impacting Indigenous people. References drawn from the TRC, the media, and/or the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, are included for each of the 20 Common Truths."
    -Donna Langhorne


  • - Presenter: Yorkton Arts Council
    - Location: Godfrey Dean Art Gallery

    Phillips created Plantscapes of the Prairies to challenge people to look closer at their environment, to see it in new ways, to challenge himself to learn about the different species found in our South Western Saskatchewan landscape, and to illustrate a new world of plant life underfoot. Many people rarely envision the species we walk on as having any artistic merit, interest, or importance. There are myriads of colour, form, and interconnection there for the observant in the Grasslands National Park, Cypress Hills Centre Block, Cypress Hills West Block, and the Frenchman River Valley that inspired Phillips’ work. The parks seemed very important in keeping rare species of plants and preserving the natural grasslands and forest ecosystems. Without these parks there would not be any natural land to explore as an artist, but the real cost is on the ecosystems and animals they sustain.

    Phillips’ process includes driving to locations in South Western Saskatchewan, mountain biking with rolled canvas in his knapsack, finding a section of land, unrolling the primed canvas on the ground, paint-sketching the scene/plants, and rolling it back up to stretch and paint in oils later in his studio. He takes many close-up photographs of the various elements and plants found within the scene. Some photos are chosen for reference and printing. These photos along with the paint sketch and the artists memory/experience of the land inform the painting process. Without that one-on-one with the land the painting has no life.
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