AFA News

Iinisikimm is an immersive puppet-lantern performance that celebrates the reintegration of buffalo into the natural ecosystem of Banff National Park. Learn more about Iinisikimm here.

This past August, audiences in Banff and Calgary experienced outdoor performances featuring hand-made lantern puppets, drumming from Eya-Hey Nakoda, and performances by the Czapno Theatre Ensemble. The puppets shared the story of the buffalo, told by Blackfoot trickster God Napi.

The Iinisikimm group will also be producing a comic book, estimated to be released later in 2018.

If you missed the performances, fear not; you can experience a taste of Iinisikimm through the video below. 

Iinisikimm was created with support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Commemorative Art Projects funding. Stay tuned to our news feed for more videos from the other Commemorative Art Projects.

On Monday, October 30, the AFA installed Peter Hide's Squashed Freemason sculpture in its new location outside the Misericordia Hospital's revamped emergency department in Edmonton. Artist Peter Hide was on-site to assist with the installation and made some time for the AFA to ask him few questions about the artwork and his career.
 

The AFA has acquired several of Peter Hide's artworks for its Art Collection, some of which are displayed publicly. View all of Peter Hide's artworks in the AFA Art Collection.

A Q&A with Peter Hide

Q: As an artist you want as many people as possible to engage with your work. How would you describe what it's like to have your artwork available to so many people?

A: You like it because lots of people can see it. Maybe it will stay there for ages and ages. These days things don't always last but the AFA has quite a few of my sculptures all over the place and I'm very grateful for that.

Q: The artwork that was just reinstalled at the Misericordia Hospital was started in 1983. Would you say your artwork has been able to stand the test of time?

A: Yes. That artwork has been in several different places. I think at one point it was in a private collection back in 1986.

Q: How much does the artwork weigh?

A: One ton. Roughly one ton.

Q: Is it difficult for you to part with an artwork after spending so much time working on it?

A: Not really. Do I treat them like children and I don't want to let them go? No, not really. I like it if it goes to someone. So, no I like when they go. I mean, I quite like having them and if they are around I tend to keep working on them, refining them. So, in a way, I'm a bit of a slow worker but I have made quite a few sculptures.

Q: How many would you say you've made?

A: Four or five hundered. My teacher and mentor Anthony Caro was much more famous than I. I think he's made about 8,000. He works in a different way. He works with quite a lot of technicians but he's quite a great sculptor.

Q: Can you describe what it was like the first time one of your sculptures was selected for public display?

A: The first one that was on public display was when I was student at St. Martins in London. It was in an art gallery but it was also a chemist shop I think. It was in Chelsea though and it sold for 33 pounds that was in 1966. It was great. I thought maybe just maybe I might make it.

Q: Are you currently working on anything?

A: I'm working on tons. I have two warehouses and they're both full. You know, art is difficult: it's open to fashion. When I was 25, I was very well known in England and I sold quite a lot of sculptures there but it passed. That's why I came over the pond. Then it all happened all over again.

Q: Your artwork is part of the AFA Art Collection. Can you describe what that means to you as an artist?

A: I'm very pleased about that. They've really looked after the work. I think they've been very good for me.

Q: Do you have any advice for artists when it comes to large scale sculptures?

A: I think people have to find their own way. When I was an art student, I followed Anthony Caro and he made large spreading sculptures, so I tried to make that as a student. My problem was trying to find out how small I could go. Making sculptures as large as a room didn't suit me very well. Caro would stretch things out. He would stretch sculptures and I wanted to compress the sculpture. I was more traditional in a sense, more like I was a wood carver to start. I had a carver's idea about sculpture.

Q: You've been working as an artist for a long time, can you describe one of your favorite moments as an artist living in Alberta?

A: Oh, that's hard. That's a difficult one you know. I think the first public thing I had was in the Edmonton Art Gallery (now the Art Gallery of Alberta) as it was in those days. I had an exhibition there after I had been here for nine months. That was very pleasing and I thought that I might want to stay here. Everything was new. In New York and London things had moved on and in Edmonton it was fresh. There were many good artists and there was quite a range of people creating. Painting and making sculptures.

Q: You did a bit of maintanence on Squashed Freemason before the re-installation, what was it like to work on it again?

A: It was quite interesting. It's changed. It's been outside for many years and I liked that it got more and more rust on it and it looked like a big monument that was made out of stone or granite. It feels like a monolith.

Q: The artwork has been installed at the Misericordia for a number of years. Now it has been moved in front of the new emergency room. So, something old will be part of something new. What are your thoughts on this?

A: It will get a lot of traffic where it is now. Before it was a bit tucked away. A lot of people will get to see it and I like the idea of that.

Q: What was it like to be part of the installation?

A: It was cold! 

To acknowledge both Indigenous Veterans Day (November 8) and Remembrance Day (November 11), the AFA has selected Thomas Wong’s Poppy #1 for the Work of the Week.

Please note that our offices are closed on November 13.

^{click the arrow icons ( < or > ) above to scroll through images}
 

Women's History Month
 

October is Women's History Month: a time to celebrate the achievements of the women and girls from our past and present. We encourage Albertans to celebrate women in the arts by engaging with local organizations and artists.

To celebrate this month, we are pleased to highlight three current Alberta-based exhibitions curated by women, and featuring a few artworks from the AFA's very own collection. 

Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery - Shirley Rimer: A Chronicle in Clay 
Curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette
On now until December 2, 2023

^{Installation view of Shirley Rimer: A Chronicle in Clay.
Images provided by Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery.}

About the exhibition

A longtime Red Deer resident, Rimer is one reason why the city shines as a centre for ceramic art. A Red Deer College (Polytechnic) graduate, as an instructor, curator and cultural community builder, Rimer’s own artistic accomplishments are the highlight of this special exhibition of ceramic sculpture.

Featuring over 30 artworks made in the past 40 years, a chronicle about their making and Rimer’s personal discovery of clay traditions in other countries: Greece, Turkey, Mexico, India, France, Italy, China and America. They are about handbuilding in clay, reinterpreting the vessel, communicating with colour and reflecting on subjects like family, culture and heritage here in Alberta and abroad.

This exhibition features four Shirley Rimer artworks from the AFA Art Collection:

• Body Language
• Village Life
• Red Fish
• Purple Flowers

Calgary - Nickle Galleries - The Art of Faye HeavyShield
Curated by Felicia Gay
On now until December 9, 2023

^{Photo credit: Andy Nichols, LCR PhotoServices., courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery.}

^{Red Dress, 2008, nylon, cotton, metal and paper tags, glass beads.
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
The Art of Faye HeavyShield, organized and circulated by the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Financed by the Government of Canada. Curated by Felicia Gay.}

About the exhibition

The Art of Faye HeavyShield will present work that spans forty years of her practice. The exhibition situates HeavyShield as a major contributor to contemporary Indigenous art through her creation of a new aesthetic vocabulary. While bearing a resemblance to conceptual installation, her work is rooted in the deep art history of the Canadian prairies and in personal/communal experience.

This exhibition features Faye HeavyShield's artwork Red Dress, which is from the AFA Art Collection. 

Edmonton - Art Gallery of Alberta - Second Skin 
Curated by Lindsey Sharman and Danielle Siemens
On now until December 31, 2023 

^{Photography by Charles Cousins, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Alberta}

^{Left: Caitlin Thompson, Rhizome (Hot Gossip), 2017, Fabric, thread, fake nails, decoy eyes, rhinestones, tassels, cording, buttons, plastic, paint, Velcro. Collection of Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Installation view of Second Skin, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2023.
Right: Pamela Norrish, Outfit for the Afterlife, 2015. Glass beads, nylon thread. Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Installation view of Second Skin, Art Gallery of Alberta, 2023}

About the exhibition

The works in this exhibition trace the boundaries of the body and reference garments and adornment in many forms. These literal and symbolic objects of attire allow their ‘wearer’ to explore a myriad of issues including identity and representation, objectification and empowerment, mythology and history, imagined futures and the afterlife. 

This exhibition features two artworks from the AFA Art Collection: 

• Outfit for the Afterlife - Pamela Noorish
• Rhizome (Hot Gossip) - Caitlin Thompson

Click on the arrows above to scroll through images. 
 

Featured artwork:
GRANDE ENTRY
By Jessica Desmoulin – 2019 – felted wool, beads and leather
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
 

A message from Paul R. Baay on behalf of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA)

On this third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (also known as “Orange Shirt” Day), on September 30, 2023, I will take some time to reflect on how the AFA can support and advance the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action, published in 2015. 

At the AFA, our mandate is to support, encourage and promote artistic activity for all residents of Alberta, which includes lands that are parts of Treaty 4, Treaty 6, Treaty 7, Treaty 8 and Treaty 10, as well as eight Métis Settlements. We primarily work in the area of contemporary artistic activity which, as the legacy of colonization and Canada's residential system continues to be brought to the fore, will be more and more reflected, examined, and resonated by artists of all backgrounds and disciplines in contemporary practice.

Our job is to continue to encourage and help increase participation and arts education by Indigenous artists. Our job is to continue to celebrate the unique artistic and cultural expressions of the mosaic of Indigenous peoples that reside in Alberta. And, our job is to continue to promote the exchange of ideas and artistic collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists and arts workers to help build mutual respect and understanding in our arts community. 

That's why our board decided to nurture and promote Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility through arts-related programming by Indigenous, visible minorities, or deaf and disability artists to engage audiences in and through the arts through the 2023 cycle of our Organization Activation Projects grant program. While the AFA will provide up to $20,000 for projects by a single organization, we will increase that maximum amount to up to $50,000 for partnership projects. 

We at the AFA encourage all Albertans to be more informed about the history and legacy of residential schools, and to explore the rich culture and artistic expression of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.

About the featured artwork:
Grande Entry by Jessica Desmoulin

This artwork was acquired through the AFA's Art Acquisition by Application program in 2020. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist through a competitive application program. 

• This artwork, as well as Autumn Sky, were both part of 38 artworks purchased through this program in 2020. 

At the AFA, we actively support Indigenous Arts as a unique, distinct arts discipline. We also collect artworks by Indigenous artists through the AFA Art Collection to preserve, exhibit and promote. I continue encourage everyone reading this message to visit the AFA Virtual Museum and view the Indigenous collection as part of your learning and reflection on Truth and Reconciliation Day.

About the Artist

Jessica Desmoulin is Ojibway of the Pic River First Nation. As a child, she lived in Rochester, AB and later in Sparwood, BC. She currently lives with her family in Edmonton, AB.

After the birth of her second child, Desmoulin developed an illness that left her unable to work outside the home. She took this opportunity to approach her art seriously and began to paint canvasses and occasionally buffalo skulls in the new Woodland style. Her works, which connect her to her ancestral memories, explore the essential role colour plays in creating a design and reflect nature and the patterns in its creations, such as the rings of a tree, the waves in the ocean, the cracks in the earth and the petals on a flower.

Animals often appear in her paintings, both as symbols and reflections of her family and loved ones and as the totems she approaches for spiritual guidance. Her use of copper, silver, gold, and bronze reminds viewers of the precious materials in our environment and that we need to cherish our world.

Desmoulin has participated in several regional exhibitions, including "Patterns in Nature", "Animal Speak", and "Nurturing the Spirit" at Edmonton’s Bearclaw Gallery (2013, 2014, 2016). Her artwork has been featured on the covers of Alberta Native News (November 2014, September 2016), used as the logo for the Spirit Runner app, which promotes positive lifestyles for aboriginal youth and is held in the collection of the AFA.

See all of Jessica Desmoulin's artworks currently included in the AFA Art Collection.