The Dawson Creek Art Gallery is partnering with local arts councils to organize approximately 40 pop-up art exhibitions across businesses in the downtown cores of Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St. John, Hudson's Hope, and Fort Nelson.
Dawson Art Gallery Executive Director Duncan Malkinson says it’s a great way to bring the arts to communities and is excited to make the event a regional affair.
“We’re pretty excited on how it’s being scoped this year; it’s within what’s called the Northern arts envelope, where we try to do art outreach and try to get everyday folks involved with the arts and exposed to the arts,” said Malkinson. “It’s through that we hope that people will love where they live and enjoy the South Peace.”
Malkinson expressed his gratitude for his position and the opportunity to serve the community, having taken the helm last July.
“The gallery, the role, I’ve really fallen in love with it,” he said. “The mission is just unreal, and I’m still developing my own personal artistic literacy. But in terms of seeing the possibilities for arts to partner within the community, for instance, the school district or Northern Health, or with other groups, the possibilities are really endless.”
The Young Creatives also held an opening reception on May 12, an annual youth art exhibition hosted every year at the gallery.
Students from Parkland Elementary, Notre Dame School, South Peace Secondary, Central Middle School, Ecole Frank Ross, DC art gallery youth members, and the South Peace metalwork program celebrated with an evening of live music to accompany their creative works on display.
Summer programming is also underway, offering youth and their families plenty of creative activities to dive into five days a week. The Pouce Coupe Public Library has also partnered with the gallery to share programming, noted Malkinson.
“It’s been awesome to see the leadership that our youth education leads have taken in the last year,” said Malkinson. “Our uptake on youth programming generally last year was up about 22 percent, we’ve had about 3,200 kids that were interacting with our programming in one form or another - it was really really exciting.”
Ever the busy place, an opening reception for artists Emily Lozaron and Joshua Kosabeck will be held tomorrow night at the art gallery for two shows, with doors opening at 6:30pm.
The deadline to register for HeART Walk 2023 is June 30, and artists will receive a $100 honorarium for exhibiting their work. Anyone interested can contact Payge Fortier at programs@dcartgallery.ca to register.
Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative. Have a story idea or opinion? Email tsummer@ahnfsj.ca
