To wrap up a successful run, the Penticton Art Gallery is inviting the public to a special celebration on Sept. 14 to mark the closing of multiple exhibitions.
Beginning at 1 p.m. at 199 Marina Way, the event celebrates the closing of enTitle: Our Home and Native Land / Our Home on Native Land and Jasna Guy + Lincoln Best | Pretty: Useful. According to a release, the exhibits challenge our views and relationship to the land, those who inhabit it and the flora and fauna upon which a healthy ecosystem needs to not only survive, but flourish.
Richard Armstrong, a Penticton Indian Band member and member of the Syilx Nation of the Okanagan Valley, will give a traditional welcome at the beginning of the event. He is one of the nation’s fluent speakers and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Keepers.
From 1:15 to 2 p.m. Armstrong will give an introduction to the land upon which we reside and the important work of those working to conserve indigenous species and habitats.
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An artists roundtable will take place from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. featuring artists: Lincoln Best, Cori Derickson, Kit Fast, Jasna Guy, Sheldon Louis, Willow Rector, Peter von Tiesenhausen, David Wilson and Corinna Wolle. Each artist will introduce their work and talk about their personal history and connection to the land and landscape, and how that informed their work. The public will be invited to engage the artists in a lively dialogue about the exhibiton and the ideas and themes each one has explored.
From 3:15 to 3:45 p.m. attendees can indulge in a refreshment break, with a story harvest to follow afterwards until 4:45 p.m. Attendees will break into four smaller groups with four participating artists who will share their unique story, including the experiences that have deepend their understanding and relationship to the land and how this has impacted their individual art practice. As they listen, attendees will be remined to consider how the exercise created context and meaning in their own relationships to the land and if the story inspired a deeper experience with the works and exhibitions.
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Dr. Suzanne Steele will do a reading from her new opera, ‘Riel: Heart of the North’ from 5 to 5:30 p.m. and Anita Large will perform a powwow dance at 5:45 p.m. before the community potluck at 6:30 p.m. The event will wrap up at 8 p.m.
Admission for the event is by donation, with a free community potluck and meal to close off the day.
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