Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
29 June 2021 Vol 6 No 13 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2021
Portia Priegert
From the Editor
Everyone has something to teach; everyone has something to learn.
Exchanging knowledge has been on my mind of late as I work with our first-ever intern, Megan Klak. Galleries West is published by part-time freelancers, so a full-time intern is a big addition to our team. She has hit the ground running and has quickly earned a diverse range of responsibilities.
The internship, funded, in part, by the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, is a real-life learning opportunity – not just for her, but also for us. We had to figure out how to train someone who lives in a different city, as well as what would be doable – and useful – both for us and for her. I am trying to provide some mentorship to help Megan build a career in the arts, while gaining insight into more youthful perspectives on current issues.
Megan was eligible for project funding from Riipen, an experiential learning platform, through her educational program at MacEwan University in Edmonton. Thinking like a journalist, I asked her to research and write a series of articles about mentorship in the arts. That way, she would not only learn about mentoring, but would also have a chance to interview successful artists about how they built their careers. In essence, I was group-sourcing the mentoring.
A variety of valuable mentorship programs across Western Canada help emerging artists establish their careers, and Megan began emailing and calling people. She is a great researcher and gathered a mass of information, eventually settling on two stories. The first is about MAWA (Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art) in Winnipeg, and the second looks at mentoring as an alternative path for immigrant and racialized artists who face structural barriers. The two stories, published in this issue, are engaging reading and would stand up well as a final project in any journalism program. I hope you find them as interesting as I did.
In this issue, we also have Lissa Robinson’s review of the Louise Bourgeois exhibition at the Esker Foundation in Calgary. Sadly, the show was closed for most of its scheduled run due to the pandemic, but we have linked to the foundation’s video, a great way to get a fuller understanding of the iconic artist’s printmaking practice.
This issue also includes Paul Gessell’s engaging review of a new book by Nathan M. Greenfield about two of Canada’s official war artists, Bruno Bobak and Molly Lamb Bobak. Anything but a Still Life is based, in part, on Molly’s diaries, which chronicle the troubled marriage.
As I write, much of Western Canada is broiling under a record-breaking heat wave that scientists say is undoubtedly related to climate change. So I’m glad to report that we have included two stories with an environmental theme. The first is a review of Overburden, which takes a critical look at humanity’s exploitation of the earth’s geological resources. The second considers striking photographs of nature-based tableaus with an eerie undertone by Whitney Lewis-Smith.
Looking ahead, Vancouver arts writer Yani Kong is reviewing Interior Infinite, a group show at the Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver. It features self-portraits that use costumes and masquerades to reveal, rather than conceal, identity. As well, Mary-Beth Laviolette, an independent curator and author in Alberta, is working on an article about Mary Shannon Will, whose exhibition opens soon at the Nickle Galleries in Calgary.
Meanwhile, Megan is pulling together another story aimed at emerging artists, based on her conversations with some of Western Canada’s leading artists. Their advice – everything from the importance of building a community to ideas on creating your own luck – contain gems of wisdom that are useful reminders for all of us, no matter where we are in our careers.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Paul Gessell, Susan Andrews Grace, Megan Klak, Lissa Robinson, John Thomson
We acknowledge the support of the Government of Alberta Media Fund, the Government of Canada Special Measures for Journalism Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts.
