#Grassland Smoking Up the Okanagan

Name: #Grassland Smoking Up the Okanagan
Item: Penticton Art Gallery
Author: Galleries West

April 9, 2017

4:45 PM

Bentley Meeker, "#weedworld," 2017

incandescent lights and dichroic templates, photo by Stephanie Seaton

#Grassland, an exhibition with work from some 100 artists who explore the art, history and politics of marijuana, is on view at the Penticton Art Gallery until May 14. Although the Okanagan is best known as wine country, it contributes to British Columbia's blooming cannabis industry, a fact not lost on the gallery's director and curator, Paul Crawford. He grew interested in cannabis culture when he worked at an art gallery in the nearby Kootenay region, where grow ops keep many small-town economies afloat. Now, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poised to introduce legislation to legalize marijuana by July 1, 2018, the timing for an exhibition seemed right. "It's a really curious period in history," says Crawford, who believes it's the first time a public gallery in Canada has done a major exhibition about marijuana. Public response has been great with people popping in to see an immersive installation by New York lighting artist Bentley Meeker.

Patrick "Redbeard" Vrolyk, "Biker Chicks," 2017

borosilicate glass, photo by Stephanie Seaton

There are videos, editorial cartoons and various artworks from as far away as Florida and Brazil. "People are just streaming in," says Crawford. "I wish it was always this easy." Crawford found many of the exhibiting artists online, and says he tried to stay away from stereotypical pot culture imagery, except in the college dorm room he recreated in one part of the gallery. The show runs in conjunction with #Glassland, which features a selection of bongs crafted by Patrick "Redbird" Vrolyk, a Penticton glass blower. The gallery has scheduled public discussions with police officers, city officials and mental health experts during the exhibition. There's no smoking lounge, but the show is enhanced with, shall we say, foliage.

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