"The Winnipeg Effect: Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

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The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art (CCCA) is celebrating its 20^th Anniversary with “The Winnipeg Effect: Should I Stay or Should I Go?” - a symposium happening November 3 to 5 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The symposium will gather key players in Winnipeg’s contemporary art arena over the past 50 years for a series of panels and lectures. Early bird registration is now open to the public and runs until October 16.

“As Canada’s oldest civic art gallery, the WAG is pleased to help mark the 20th Anniversary of the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art with this exciting symposium exploring Winnipeg’s vibrant art scene,” states Dr. Stephen Borys, WAG Director & CEO. “The city is a hotbed for artistic innovation and the work the CCCA is doing through the Winnipeg Effect Project is a valuable resource for the community and art scholars around the globe.”

The symposium is an extension of the Winnipeg Effect Project, an initiative led by the CCCA to document the Winnipeg art scene since the 1960s. The project goal is to increase knowledge about Winnipeg’s art institutions, artists, and art writers, and to examine the influence of Winnipeg’s art scene on the cultural life of Winnipeg and Canada.

"My aim in developing the Winnipeg Effect Project is to bring together a wide range of materials and information into a searchable, comprehensive overview,” explains Bill Kirby, CCCA Founder and Director. “Students, teachers, and the general public throughout the province, across Canada, and abroad will have access to a wealth of online material on Winnipeg’s art history.”

Reception Launch of the Winnipeg Effect Project

Hosted by the WAG, a celebratory reception will kick off the symposium on Thursday evening, November 3, with Bill Kirby, Founder and Director of the CCCA; guest speaker Martha Langford, Director of the Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art at Concordia University in Montreal, the new home to the CCCA Canadian Art Database; and emcee Patricia Bovey, Director Emerita of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Past-Chair of the CCCA. The Winnipeg-based artist-run Also As Well Too Press will be launching two publications.

Panels & Presentations

Three panel discussions on Friday, November 4 are designed to stimulate a multi-generational discussion within the artistic community, among those who live, landed in, and/or left this city. The day will conclude with a keynote presentation by Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan. Short ‘spotlight’ presentations by members of the CCCA board of directors will be interspersed before and after each panel, highlighting various Winnipeg topics, including: the Grand Western Canadian Screenshop, CARFAC Manitoba, Border Crossings Magazine, the Royal Art Lodge, the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA), The 1980s in Winnipeg, and the Sleeping Beauty Cabaret.

Panelists & Speakers

David Churchill, Sigrid Dahle, Ray Fenwick, hannah g, Suzanne Gillies, Noam Gonick, Leona Herzog, Robert Houle, Ted Howorth, Andrew Kear, Bill Kirby, Laura Letinsky, Steve Loft, Kegan McFadden, Kristin Nelson, Jeanne Randolph Mary Reid, Sheila Spence, Diana Thorneycroft, Jon Tupper, and Liv Valmestad.

Gallery Tours

On Saturday, November 5, symposium organizers are arranging tours and visits to Winnipeg’s many galleries and artist-run centres.

Register now at wag.ca/events

Symposium registration is $65 (early bird $40 until October 16); students (with ID) $25.

Report courtesy of Winnipeg Art Gallery.