By Request: Collective Curation of the Permanent Collection

By Request: Collective Curation of the Permanent Collection deploys a dynamic approach to choosing artworks for exhibition. It is the first show in the Gallery’s history that features works from the permanent collection chosen by people actively engaged in the region’s arts. Individuals, groups, and clubs were invited to act as co-curators resulting in arrangements that showcase the permanent collection in exciting, distinctive, and poignant ways.

To begin the process, the co-curators identified their artistic preferences and interests through a survey. Using the survey responses, Acting Curator Andrea Terry and Registrar Meaghan Eley put together 9 digital portfolios of 20 works from the Gallery’s permanent collection. The invited contributors selected their top five works from the portfolios and then viewed the five artworks at the Gallery in person, choosing the final works they wanted featured in the exhibition.

The final works displayed here have been arranged in groupings chosen by the co-curators. Each group is accompanied by the co-curator’s statement explaining why the works were selected. By coming together, sharing, and learning from those working in various creative fields, the curatorial team gratefully acknowledges each person’s insights regarding the Gallery’s collection, art, and history. By Request thus invites everyone to consider the importance of collections, collectives, collaboration, and participatory engagement.

Co-Curated by:

Art Club, Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School
Cathy Alex, a journalist with CBC in Thunder Bay
Gail Bannon, Culture and Recreation Coordinator with Fort William First Nation
Quill Christie-Peters, a self-taught Anishinaabe artist and arts programmer currently residing in Thunder Bay
Vanessa Ervin and Shayla Hickerson, third-year students in Lakehead University’s HBFA (Visual Arts) program
Darren Lentz, a canoe builder and elementary school principal with Lakehead Public schools
Caleb Magiskan, an artist born and raised in Thunder Bay
Rebekah Skochinski, a freelance writer and assistant editor of The Walleye
Louise Thomas, owner of the Ahnisnabae Art Gallery, which is dedicated to the memory and work of her late husband artist Roy Thomas, and Thunder Bay Art Gallery board member

 

exhibition sponsor