PAST EXHIBITS

Sons of Freedom Doukhobors: Photographs from the Stevens Studio Collection 

The Sons of Freedom, a distinct group of reformed Doukhobors based in mainly Krestova BC, gained worldwide attention during the early 1950’s. They burned their own houses to demonstrate rejection of material wealth and private property, and marched naked as a form of spiritual cleansing and protest. When a public demonstration was planned, photographer Jane Sloan often showed up before the police. A trusted outsider, she was invited by the Sons of Freedom to document their cultural activities and protests, and her evocative photographs quickly spread throughout Canada and parts of Europe via newspapers and publications such as Life Magazine. Selected from the larger Stevens Studio collection in the Touchstones Nelson Archives, the photos in this exhibit document a compelling chapter in the history of the Sons of Freedom Doukhobors, as well as our community.

Courtney Anderson: This is Relatively Urgent 

This exhibition will feature work by well-known long-time Nelson area resident and KSA instructor Courtney Andersen. Since coming to the area in 1993, much of his work has been shaped by a combination of reclaimed metal, his personal sensibility and a sharp pair of tin snips.

According to Andersen, “Humour reveals itself everywhere in my art, sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly. It is an important characteristic, and these materials appeared very appropriate for this. The off-cuts would provide an unexpected and oft times humorous design attribute. I enjoy uplifting the work with titles which bring a smile to the beholder.”

From smaller pieces in cera cola (a cold, wax based medium) to large scale metal sculpture, this will be an opportunity to not only see the range of his work, but gain an appreciation for his sensitivity to material and intelligent humour.

Good Medicine: Nelson’s Healthcare History 

Good Medicine is an exploration of the individual stories, images and artifacts that make up Nelson’s dynamic healthcare history. This eclectic exhibit will trace the both the development and decline of health services in our community up to the present.  

Broader issues will also be touched upon, including the development of Medicare in Canada and the social determinants of health. Visitors will be invited to answer the question What is Good Medicine to you? on the chalkboard wall in the lobby

Found: The Art of Re-Use

Hmmmm. That looks familiar…..That’s one of the initial reactions that people can have to art created from reused or recycled material. In different ways and for different reasons, Brent Bukowski (Kaslo), Shyra De Souza (Calgary), Mark Mizgala (Vancouver) and brothers Cedric and Nate Bomford (Winnipeg and Vancouver Island, respectively) all make use of reused or recycled material in their work. Finding materials in back alleys, old houses, thrift shops and landfills, they look past an object’s original use to reinterpret both its function and meaning. Join us for this exciting exhibition of art that challenges preconceptions by offering a new take on old materials

Meghan Hildebrand: Restless Fables

Meghan Hildebrand’s colourful semi-abstract works explore storytelling and re-imagined landscapes. Her ambiguous narratives and playful dream-like imagery draws the viewer in, inviting them to create their own story. In Restless Fables, Hildebrand investigates the relationship between nature, culture and identity through the motifs of masks, animals, maps and globes.

David Alexander: The Shape of Place

This travelling exhibition from the Kelowna Art Gallery presents paintings which survey Alexander’s international career of over 30 years. His lively renderings convey an immersion into the Canadian landscape. Alexander received his BFA from Notre Dame University in Nelson in 1979, and later completed his MFA at the University of Saskatchewan. His art is in many public, private and corporate collections throughout the world, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of London, University of Toronto and Concordia University in Montreal, Museum of Art in Iceland, and Canadian Embassies in Berlin, Beijing and Krakow

2014 Members’ Show and Sale

The ‘Members’ Show and Sale’ exhibition events are excellent opportunities to get a visual measure of our membership and reciprocate the support that our members give us as an organization.

Susan Andrews Grace: Underwritten

Nelson artist and writer Susan Andrews Grace explores the sacredness of life on earth in her new body of work featuring textile-based printmaking, collage, sculpture and

installation. She contemplates the “language of the earth’s beauty” through forms that echo the paths of insects etched in wood and the amorphous shapes in clouds. Reflecting on her Catholic upbringing, Grace refers to religious iconography, but infuses it with her own imagery, drawn from earth-based notions of the sacred.

Nelson at War

Did you know that the Boeing Aircraft Company operated a temporary production plant in the Civic Center during WW2, and that Boeing required the workforce of about 150 workers to be 65% female? Nelson At War will offer a glimpse into this and other aspects of Nelson’s involvement in World Wars 1 and 2, as well as the Boer War. The exhibit will feature historic photos and news clippings from the Touchstones Nelson Archives, as well as artifacts from the Permanent Collection, such as a scale model of the SS Formidable, the aircraft carrier from which Hampton Gray flew his final ill-fated mission in the dying hours of WW2.

Abandoning Paradise: The Northern Gateway Project

Over the course of a year, Glenn Clark (Penticton) and Peter Corbett (Winlaw), traveled across northern BC, painting the landscapes which would be impacted by the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline. A selection of their plein air sketches and studio paintings will be shown alongside pertinent information about the region and the scope of the pipeline project.