Onsite Gallery wins two prestigious OAAG awards

Eight people in group portrait
Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Onsite Gallery took home two awards at the Ontario Association of Art Galleries gala on November 19. These juried awards recognize artistic merit and excellence in exhibitions, publications, programs, and community partnerships produced by Ontario's art galleries.

Onsite Gallery won in the following categories:

Innovation in a Collections-Based Exhibition
raise a flag: works from the Indigenous Art Collection (2000-2015)

Education Award
raise a flag: works from the Indigenous Art Collection (2000-2015) Education Guide

Congratulations to exhibition curator Ryan Rice, Associate Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Francisco Alvarez, Dorene & Peter Milligan Executive Director, OCAD U galleries, and the team at Onsite Gallery for their tremendous work in bringing the exhibition to life.

raise a flag encompassed works from a national heritage collection representing First Nations, Inuit and Métis art. Housed in Ottawa, managed by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, the Indigenous Art Collection is one of the most important and comprehensive art collections of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada and beyond. The exhibition focused on recent acquisitions to the collection, obtained from 2000 to 2015, which chronicle recent significant national narratives reflecting upon Canadian heritage, diversity and collective memory.

OAAG received 177 nominations from 34 galleries and art institutions. This is the 41st edition of the awards program highlighting the key achievements of the year among OAAG members, curators, art professionals, collectors, and the entire visual arts community.

Onsite Gallery is OCAD University’s professional gallery and experimental curatorial platform for art, design and digital media. Serving the OCAD U community and the general public, Onsite Gallery aims to foster social and cultural transformations. 

Photo:

Robert Sangster (designer), Lisa Deanne Smith (Curator, Onsite Gallery) Linda Columbus (Programs Coordinator, Onsite Gallery), Jason Baerg (artist and faculty member), Caroline Langill (interim Vice-President, Academic), Farah Yusuf (writer), Francisco Alvarez (Executive Director, Galleries System), Ryan Rice (Curator, raise a flag)

 

 

Creator Within: A Gathering of Indigenous Artistic Expressions Festival

Creator Within
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 5:00am to Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 5:00am

The Association for Native Development in the Performing & Visual Arts (herein referred to as ANDPVA) mandate is to provide access, stimulate and promote creativity in the arts for artists/creators/producers of Native ancestry working in any discipline - by facilitating workshop & training opportunities, programming events, information services and networking opportunities, by advocating for Native art and Native artists, creators and producers, by rendering experienced and informed counsel, and by providing professional opportunities - to ensure Native art and artists a place of integrity within the Native and non Native community.

ANDPVA presents "Creator Within: A Gathering of Indigenous Artistic Expressions Festival", including participation by Faculty of Liberal Studies Instructor Tannis Neilsen.

Festival takes place at various locations in Toronto, please visit the website for a complete schedule.

Email: 
events@andpva.com
Cost: 
Free

Caf' Culture

Keesic Douglas
Friday, January 25, 2008 - 12:00am to 2:00am

In conjunction with the exhibitions Art and Cold Cash and Dancing Through Time II: Traditional Art Forms in a Contemporary World, the MacLarenArtCentre will present a panel discussion on Thursday, January 24, 7 to 9 pm, with the exhibition contributors, including OCAD alumnus Keesic Douglas. The panel, part of our Caf' Culture series, takes place in the MacLaren Rotary Education Centre. Admission is free.

Art and Cold Cash is a collective of artists from the Arctic and Southern Ontario whose work addresses art production and capitalist exchange. The Dancing Through Time/ Zhiibaayaa Niimidwin committee provides opportunities to celebrate the Aboriginal heritage of the Great Lakes Region through multi-disciplinary arts presentations. Representatives from each exhibition will engage in an open dialogue around the making, selling and presenting of artwork by Aboriginal and Inuit artists using the MacLaren exhibitions as a platform for discussion. Specifically, panelists will speak to the following: Is it useful to distinguish the cultural artifact from the art object? When organizing exhibitions, does the segregation of artists by cultural group lend greater voice? When is integration more effective? Is the collaborative process a preferred format for the presentation of Inuit and Aboriginal art or is it a transitional stage?

Panelists: Sheila Butler, artist and faculty in Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario; Jack Butler, artist and founding member of Sanavik Inuit Cooperative, Baker Lake, Nunavut; Patrick Mahon, artist and Chair of Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario; Ruby Arngna'naaq, Inuk artist from Baker Lake, founding member of Sanavik Inuit Cooperative; Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Chair of the Dancing Through Time committee and Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Department of Aboriginal Studies and the Faculty of Social Work; and ShoShona Kish, Guest Curator and Member of the Dancing Through Time committee, and who, with Raven Kanatakta, forms DiggingRoots, an award winning Aboriginal musical group. Moderator: Sandra Fraser, Curator, Exhibitions and Collection, MacLarenArtCentre.

Art and Cold Cash
Curator: Sarah Beveridge
On view in the Janice Laking Gallery, Gallery 3 and Lake Simcoe Regional Airport to February 24, 2008

Art and Cold Cash expands definitions of Inuit artwork and imagery. Southern Ontario artists Sheila Butler, Jack Butler and Patrick Mahon have collectively joined with Inuit artists William Noah, Ruby Arngna' naaq and Myra Kukiiyaut from Baker Lake, Nunavut to address art and commodity. The exhibition is a multi-layered creative investigation that connects contemporary art discourses surrounding money in a series of artistic activities and experiments employing drawing, sculpture, sound and video.

Dancing Through Time II: Traditional Art Forms in a Contemporary World
Curator: ShoShona Kish
On view in the Carnegie Room and Armstrong Hall to February 17, 2008

Dancing Through Time II: Traditional Art Forms in a Contemporary World reflects on the evolution of traditional art forms and cultural identity in contemporary practice, and creates an awareness of the scope of work by aboriginal artists and artisans in the Great Lakes Region. The artwork, executed in a wide variety of media, incorporates images, materials and stories that draw on cultural relationships to both historical and contemporary issues and concerns. Presented by the Zhiibaayaa-niimidwin Committee in partnership with the MacLarenArtCentre.

Venue & Address: 
MacLaren Art Centre 37 Mulcaster Street, Barrie, Ontario
Email: 
maclaren@maclarenart.com
Cost: 
Free

Aboriginal Student Association Meeting

Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 8:30pm

The Aboriginal Student Association (ASA) brings together Aboriginal, Native, Indigenous, Metis and Inuit students at OCAD to network and support an Aboriginal community on campus. New members always welcome.

It is a potluck so please bring some food to share with the group.

We will be discussing the art collective of the Aboriginal Student Association and a plan for our group show!!

Venue & Address: 
Room 627, Level 6 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario
Email: 
aboriginalstudentassociation@gmail.com

Aboriginal Students Association Meeting & Potluck

Thursday, November 8, 2007 - 9:00pm

The Aboriginal Student Association (ASA) brings together Aboriginal, Native, Indigenous, Metis and Inuit students at OCAD to network and support an Aboriginal community on campus. All students welcome.

The next ASA meeting will be a potluck.
Please bring a home cooked dish to share.

Faculty Tannis Nielsen is going to screen a 20 minute DVD of her recent panel presentation at A space. Plus we are going to look at a few more pieces by Native Artists.
Feel free to bring your own work or ideas to present to the group.

Venue & Address: 
Room 627, Level 6 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario
Email: 
aboriginalstudentassociation@gmail.com

OCAD University community members showcased at Planet IndigenUS festival

Nancy King, Medicine Man (2015) – part of re:GENERATION
Cody Kullman, Non-textile (2014) – part of re:GENERATION
Thursday, August 6, 2015 - 5:00pm

OCAD University students, alumni, staff and faculty are well represented at this year’s Planet IndigenUS festival at Harbourfront Centre.

re:GENERATION opens at 7 p.m. on August 7 and runs until 7 p.m. on  August 9. Presented by OCAD U’s Indigenous Visual Culture Program (INVC), it features the artwork of 15 artists. Lisa Myers is re:GENERATION’s curator and an instructor in the OCAD U Faculty of Art. Myers says that the artists “express their perspectives on how the past, present and future both connect and encourage continuity and accountability for the next seven generations.”

Melissa General (BFA, Photography), the INVC’s program manager, is displaying work at Planet IndigenUS called Nitewaké:non, which explores her connection to the history and narratives of her home, the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. “I attempt to reconnect with and honour the memory and history intrinsically ingrained in Haudenosaunee territory.”

Also on at Harbourfront (June 20 to September 20) is the group show our land, together. Curated by OCAD U alumna Suzanne Morrissette (MFA, Criticism and Curatorial Practice) and including the work of alumna Cheryl L’Hirondelle (MDes, Inclusive Design), the show reflects indigenous peoples’ “relationships to place within our land.”

Drawing & Painting student honoured for "artistic alchemy"

Spiritual Warrior by Isaac Narciso Weber
Thursday, June 18, 2015 - 5:00pm

A work entitled Spiritual Warrior – by Drawing & Painting student “Nodinamaad” Isaac Narciso Weber – was recently declared the Art Winner in the 2015 Aboriginal Arts & Stories competition. Sponsored by Historica Canada, this is the largest and most recognized competition for art and creative writing by Aboriginal youth in Canada. The award was presented to Isaac on June 9, 2015, at a ceremony held at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Isaac says Spiritual Warrior was the result of a “contemporary artistic alchemical process.” Reflecting on his practice, he notes that, “as an aspiring visual artist, I use the tools available within my environment like my ancestors did, from carving petroglyphs to graffiti on a train or wall.”

A member of the Turtle Clan Nation, whose traditional territories are called the Henvy Inlet First Nations (near French River, Ontario), as an OCAD University student Isaac has focused much of his work on narrative strategies and the “decolonization of picture making.” In this process, he has found significant support and inspiration from his professors Bonnie Devine and Julie Nagam.

Beyond completing his formal studies, Isaac’s longer-term goal is “to create a platform in Toronto for indigenous people to have longer-running arts exhibitions, creative workshops and seminars surrounding imagine-making and indigenous visual culture.”