RESIDENCY SF HoResidency: 13 November – 18 December 2024Reading Group Events: Saturdays,November 23, 30, + December 7 from 1-3 PMExhibition: 15 January – 8 March 2025 Oxygen Art Centre is delighted to welcome artist SF Ho in residence from November 13, 2024, to December 18, 2024, in preparation for their exhibition, TRIPLE BURNER FLOWER FIELD. An origin point for this body of work is a pictograph for the word “no”, said to represent a calyx, a root, or a bird flying into the sky. Interrogating how this image and its meaning came together invites an open and responsive way of being in the world. This new/old fluidity underlies the linguistic, therapeutic, and ecological frameworks that run through the residency and exhibition.A line of inquiry travels between the meeting points of various binaries and examines the complexity that emerges from their energetic confluence. These dualities include the contrast between emptiness and negation, separation and wholeness, and value as it is understood within the sacred and within capital. The space we make attends to the slow, cyclical temporality of common plants significant to traditional Chinese medicine and the age of imperialism. It includes interviews on healing and agriculture that move from the Cultural Revolution to the current wave of diaspora from Hong Kong, arriving and unsettling without finality on unceded lands. The public are invited to attend three reading group events at the artist-run centre on Saturdays from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM on November 23, November 30, and December 7, 2024. The events will focus on shared readings related to Ho’s residency. Participants will also engage in traditional Chinese tea ceremony and I Ching readings during the events. All events are free to attend. TRIPLE BURNER FLOWER FIELD will be on view at Oxygen Art Centre from January 15, 2025, to March 8, 2025. This project is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the RDCK ReDi program.  SF Ho is an artist, writer and organizer. They have been living as an uninvited guest on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ peoples for over fourteen years. Operating somewhere between words and whatever words can’t be, their work is informed by feminist methodologies, land-based practices, and grassroots community networks. Ho has presented their artwork and writing both regionally and internationally. They published a book about love and aliens called George, the Parasite.ABOUT THE ARTIST |
EDUCATION Register today for the final classes in the Fall 2024 semester!The semester is taught by our incredible faculty featuring professional artist instructors who live and work in the Columbia Basin. Taking place at Oxygen’s facility and online from September to mid-November 2024, don’t miss your chance to learn a new technique or re-engage your artistic practice alongside your creative community! Oxygen’s Education program is a long-standing and well loved program founded upon a desire to share arts education opportunities for folks of all experience levels and interests. Please note the registration deadline for each class. As an artist-run centre, we require a minimum number of students to run each course. Deadlines are set to provide enough preparation time for both instructors and students. Learn more about our policies and guidelines.  Letters to the Beyondwith Rayya LiebichIN PERSON 1 Class: Oct 27th Sunday: 10 – 11:30amTOTAL FEE: $10/$15/$20 Registration Deadline: Oct. 25REGISTER  Embossing – For the Love of Paperwith Hildur JonassonIN PERSON 1 Classes: Nov 3 Sunday: 10 am – 3:30pmMaterial Fee: $30 (all materials provided) Course Fee: $90 TOTAL FEE: $120 Registration Deadline: Oct. 25REGISTER  Magic of Memory 2with Rayya LiebichONLINE 4 Classes: Nov. 5, 12, 19, 26 Tuesdays: 6:30 – 8:30 pmTOTAL FEE: $105 Registration Deadline: Oct. 29REGISTER  Remembrance Luminariawith Myra RasmussenIN PERSON 1 Class: Oct. 27th Sunday: 12 – 2pmTOTAL FEE: $10/$15/$20 Registration Deadline: Oct. 25REGISTER  Print & Paste: Youth Art Intensivewith Marcus DénomméIN PERSON2 Classes: Nov. 9 + 10Saturday + SundayAge: 11-15 yearsFocus: Screen printing + wheat-pasting TOTAL FEE: $50 (All materials incl.)Registration Deadline: Oct. 30REGISTER  ONLINE Figure Drawing 2(No Instruction)ONLINE 5 Classes: Nov. 6, 13, 20, 27 Dec. 4 Wednesdays: 6 – 8 pmTOTAL FEE: $95 Registration Deadline: Oct. 30REGISTERLEARN MOREO2 EXHIBITION  Oxygen Art Centre’s sixth exhibition in the window project entitled O2, features new works by Jennifer Burke, Samonte Cruz, andBee Schroeder from11 October – 13 November 2024.Located on the Stanley Avenue side of the Nelson Trading Company building (430 Baker Street) in downtown Nelson, B.C., O2 is a window-turned-gallery. Entitled, Purple Pain, the exhibition features a garment created by the collective artists in 2021 to explore contrasting experiences of pain and social isolation with queer resilience, trans empowerment, and gender euphoria. This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.LEARN MORENOTICE OF AGMNotice of Annual General Meeting for the Nelson Fine Arts Centre Society (Oxygen Art Centre dba) on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 5:30 PM PT via Zoom. Register to attend the AGM to learn about the past year’s programming and finances, become a member, vote for the board of directors, and support your artist-run centre by becoming a member or renewing your membership! Documents will be available to membership on October 20, 2024 via Oxygen’s website and sent directly to all registrants.  REGISTERJOINSupport your artist-run centre by becoming an Oxygen Art Centre Member.Oxygen Memberships run from $2 (Senior/Student) to $5 (Single) to $10 (Families) and significantly help our organization. Become a member today! MEMBERSHIP BENEFITSEvents, Tours and Artist TalksVolunteer, Networking and Mentorship ExperienceRegular mailings and newslettersVoting Privileges at Oxygen Art Centre’s AGMAccess to current Exhibition Publications and CataloguesArtist-in-Residence and Exhibition ToursRegister ONLINE or by MAIL Already a Member? Consider making a Donation.REGISTERImages (top to bottom): (1-3) SF Ho, Courtesy the Artist, 2024; (3-10) Education program promotional graphics for fall semester, 2024; (11) Hannah DeBoer-Smith, O2 installation, 2024; (12) Notice of AGM, 2024; (13) “Become a Member” text overlaid on an image documenting an installation in progress at Oxygen Art Centre, 2015; |
 Oxygen Art Centreinfo@oxygenartcentre.org #3- 320 Vernon St. (alley entrance) Nelson, B.C. V1L 4E4 Canada Facility access information Hours of Operation: Wednesdays – Saturdays, 1:00 – 5:00pm (during exhibition run) Admission by donation Oxygen Art Centre acknowledges with gratitude that we are located on the tum xula7xw/ traditional territory of the sn̓ʕay̓ckstx/the Sinixt People. As uninvited guests we honour their ongoing presence on this land. We recognize that the Sylix, Ktuxana, and Yaqan Nukij Lower Kootenay Band peoples are also connected with this land, as are Métis and many diverse Indigenous persons. We are grateful for the financial support we receive from Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, BC Gaming, Province of BC, Government of Canada, Vancouver Foundation, Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, Columbia Basin Trust, United Way, Osprey Community Foundation, Nelson Lions Club, and Nelson and District Credit Union. We offer thanks to Elephant Mountain Literary Festival and other key partners including Hall Printing, Speedpro Signs, and Selkirk College for their support. We especially thank all of our volunteers, donors, and members. Oxygen Art Centre is committed to ensuring all exhibitions, programs, and events are accessible to visitors. Our facilities are wheelchair accessible and equipped with an all-genders washroom. Please contact Oxygen if you have any questions or concerns about your visit. |
DEPARTURE
Oxygen Art Centre’s Staff and Board of Directors bid a sorrowful but celebratory farewell to Education Coordinator Natasha Smith who leaves her role with the artist-run centre on October 3, 2024.
Humour and Satire Writingwith Sophie Kohn
UPCOMING
Oxygen Art Centre’s fifth exhibition in the window project entitled O2, features new works by Hannah DeBoer-Smith from8 August – 10 October 2024.
Face Drawing for Graphic Novelswith Zen Wang
Two Coloured Lino Printing – Greeting Cards with Myra Rasmussen
Fine Art Screen Printingwith Marcus Dénommé
ROCK / PAPER / SCISSORSIN PERSONWhen: 6 classes: September 16 – November 4, 2024 (no class on Sept. 30 & Oct. 14)/ Mondays, 4:15 pm – 5.45 pmWho: Youth, 11 – 14 yrsWith: 2 artist instructors:// Brian Lye – Filmmaker// Jaymie Johnson – Multi-disciplinary ArtistStudent Fee: $150 (All materials included)Registration deadline: Sept. 9
Figure Drawing #3 (no instruction)
The Art of Submission: Submitting Creative Writing to Periodicals with Susan Andrews Grace 
Art Speak – Peer to Peer Work Sharing #3Facilitated by Emilie Leblanc Kromberg
WORM / HOLEIN PERSONWhen: 6 classes: September 27 – November 1, 2024 / Fridays, 4:15 pm – 6:15 pmWho: Youth, 15 – 18 yrsWith: 3 artist instructors:// Jaymie Johnson – Multi-disciplinary Artist// Myra Rasmussen – Multi-disciplinary Artist// Marcus Dénommé – Printmaker
Summer Residency
During the residency Chris host open studio gatherings and workshops to share the practices and invite folks to bring their own relational practices to ecologies. 
This program is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Regional District of Central Kootenay ReDi program.ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chris Dufour (they/them) is an interdisciplinary social practice artist working between Kanien’kehá:ka and Lekwungen territory. Chris uses mediums of plants, gardening, ecological wandering, textiles, quilting, installation, darkroom manipulation, leather tanning, and sculpture to process questions of how do we cultivate a sense of belonging within and among systemic power dynamics? How do we push against empire while cultivating resilient communities and cultures of care? What practices of living can we recuperate, develop, and employ within contemporary cultures of crisis?
Oxygen Art Centre’s fourth exhibition in the window project entitled O2, features a new textile artwork by Tracy Fillion is extended to24 June 2024.