Oxygen Art Centre is preparing to open the upcoming exhibition entitled How to Be 57 featuring an installation of drawings by artist Lucie Chan from 3 September to 1 October 2022.
Prior to the exhibition, Chan is artist-in-residence from 3 – 27 August 2022. During her residency, Chan is hoping to meet with community members to discuss experiences of racialized violence in the West Kootenay region.
The discussions will take place at Oxygen Art Centre from 15 – 19 August 2022 from 1 – 3 PMand will contribute to Chan’s artistic practice and research on the topic. Interviews will be informal. Participants can expect to chat, draw, and spend up to an hour with the artist.
Note: The artist has asked that all visitors wear a mask during their time at Oxygen/ Outdoor interviews can also be arranged.
Interested volunteers are invited to contact info@oxygenartcentre.org for more information. Please share this notice with anyone you think might be interested.
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 Sinixt Arrow Lakes, Sylix, Ktuxana, and Yaqan Nukij Lower Kootenay Band peoples are also connected with this land, as are Métis and many diverse Indigenous persons.
REGISTER NOW for Oxygen Adult Education Fall 2022 Art Courses
Oxygen Art Centre (OAC) expands its educational offerings this Fall offering seventeen courses in a myriad of disciplines including writing, film, photography, singing, acting, and digital and visual arts. The semester is longer than in previous years running from September to December allowing for a variety of different course formats from one-day intensives to 8-week courses with outdoor, online, and in-person options.
“Oxygen is excited to be expanding the educational opportunities available at the Centre” says Education Coordinator Natasha Smith “after spending the summer with our families and in our gardens, the Fall is the perfect time to nurture creativity” says Smith.
Practice the art of drawing en plein air, learn the fundamentals of drawing with ink, build your painting skills, try out lino printing, bind some books, record your life story,photograph your artwork, get creative on your iPad, learn16mm Low-tech film processing, add your voice, be an actor, be a clown, and write it all down! There’s no doubt there’s an OAC class for you! What’s your creative calling?
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 Sinixt Arrow Lakes, Sylix, Ktuxana, and Yaqan Nukij Lower Kootenay Band peoples are also connected with this land, as are Métis and many diverse Indigenous persons.
Contribute to artist-in-residence Lucie Chan’s research during the month of August.
Schedule of Events: Residency and Exhibition
Residency: 3 August – 27 August 2022 Exhibition: 3 September – 1 October 2022
Open Studio: 12 – 13 August 2022 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm Participant Interviews: 15 – 19 August 2022, scheduled
Oxygen Art Centre is thrilled to announce visual artist, Lucie Chan as artist-in-residence for the month of August. Chan was born in Guyana, and currently resides on the unceded and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ/selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations otherwise known as Vancouver, BC where she maintains a multi-disciplinary visual art practice and teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
While artist-in-residence, Chan will conduct research towards the creation of future work that explores the experiences of racialized violence. This work continues her interest in exploring race-related, immigrant experiences. The public are invited to visit Chan during her Open Studio sessions on 12 + 13 August 2022 from 1-3 PM. Volunteer participants are invited to engage with her in one-on-one interviews during scheduled sessions from 15 to 19 August 2022. In what Chan sees as a collaborative process, interviewees will be invited to draw, write, and make sound together. Interested participants can schedule an interview by emailing info@oxygenartcentre.org.
The artist will carry the stories gathered during the interviews into her practice, and the manifestation of new material. In considering the stories, Chan says, they “inspire, transform and give shape” to the development of the project. In this way her research and subsequent work become a visual conversation. Chan’s attentive listening to the stories of those she interviews forms a seminal part of her artistic practice. A practice that includes multi-layered drawings, photography, sculpture, text, audio, and video elements which she orchestrates into installations.
For Chan her interdisciplinary practice reflects the complexity of being human. Although a self-confessed shy person, Chan embraces what has been a “long career of interviewing strangers.” Chan goes on, stating “I am interested in these interactions when something is revealed that we don’t necessarily have every day like a sense of connection or intimacy.” For Chan this work is a way of honouring the individual who is often forgotten in the collective experience of being human, and of conjoining individuals through sharing stories around culture and identity.
The residency will then be followed by an exhibition of a previous body of work, How to Be 57 (2018), which includes drawings, text, and sculpture. The work is an example of a similar research and creation processes that Chan will employ during her residency.
In How to Be 57 the artist works intimately with two women who have radically opposing experiences with the police. One, a Dutch immigrant in France finds herself interrogated in her home despite her innocence. The other, an unarmed civil servant, suffers racialized violence when her apartment is mistakenly raided. The work considers dynamics of age and otherness and can be seen as a lens into systemic violence and injustice that are pervasive for diasporic communities in Canada.
How to Be 57 might be understood as a hypothetical guide to experiencing a precise moment of transformation in a stranger’s life, a reminder that living is an act of perpetual inscription. The work is a complex portrait, and a non-linear exploration at these common racialized narratives.
The public are invited to drop in during the Open Studios on the 12th and 13th of August between the hours of 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. Expressions of interest to take part in the interview process can be sent to info@oxygenartcentre.org by Wednesday, August 3, 2022 @ 5:00 PM PST. Please also share any specifics regarding your access needs or any questions.
How to Be 57 will be on view at Oxygen Art Centre from 3 September to 1 October 2022 on Wednesdays to Saturdays from 1:00 – 5:00 PM. Admission is free. Everyone welcome to attend.
Due to rising COVID cases in the province, we ask that all visitors to the space wear a mask during Chan’s residency. Maximum capacity is limited to ten persons at a time. Please contact the gallery with any questions about your visit.
Image Credit: Lucie Chan, How to Be 57, drawing and watercolour, 2018
Artist Biography:
Lucie Chan (b. Guyana) teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She holds a BFA with distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design and a MFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University with a specialization in drawing. She has shown nationally in various group and solo exhibitions and has undertaken artist residencies at ARTerra in Lobão da Beira, Portugal; the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Canning, Nova Scotia; Banff Centre for the Arts in Banff, Alberta; Museum London in London, Ontario; the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the Foreman Art Gallery in Sherbrooke, Quebec. In addition to receiving numerous provincial and national grants, including the Canada Council for the Arts, she has been long-listed twice for the Sobey Art Award (2005, 2010) and was a recipient of the VIVA Award from the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation (2020).
DIG A HOLE IN THE GARDEN OPENS AT OXYGEN ART CENTRE 11 JUNE 2022
Oxygen Art Centre is excited to announce the opening of dig a hole in the garden, a duo exhibitionfeaturing artists Shannon Garden-Smith (Tkaronto/Toronto) and T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss (Skwxwu7mesh/Sto:Lo/Hawaiian/Swiss) on Saturday 11 June 2022.
Taking its name from Yoko Ono’s CLOUD PIECE (1963), dig a hole in the garden is an exhibition that explores plant collection as a material and cultural practice, with an interest in plant uses for pleasure, community resilience, and healing. The exhibition features works by artists Shannon Garden-Smith (Tkaronto/Toronto), and T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss (Skwxwu7mesh/ Sto:Lo/ Hawaiian/ Swiss), as well as a temporary library presented both online and in person that will be linked with an online reading group.
The exhibition features Garden-Smith’s pigment-stained gelatin lamp shades, “In a hare’s form” (2021), and a new site-specific gelatin installation that will shift throughout the exhibition’s duration. Through a form of alchemy, Garden-Smith transforms plant materials from detritus to sculptural blossoms. Theresa Wang describes the decorative light fixtures as suspending “various dried and pressed flora collected on the artist’s walks over the seasons, bringing (once) living things into the living milieu. In this way, these works consider ornamentation as not only a way to confound the passage of time, but also as a record of the durational and interspatial acts of foraging, gathering, and conserving” (2022).
Artist, ethnobotanist, educator, and activist T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss will develop an herbarium during their time in the region. The herbarium will feature plant matter Indigenous to the region, as well as printed takeaways for visitors to create their own herbarium at home. In addition, Wyss transforms the small garden bed outside Oxygen’s facility, extending the exhibition outdoors.
In writing about Wyss’s permaculture space in “x̱aw̓s shew̓áy̓ New Growth《新生林》” (2019), Oscar Domingo Rajme observes that it “is a space where alternative forms of working and being together are not only made possible through the garden’s intention of being a communal place, but especially through what its existence implies. For a moment, it has broken the city’s colonial architectural desire to normalize the theft of land and to erase the histories and traditions of the Coast Salish peoples” (2020).
dig a hole in the garden also features a temporary library in the gallery space featuring texts that will be discussed through a reading group that will meet all five Wednesdays throughout the exhibition. Notes from the reading group discussions, as well as access to readings will be available on Oxygen’s website and on site.
The exhibition isco-curated by Greta Hamilton and Julia Prudhomme, andwill be on view from 11 June – 16 July 2022. Oxygen Art Centre is an artist-run centre located at #3-320 Vernon Street, Nelson, BC via alleyway entrance. The exhibition will be open to the public Wednesdays to Saturdays from 1:00 – 5:00 PM. Prior to your visit please review Oxygen’s COVID-19 prevention protocols on their website.
This exhibition is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, and Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance.
Image Credit: Shannon Garden-Smith, In a hare’s form (series), pressed plant clippings, watercolour pigment, gelatin, wire, lamp cord, lightbulb, 2021 Press Contact: Julia Prudhomme Executive Director Oxygen Art Centre info@oxygenartcentre.org
Artist Bios: T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss Skwxwu7mesh/Sto:Lo/Hawaiian/Swiss
T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss is an interdisciplinary artist who works with digital media, writing, performance and land based remediations as her multi-disciplinary arts practice. She is a community engaged and public artist and ethnobotanist. Her works range over 30 years and have always focussed on sustainability, permaculture techniques, Coast Salish Cultural elements and have included themes of ethnobotany, indigenous language revival, Salish weaving and digital media technology. Cease has focussed on connecting her Polynesian roots to her Salish roots through weaving and digital media projects and on raising visibility towards land based works.
Her collaboration with Anne Riley with “A Constellation of Remediation” and “For the Radical Love of Butterflies” have been tremendous examples of how indigenous communities need to unite through a cultural lens in order to raise awareness about sustainability and protecting species at risk, as well as recognition of our part in the colonial destruction as well as the potential remediation and restoration of ecosystems. Anne and Cease were long-listed for the 2021 Sobey Art Award for their work on “A Constellation of Remediation” and “For the Radical Love of Butterflies”. Cease dedicates time to the IM4 Lab at ECUAD as both an advisor and developer, where she has been expanding her practice of animation and Futurisms projects, building on AR [Augmented Reality] development using Blender, Unity and Spark AR. Shannon Garden-Smith Shannon Garden-Smith (she/her) is an uninvited settler of Scottish, Irish, and British heritage and an artist living and working between Tkaronto/Toronto and Stratford, Canada. She completed an MFA at the University of Guelph (’17) and a BA at the University of Toronto (’12). Working primarily in sculpture and installation, Garden-Smith’s recent projects focus on the surfaces that clad contemporary built space and their material-social impact. She has recently shown work with The Bows (Mohkínstsis/Calgary, AB), Franz Kaka (Toronto, ON), Gallery TPW (Toronto, ON), Christie Contemporary (Toronto, ON), Pumice Raft (Toronto, ON), Modern Fuel (Kingston, ON), and TIER: The Institute for Endotic Research (Berlin).
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT OXYGEN ART CENTRE
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS: RESEARCH ASSISTANT (CSJ)
$16.00/hour 8 week contract, 30 hours/week Position duration: July 4, 2022 – August 26, 2022
Oxygen Art Centre is an artist-run centre located on the tum xula7xw of the sn̓ʕay̓ckstx (otherwise known as Nelson, B.C.) engaging communities throughout Nelson and the West Kootenays, and wider audiences regionally and nationally.
Oxygen Art Centre provides space and programming for artists and the public to engage with the creation, study, exhibition, and performance of contemporary art in all disciplines. Oxygen Art Centre’s activities include: Exhibition & Residency Program, Adult Arts Education, Children and Youth Arts Education, and a Presentation Series which consists of literary, film, music, and theatre events.
We are currently looking for a Summer Research Assistant to add to our dynamic team.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Research Assistant will assist with day-to-day arts administrative duties, as well as conduct contemporary art research to support the Education program and assist with the production, promotion, and communications of the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 Education program and adjunct educational materials.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ResearchAssistant will conduct the following tasks and responsibilities both remotely and in person (if applicable), utilizing their personal computer to access online platforms such as Gmail, Google Drive, and Zoom, as well as digital platforms such as Word and Excel, of which will be provided by the organization. The Research Assistant will also have access to the Centre’s facilities and equipment, if applicable.
This position is funded by Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ). Additional administration through the CSJ portal will be required at the beginning and end of employment contract. Candidates are required to state their eligibility for the CSJ program in their Cover Letter and/or email.
TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Oxygen’s Research Assistant will develop skills in arts administration, contemporary art research, and exhibitionary contexts. This project involves independent work and research with the opportunity to collaborate with artists, instructors, and experts in the field. The Research Assistant will be able to focus the project to best suit their interests, aspirations, and background.
Arts Administration
The Research Assistant will assist with day-to-day duties at the Centre including gallery hosting, arts writing, communication, and outreach. The Research Assistant will directly engage with the research and production of Oxygen’s Education program including the forthcoming Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters.
Contemporary Art Research
Contemporary art research regarding artists and topics explored in Oxygen’s Education and Events program will form the foundation by which the Research Assistant will conduct this project. Developed with the Executive Director, theoretical texts, lectures, and artworks will be determined as a “reading” list. Research will be guided by the candidate’s interests and future career aspirations.
Final Report
A final report will summarize their research findings. This report can include creative and/or interactive aspects, should this be applicable to the project and candidate.
Communication
The Research Assistant will be responsible for communication with their supervisor, as well as liaising with fellow employees, artists, and mentors in their field of enquiry.
This position will be multi-faceted and offer experience throughout all aspects of Oxygen Art Centre under the supervision of the Executive Director.
Due to the pandemic aspects of the position have been altered to ensure a safe working environment for the employee. The Research Assistant will be responsible for working in a hybrid fashion, which includes working from home, tracking hours and workplans, maintaining Google Doc files and documentation, virtual and phone meetings with supervisors, and facilitating digital administration from a far, as well as conducting on site labour (if applicable). Necessary alterations will be made to the employee’s workplan should pandemic restrictions alter during the employee’s contract.
NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE POSITION
Reporting to the Executive Director, the ResearchAssistant will develop arts administration skills and conduct research into contemporary art practices.
QUALIFICATIONS
The ideal candidate:
Is enrolled in a post-secondary program in Art History, Art Education, Curatorial Studies, Visual and/or Media Arts, Museum Studies or a related discipline;
Demonstrates a keen interest in contemporary art and/or museum practices;
Is responsible, hard-working, enthusiastic, and dynamic;
Has a proven ability to communicate effectively.
The Research Assistant position is dependent on funding from Canada Summer Jobs program.
Candidates for the position must:
Be legally entitled to work in Canada;
Be a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada (unfortunately, non-Canadian students holding temporary work visas or awaiting permanent status are not eligible);
Be between 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment;
Intend to return to full-time studies in the fall of 2021.
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS
$16/hour 8 week contract 30 hours/week, 240 hours total Position duration: July 4, 2022 – August 26, 2022
APPLICATION DEADLINE
24 May 2022, by 5:00 PM PST
Please submit a Cover Letter and Resume to info@oxygenartcentre.org with the subject line: “ATTN: Research Assistant Application.”
Please include confirmation of your CSJ eligibility.
Oxygen Art Centre is an equal opportunity employer. We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Learn more information about Oxygen Art Centre by visiting our website, www.oxygenartcentre.org and social media.
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AT OXYGEN ART CENTRE
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS: GALLERY ASSISTANT (YCW)
$17.00/hour 9 week contract, 30 hours/week Position duration: June 20, 2022 – August 19, 2022
JOB DESCRIPTION
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Gallery Assistant will assist with day-to-day arts administrative duties, as well as conduct contemporary art research to support the Exhibition & Residency program and assist with the production, installation, and implementation of exhibitions, catalogues, residencies, and adjunct educational materials.
This position is funded by Young Canada Works (YCW). Additional administration through the YCW portal will be required at the beginning and end of employment contract. Candidates are required to state their eligibility for the YCW program in their Cover Letter and/or email.
TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Oxygen’s Gallery Assistant will develop skills in arts administration, contemporary art research, and exhibitionary contexts. This project involves independent work and research with the opportunity to collaborate with artists and experts in the field. The Gallery Assistant will be able to focus the project to best suit their interests, aspirations, and background.
Arts Administration
The Gallery Assistant will assist with day-to-day duties at the Centre including gallery hosting, exhibition and facility maintenance, arts writing, communication, and outreach. The Gallery Assistant will directly engage with the production of an exhibition catalogue for Angela Glanzmann and Stephanie Yee’s exhibition (April 2022), assist in the run of a group exhibition entitled dig a hole in the garden(June – July 2022), and prepare and research for the forthcoming residencies and exhibitions with Lucie Chan (September – October 2022) and Tyler Wright (December 2022 – January 2023).
Contemporary Art Research
Contemporary art research regarding artists and topics explored in Oxygen’s Exhibition & Residency program will provide inspiration for the Gallery Assistant’s contemporary art research project. Developed with the Executive Director, theoretical texts, lectures, and artworks will be selected as a “reading” list.
A final report will summarize the Gallery Assistant’s research findings. This report can include creative and/or interactive aspects, should such formats be applicable to the project and candidate.
Communication
The Gallery Assistant will be responsible for communication with their supervisor, as well as liaising with fellow employees, artists, and mentors in their field of enquiry.
QUALIFICATIONS The ideal candidate:
Is enrolled in a post-secondary program in Art History, Art Education, Curatorial Studies, Visual and/or Media Arts, Museum Studies or a related discipline;
Demonstrates a keen interest in contemporary art and/or museum practices;
Is responsible, hard-working, enthusiastic, and dynamic;
Has a proven ability to communicate effectively.
The Gallery Assistant position is funded by the Young Canada Works program. Candidates for the position must:
Be legally entitled to work in Canada;
Be a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada (unfortunately, non-Canadian students holding temporary work visas or awaiting permanent status are not eligible);
Be between 16 and 30 years of age at the start of employment;
Intend to return to full-time studies in the fall of 2022.
Application deadline: 16 May 2022, by 5:00 PM PST
Please submit a Cover Letter and Resume to info@oxygenartcentre.org with the subject line: “ATTN: Gallery Assistant Application.” Please include confirmation of your YCW eligibility.
Oxygen Art Centre is an equal opportunity employer. We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Learn more information about Oxygen Art Centre by visiting their website, www.oxygenartcentre.org and social media.
