Sara Angelucci, Double Train Window, 2000, c-print

Message from Director/Curator

Hello and welcome to the RAG E-Newsletter, Issue #11.

The RAG is operated by the Richmond Art Gallery Association and is the City of Richmond's Public Contemporary Art Gallery under the auspices of the Office for Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services. The Gallery receives generous and ongoing financial support from the City of Richmond, the BC Arts Council, the BC Gaming Commission and the Canada Council for the Arts. On behalf of everyone involved with the RAG I wish to thank our funders, amazing volunteers and dedicated staff.

You and your friends are invited to the opening reception of two concurrent exhibitions, Of Landscape and Light (in Gallery One) and Inside Out (in Gallery Two), on Thursday, September 20, from 6:30 - 9pm. Of Landscape and Light has been guest curated by Karen Henry and brings the unique photographic practice of artist and Gallery 44 Director, Sara Angelucci to the West Coast for the first time. A new RAG publication about this exhibition will be available at the reception with an original text by Karen Henry. Inside Out presents challenging new paintings by two emerging Lower Mainland artists, Janet Wang and Gwenessa Lam. A RAG publication about this exhibition will be available with an original text by RAG curatorial assistant Carie Helm.

During this reception The Mike Roscoe Educational Gallery will be inaugurated. This exhibition area between Galleries One and Two will feature contextual materials, displays and inter-active installations relating to processes and ideas involved in the works of exhibiting artists.

Many thanks to the artists who donated works (previously with the Art Access Rentals service) to our first ever On-Line Auction Summer Sale. Thanks also to everyone who placed bids on their favourites. This new fundraising initiative resulted in the sale of 9 original works by local artists in support of daily operations at the Gallery.

I also want to thank Nora Blanck, Jenny Judge, Sylvia Kind, Phillipe Sokazo and Tim van Wijk for their contributions to our well received outgoing summer exhibition Shift: Working Through Repetition and Difference. It was a pleasure for all of us at the Gallery to work with such a thoughtful group of artists.

Gallery Preparator Curtis Grahauer
 
The RAG welcomes Curtis Grahauer to our Staff. He replaces our outgoing Gallery Preparator Angus Ferguson (oddly enough, the two artists continue to work together periodically as Preparators at the Charles H. Scott Gallery). Curtis has already done a great job setting up for our Fall exhibitions and we look forward to more of his good work throughout the coming season.

There's still time to become an exhibiting Member or Sponsor for this year's major RAG fundraising event, Mirror, Mirror 2007: Little Landscapes and Miniature Worlds (a Members Exhibition, Silent Auction and Closing Gala Event, Nov.10-24) So far, more than 90 Artist-Members have signed on for the exhibition/auction and our staff are now busily soliciting wonderful local catering, draw prizes and volunteers. We hope you'll join us!

A new Wine Label Contest and Exhibition will run concurrently with Mirror, Mirror 2007. Have you got an idea? Do you think you can win?

All submitted entries adhering to the guidelines specified on our website will be included for display. The winning entry will be determined by public cash-donation voting over the course of the exhibition. The winning entry will be used as the Gallery Wine Label for the 2008 programming year. Please visit www.richmondartgallery.org to download the Wine Label Contest and Exhibition info page and to learn more about Mirror Mirror 2007: Little Landscapes and Miniature Worlds.

Visit the RAG this September/October for exciting new explorations in contemporary art and ideas!

Corrine Corry, the RAG's Director and Curator since 1998, is retiring this Fall.

RAG Director/Curator Corrine Corry
 
Corrine Corry retained the grassroots support and local activity fostered by the Gallery's first Director Page Hope-Smith and the founding women of the Gallery's Exhibition Committee. One of Corrine's most exceptional accomplishments was to involve and educate the existing Gallery community about contemporary art and ideas -- stuff often perceived as elitist, problematically specialized or otherwise suspect by many members of the general public without a contemporary arts background. The best of what the Gallery had developed since its inception in 1980 was strengthened and expanded by a rigorous and bravely uncompromising engagement with the professional contemporary art ecology of the Lower Mainland and beyond.

Corrine demonstrated through her actions a belief in the inherent intelligence and creative potential of all people. In regards to determinations of value or capital within art contexts, this belief has radical implications, both philosophically and within the everyday realities of contemporary art as a professional sphere. When looking over Corrine's programming choices during her tenure at the RAG, one sees a consistent disregard for the mechanizations of market and academic fashion. A large majority of the artists Corrine worked with at the RAG have possessed an integrity of artistic praxis that precludes those kinds of directives or considerations. One could always expect to see art at the RAG that was not regularly affirmed or privileged by the regional art scene, but was obviously the result of committed, thoughtful and informed practitioners. One could also expect a sense of maturation and socio-political engagement at the RAG that was frequently not available elsewhere. This has had a lot to do with Corrine's convictions, choices and hard work.

Artist Haruko Okana & Jane Wolsak with Corrine Corry
 
Many people in BC have known Corrine through her work at the gallery and are surprised to learn that she came here after teaching at Concordia University for 18 years, as well as producing television shows and animated films -- all while maintaining a unique art practice encompassing new media, language, photography and performance. The extent of the sacrifices she has made to achieve what she has done for the RAG become clearer after knowing this. The regularization of operational funding from all levels/branches of government and the incumbent growth in Gallery staffing, volunteers, membership, programming, exhibitions, educational and publicity materials, fundraising and administrative tasks during her tenure are truly phenomenal. Much of this development is clearly laid out in the remarkable publication for the Richmond Art Gallery's 25th Anniversary Celebration and related exhibition "25 Years/25 Artists" in 2005. Both the publication and exhibition were mammoth undertakings that further demonstrate Corrine's commitment to the Gallery community and its legacy.

Corrine Corry with Artist Margaret Dragu
 
Corrine managed an unusually large workload for eight years while consistently maintaining very high standards of excellence. Now that funding is being secured to split the job of Director/Curator into two separate positions, it's difficult not to consider Corrine's retirement as a difficult final sacrifice in support of the Gallery and its future. It is fitting that no one after Corrine will hold the official position of Director/Curator again. The RAG is now able to embark on an exciting new phase of innovative development and growth. We will always be indebted to her for this.

Sincerely, Jeremy Todd, Interim Director/Curator

Community Members Feature

In this issue: Carie Helm

RAG Curatorial Assistant Carie Helm
 
Carie Helm joined the RAG staff in 2005 as a Curatorial Assistant. The job was supposed to end with the completion of preparations for the exhibition "25 Years/25 Artists", the accompanying catalogue and a related online project, but Carie became such an integral part of daily operations and programming that she is only now being let go – and this is due to an impending split of the Gallery's Director/Curator position into two separate jobs. Everyone here at the RAG hopes that she is able to move on to bigger things in the immediate future. Her energetic and exacting coordination of off-site exhibitions at the Gateway Theatre and City Hall in conjunction with the Gallery Exhibition Committee, her liasing with exhibiting artists, her tireless fundraising efforts , extensive work with the permanent collection, as well as her exhibition related writing and organizing have been of great value to the Gallery.

Carie remains a practicing artist (her last solo show, Pink, was held at Xchanges Gallery in Victoria this past spring) and has brought many of her interests in collage, poetry, craft and the politics of value to the Gallery community by initiating Artist Trading Card on-site sessions and exhibitions. ATC events now regularly draw over 30 people per session to the Gallery. Carie is stepping down from her volunteer activities with ATCs, empowering other participants to take on organizational roles. We are pleased to announce that Carie will be guest curating an exhibition at the RAG in September of 2008. In the meantime, be sure to read her new text in the RAG publication accompanying the upcoming exhibition Inside Out. Carie's last day as a Curatorial Assistant at the RAG will be September 20. Join us in acknowledging her contributions to the Gallery community during the opening reception that evening for the upcoming exhibitions Of Landscape and Light and Inside Out.

Looking Back

Fond Farewell and Best Wishes
 

RAG Gallery Attendant Julia Chan
 
The Richmond Art Gallery sadly says goodbye to staff member Julia Chan. Julia has been with the Gallery for over 3 years. She began as a volunteer in the Art Access program before joining the Gallery Attendants. Julia graduated from UBC last year with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Art History and will enter the John Casabalancas Fashion Institute to study fashion business this fall. We will miss Julia but wish her the best in this new and exciting endeavour.

New Exhibition at City Hall

Loraine Wellman, Portraits of Local Artists on display at City Hall
 
In Portraits of Local Artists by Richmond-based artist, Loraine Wellman, she departs from her landscape-based work to focus on figurative painting. The paintings, unified by a similar style, depict portraits of local artists set on backgrounds suggestive of their own artwork and practice. In an age of increased fabrication of mass-produced art products, Wellman hopes to generate interest in and awareness of talented local artists established in our community.

The exhibition runs from August 28 - October 29, 2007.

Changes to ATC's @ RAG

Patrons view the ATC Exhibition at the RAG
 
Artist Trading Card (ATC) trading sessions move to a new day and time! Gallery Attendants Catherine Huang, Michelle Hendrickson and Lulu Chen will be taking over the monthly trading sessions which will now be held on the 2nd Sunday of each month from 12pm to 1:30pm in the Programming Room of the Gallery. For more information visit the Gallery website at http://www.richmondartgallery.org/atc.php or email atc_at_rag@hotmail.com. Come out and support this new ATC initiative!

Artist Trading Card Exhibition a success

The Closing Celebration & Trading Session for the second Artist Trading Card exhibition was held on Friday, September 7. The event was well attended with approximately 100 enthusiastic traders in attendance. The exhibition, which was an open call to artists and non-artists, featured over 1,300 cards from across Canada, in the United States and as far away as Australia. A poster/publication was produced to accompany the exhibition with a card by each participating artist represented

New "Letters" Feature
 
We Want Your Feedback. What are your thoughts about the Gallery, Gallery activities and/or exhibitions? Email us and you might get your opinions published in the new "Letters" section of the RAG E-Newsletter Issue #11. Please be sure to type "Letters" in the subject heading of your email.