Starting a new position is always an exciting, stimulating opportunity. Since arriving in Richmond at the beginning of March I have been busy acquainting myself with not only the staff, routines and history of the Richmond Art Gallery but have had many thought- provoking meetings with members of the arts community and the general public. The gallery's staff and board of directors have done a wonderful job of maintaining the gallery's programming and operations over the past year, and I look forward to working with them on various new initiatives over the coming months.

A look at the gallery's estimable past and the distinctive community in which it sits is essential in defining a future direction for the gallery. As I settle into Richmond I will be continuing to talk to as many members of the community as possible to get a sense of your perceptions and needs regarding the gallery's activities.

We have recently reaffirmed our commitment "to be one of the most important public galleries in Canada and to increasingly enlarge our audiences and their understanding and enjoyment of contemporary art." The gallery is dedicated to promoting dialogue among diverse communities on challenging ideas and issues of today as expressed through local, national and international contemporary art. Through its exhibitions, publications, educational programming, collections, and significant partnerships, the Richmond Art Gallery provides opportunities for the enrichment of life in Richmond while serving the contemporary arts community in Canada.

In the near future the gallery will be moving to longer exhibitions, allowing us time to create more opportunities for you to interact with the shows - though storytelling sessions, lectures, workshops, demonstrations and other events. The gallery will continue to present work by regional and national artists on issues of concern to our community, and will create more public interaction through artists' projects and community partnerships. Please join us at our upcoming opening, on Thursday, July 23, when we will present two wonderful new exhibitions, Jay Bundy Johnson's Mary's Room (Conditions for Qualia) and Project Rainbow: The Ruby Glass (Jesse Birch, Jade Boyd, Sydney Vermont and Heidi Nutley; Guest Curator, Kathy Slade). I look forward to meeting you at this and many of our upcoming events.

- Lynn Beavis,
Director,
Richmond Art Gallery

23 July - 6 September, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday July 23, 7pm

Jay Bundy Johnson
Mary's Room (Conditions for Qualia)

Imagine Mary; brought up (from birth) in a black and white room ... When Mary leaves her room for the first time and experiences her first colour, would she learn something new about the world?
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Project Rainbow: Jesse Birch, Jade Boyd, Sydney Vermont and Heidi Nutley
The Ruby Glass
Curated by Kathy Slade

The Ruby Glass, a study of the colour red, takes its name from Werner Herzog's 1976 film, Herz aus Glas in which Herzog claimed to have hypnotized his actors in the filming of a pastoral village's obsession with red glass.
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The Richmond Art Gallery invites prominent Richmond residents to take part in the Common Threads event in early November, 2009.

This will be an evening of fun and spectacle with Richmond's best known residents sharing stories through words, art and t- shirts. Money raised from the event will help fund Richmond Art Gallery exhibitions, events and community art projects.

For more information please contact Nicholas Pavlich: npavlich@richmondartgallery.org

Prepare to Share Your Art!

Join this exciting art movement by creating some Artist Trading Cards for our Fourth Annual ATC Exhibition, or visit the Richmond Art Gallery from September 18 - October 30 to view the exhibition. Enter before the deadline of September 4, 2009. Everyone is invited to participate, and all art techniques/media are welcome.

To see all the upcoming Artist Trading Card events at the Richmond Art Gallery, or to download an Entry Form for the exhibition, please view our website or contact gallery@richmond.ca for details.

We are delighted that TD Canada Trust will be supporting the Gallery's School Art Program for the next two years with a donation of $9000 each year. TD has been a supporter of the Gallery's programming since 2003. During the 2008/09 school year over 110 schools visited the Gallery for tours and workshops. On behalf of the Gallery and all the students and teachers we serve, thank you TD Canada Trust!

RBC Foundation has supported the Gallery's popular Family Sunday program since 2003. We are thrilled and grateful for their support of $9800 this year. Each year over 2000 parents and children participate in the exhibition related art activities held on the fourth Sunday of the month. This program is run by a committed group of Richmond high school volunteers who learn and gain new skills while giving back to their community. Thank you RBC Foundation!

The Gallery's Summer Art Camps are in full swing. Each week art instructors, Natalie Strul and Suzanna Wright, lead 16 children between the ages of 6 and12 through a variety of art activities and projects. Jay Bundy Johnson, one of the artists in our summer exhibitions, will be running special workshops for some of the camps. We have been stockpiling recycled materials for weeks now in preparation for the exciting constructions the children will be making.

The RAG's School Art Program Coordinator, Kathy Tycholis, gave a presentation at the Crofton House Junior School for "Splat! - Junior School Art Day" in May 2009. All the students from Grades 1-7 created several series of Artist Trading Cards throughout the year and filled the school with selected works for this open house event. The hundreds of ATCs were an amazing display of the students' hard work, coordinated by art teachers Kerry Harding and Sandra Lim.

As the guest artist for the day, Kathy presented a slide show featuring images from art history and contemporary artists to provide background on how Artist Trading Cards originated. Parents, faculty, and students appreciated hearing the history of ATCs and how their artworks fit into an "official" art context. Kathy was pleased to discover the ATC enthusiasm has been passed on after she first exposed the Crofton House art teachers to ATCs over a year ago!

Do the arts enrich your life? Do you and your family enjoy the gallery, theatre, museum, heritage sites in your community? Do you find meaning, stimulation, beauty, and intellectual challenge through your participation in arts and culture?

Do you realize the arts and culture are under serious threat in BC? The BC government is threatening to cut the Arts and Culture budget by 40 - 50%. This will have a devastating effect on organizations throughout the community and the province. Programs that you enjoy will be decimated, organizations will be forced to scale back their services and some will be forced to close.