Artist Salon with “Signs of Pride”

September 25, 2021

Location: Richmond Cultural Centre Performance Hall

Kick off Culture Days opening weekend with a panel discussion that goes behind the scenes on the making of a recent Richmond public art project, Signs of Pride .

Join 4 of the youth artists, and professional artists Sam McWilliams and Paige Gratland as they discuss their public art project created to amplify and celebrate Pride Week in Richmond this past summer. Hear what it was like for the both the artists and the youth to work on developing a community art project, and insight into what artists need to consider when planning artworks or programs that work directly in and with a community.

Session Format: In-person

• Session will be in-person with limited seating at the Richmond Cultural Centre Performance Hall (the room across from the Richmond Art Gallery).
• Registration required for in-person attendance, and will have limited seating.
• In keeping with BC Health Guidelines, all attendees must wear a mask when entering the building, and practice social distancing in the seated area. Updated guidelines for the building will be found on the Richmond Art Gallery’s website page: How to Visit.
• Session will NOT be recorded at this time.

About the Artists:

Sam McWilliams is an acclaimed tattoo artist and botanical illustrator and educator. Sam holds a BFA with High Distinction in painting and drawing from California College of the Arts and excels at botanical and nature-inspired designs. She has worked as a blacksmith, community muralist, youth wilderness guide and organic farmer and gardener. For many years she worked to integrate gardens into public school curriculums and arts programming. For the past two years Sam has taught drawing online with Draw Botanical and San Francisco Zen Centre.

Paige Gratland makes work that moves outside of the gallery system, in sync with people’s daily lives and in dialogue with social history and design. Their projects have been featured in The Walrus, Geist, Spacing and the Phaidon book: Art and Queer Culture and are held in collection at the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa) and the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles). Employing creative strategies to seek out community and make connections is a theme that runs through their practice.

This session is supported by Richmond Public Art Program and is a part of Culture Days, a nationwide celebration of arts and culture.

The Artist Salon Series features art professionals leading inspirational artist talks and professional development for visual artists each month from February to November.

The 2021 Artist Salon program is supported by the City of Richmond Arts and Culture Grant.