“Alberta Views: Our Landscape, Our Home, Our Legacy” Exhibition, Alberta Culture Days

Artsy Update : )

I’m honoured to curate the “Alberta Views” Exhibition for Alberta Culture Days and Month of the Artist. Let me tell you a little bit about the show and also share some pictures of the exhibit during the visit with Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women, Leela Aheer.
Exhibit Description:
“Alberta Views: Our Landscape, Our Home, Our Legacy” is an exhibition of female Alberta landscape artists who are inspired by the environment of their majestic province. All working in a variety of artistic styles and using a range of creative materials, these artists present their perspective on the Alberta landscape in paint, photograph, sculpture, and mixed-media art. They challenge us to contemplate the land beneath our feet, how it has changed and continues to develop and play a role in our lives. “Alberta Views” artists inspire us to pause, give thanks, and explore the diverse landscape on our doorsteps. Think vibrant prairie skies, looming mountains, and beyond. The Indigenous artists in the exhibit help us appreciate their unique bond to the province and their continued celebration of their ancestral land.
Featuring Artwork By: Cynthia McLaren, Mary Hughes, Suzan Berwald, Michelle Erickson, Dawn Saunders Dahl, Dawn Marie Marchand
Curated By: Alexis Marie Chute, MFA, BFA
Exhibit Dates: August 23—October 31, 2020
In-Person Location: Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel, 4236-36 Street E, Edmonton, AB, located at the Edmonton International Airport
Virtual Exhibition Premier: Thursday, September 3, 2020, 7:00pm – Women’s Art Museum of Canada’s YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2_AAuxIKfhqmG9TrJRCBw/)
Artist Feature Premiers: Thursdays, September 10 and September 17, 7:00pm – Women’s Art Museum of Canada’s YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2_AAuxIKfhqmG9TrJRCBw/)
Virtual Artists Meet-and-Greet: Saturday, September 19, 2020, 2:00—3:00pm via Google Meet
Special Recognition:
Curator Alexis Marie Chute, the Women’s Art Museum of Canada, the Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel, Alberta Culture Days, and the Government of Alberta

Curatorial Statement

By Alexis Marie Chute

Visit to the “Alberta Views” exhibit with the Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and the Status of Women, Leela Aheer + MLA Searle Turton + Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel managers + representatives from the Women’s Art Museum of Canada + exhibit curator Alexis Marie Chute + two of the exhibit’s artists: Suzan Berwald + Cynthia McLaren. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

Alberta is a province with a distinct natural landscape and climate that defines how its inhabitants live, work, and play. This land tells many stories: from the Indigenous people, to the resiliency of Albertans who endure and enjoy its dramatic temperatures, to our unique history of trade and travel. Alberta boasts the stunning majesty of the Rocky Mountains, the peaceful prairies, and everything in between. Alberta’s landscape impacts the artists of this province through the imagery they create to the way they create it.

Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

My goal with “Alberta Views: Our Landscape, Our Home, Our Legacy” was to curate an exhibition that pays homage to Alberta artists and the place they call home. I chose the artists for this show through public submissions and by invitation. I looked for artists creating across varied art mediums, stylistic approaches, and conceptual considerations. I had a personal mandate of including Indigenous voices in the exhibit. Partnering with the Women’s Art Museum of Canada, my additional directive was curating “Alberta Views” as an all-female show.

Artwork by Cynthia McLaren (L) and Dawn Marie Marchand (R). Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

The exhibition includes artists Cynthia McLaren, Mary Hughes, Dawn Marie Marchand, Suzan Berwald, Dawn Saunders Dahl, and Michelle Erickson. I chose these artists for their excellence, vision, and representation of the land.

“Alberta Views” exhibit curated by Alexis Marie Chute. Photograph by Ferdinand Maingat.

Cynthia McLaren’s work is representational and dimensional through the inclusion of a wooden plane within her frames. She depicts Peyto Lake flanked by rugged mountains, sparce trees in a prairie-scape, and a vivid red Canadian Pacific Train boldly racing mountainside. Her work is lush with colour and animated skies.

Cynthia McLaren speaking about her artwork. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

Photographer Mary Hughes captures an iconic location in our province—Spirit Island—in her hyper focused image with its long depth of field. The impassioned sky, lake reflection, and textured overlay create a dreamy, nostalgic view of the beloved destination for locals and travelers alike.

Artwork by Mary Hughes. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

Dawn Marie Marchand is an Indigenous artist. Her artwork in “Alberta Views” features glossy abstracted washes of colour incorporating real trees, ribbons, and beading. She speaks to honouring land treaties and the struggles and successes of Indigenous artists in our province.

Artwork by Dawn Marie Marchand, presented by curator Alexis Marie Chute. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

Suzan Berwald’s soft pastel drawing of a yellow canola field elevates the shockingly saturated landscape Albertans may take for granted or miss entirely in the city. She uses her bold pastel strokes and tilting point-of-view to draw viewers eyes to the land and the sky in a diptych that tells a story of a lonely rock in a windswept field.

Susan Berwald with her artwork. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

Dawn Saunders Dahl uses a conceptual approach in artistic research of her Indigenous heritage, tracing her lineage back through multiple generations. Her earth and water samples speak to the tactile nature of her work, which is documented and exhibited in Polaroid photographs and a short film. Her watercolour paintings are fluid, gestural, and impressionistic, capturing the spirit of the landscapes they represent.

Artwork by Dawn Saunders Dahl. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

The artwork of Michelle Erickson defies right angles, incorporating a stylistic technique of alcohol ink and ArtResin applied to circular aluminum panels. Her paintings are expressive, boldly coloured, and abstractly graphic in their depictions of mountains, Earth’s mantle, and crust. Her impressionistic compositions are circular windows into the evolution and ever-changing seasonal appearance of the Alberta landscape.

Artwork by Michelle Erickson, presented by curator Alexis Marie Chute. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

Viewers of this exhibit will feel awe at sharp rugged peaks, quiet prairie fields, and mirror-like lakes. No people are pictured in the artwork, though the scenes are familiar favorites and often visited. “Alberta Views: Our Landscape, Our Home, Our Legacy” will inspire the creativity and desire to explore of Albertans and viewers from beyond our provincial borders.

Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and the Status of Women, Leela Aheer (Left) & MLA Searle Turton (Right) with the artwork of Cynthia McLaren (L) and Dawn Marie Marchand (Center). Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

Close-up of Dawn Marie Marchand’s artwork. Photo by Ferdinand Maingat.

I curated this exhibit for Alberta Culture Days and Month of the Artist. It can be seen in-person September and October 2020 at the Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel and online on the Women’s Art Museum of Canada’s YouTube channel.