YORKTON - Yorkton Council received the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery Fee for Service Report 2022 at its regular meeting March 7.
The report, which Council voted to file without discussion, was an extensive document looking back on 2020 activities at the gallery, and ahead to 2022 and beyond.
In total 2,512 visitors visited our exhibitions in 2021, and GDAG showcased the work of 117 artists, of which 49 were local artists from our community.
In 2020 there were 1,058 gallery visitors.
“This statistical data shows the growing capacity of the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery following a significant transition to a new Director and Curator in 2020, and the specific context of the pandemic and the re-opening and re-engagement that continues since 2021,” noted the report. “GDAG will continue to track statistical data and measuring our impact and reach against previous years.”
The numbers are one indication of the gallery’s importance to the city.
“The social and mental health benefits of the arts is well-documented. Creative experiences provoke thought, reflection, dialogue, and learning. The benefits apply to both artists and audiences, as the experience of art is a creative activity unto itself. At GDAG, a local artist can create and show a new painting in the gallery, or a visitor can encounter a new art exhibition. Both experiences provide the social and mental health benefits that arts and culture provide,” detailed the report.
“All of our work at the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery is guided by our mandate: to publicly exhibit and present diverse artwork in the areas of visual art, performing arts, fine craft, and Indigenous art; to maintain facilities in Yorkton for public artistic exhibitions and related programming; and to engage the public and promote learning and dialogue through diverse educational and professional development opportunities.
“Engaging with the arts benefits everyone. It encourages and provides opportunity for expression, dialogue, relaxation, tranquility, and joy of curiosity for people of any age. Programming at GDAG is varied to provide our community with encounters across a wide range of artistic styles, approaches, ideas, and inspirations.
“Our gallery is accessible, and we maintain regular opening hours six days a week. It is a gathering space for individuals, families, and groups of friends. We often meet people who come to the gallery as a regular group activity, a way to see something new and visit while sharing in the experience. We do not charge admission at GDAG, and we work to make our programming accessible and engaging for everyone.
“In addition to regularly changing art exhibitions and public events, we also present art classes and workshops for the benefit of the local community. These can include paint nights, art making workshops, children’s art classes, and mentorship sessions. There is great value in offering these activities for everyone in our community. These are fun social activities and rare opportunities to play with new art techniques and tools. At the same time, we are also focussed on providing professional development and real-world experience for local artists who are maintaining and developing their professional careers.”
The local art included them being featured in June in the gallery’s annual Local Artist Show where the artists were also invited to participate in a free mentorship activity, Conversations About Your Art.
“A total of six artists benefited from one-on-one sessions in the gallery with visiting professional artist Clint Neufeld. This is a professional development activity we intend to repeat regularly with the Local Artist Show, and of great value for developing local artist careers,” stated the report.
The Local Artist Show continues in 2022, and is expected to again engage more than 50 local artists, and this year the gallery is launching a Member’s Show and Sale in December, to provide local artists with a professional opportunity to share their work, and to drive membership at GDAG.
“Produced in part as a public engagement activity, the Local Artist Show is also a professional development opportunity. Artists apply, prepare their works for installation, and see the results of their work on bright gallery walls. In addition, artists are invited to participate in a mentorship activity with an established professional artist who can answer their questions and provide feedback on their artwork and goals. In 2021, Conversations About Your Art was presented in partnership with CARFAC SASK’s Travelling Mentor Program, and we are working with them to repeat this in 2022,” noted the report.
The past year also saw extensive programming at the gallery.
“In 2021, we produced art classes and workshops in person and online,” detailed the report. “Art classes in March and May were delivered via Zoom to 26 young people. Over the course of eight classes, that represents a total of 312 student hours.”
There were also “two in-person art making workshops presented in 2021. The first, in partnership with Yorkton Pride, was presented with a capacity crowd of 12 people (maintaining social distancing and participant comfort). Later in the year, our Wool and Needle Felted Art Workshop with feature artist Melanie Monique Rose, engaged 12 people in making new fabric art creations. Both workshops were enthusiastically received, and it is clear there is an appetite for hands-on art making activities at GDAG.”
Programming will remain a gallery focus in 2022 and beyond as well.
“Programming and outreach in the coming years will deliver personal and social benefits to community and mental health, as well as supporting amateur, emerging, and established artists in our community through art classes, workshops, and professional development,” stated the report.
“The Godfrey Dean Art Gallery is an important pillar in the local arts ecology. As we maintain focus on our mandate and understanding the needs of our community, we will continue to engage a diverse range of artists for the benefit of people in our area and beyond.”
The report also highlighted what lies ahead.
“Programming over the coming years includes gallery showcases of local artists, including Jinali Patel who will create a large-scale rangoli installation at GDAG, Ryan William, whose drawings and paintings recount his experience growing up in Yorkton, and Heather Peat Hamm, a prairie biologist and scientific illustrator who splits her time between in Runnymede and Forget, Sask.,” noted the report.
“In September 2022, GDAG will host local artist Faith Rae’s graduating MFA exhibition from the University of Brandon. This is a significant opportunity for our gallery to support and promote a local artist at a critical moment in their career.
“In 2023, GDAG will host a special retrospective of celebrated Indigenous artist Edward Poitras, in partnership with galleries across the province, and looking ahead to 2024, a major exhibition with Cree musician and choral music director, Andrew Balfour, is being developed. These significant exhibitions will be unique to Yorkton and GDAG. Other exhibitions planned in the coming year highlight different approaches to art making, including different materials, techniques, concepts, and stories for the interest and benefit of our community.”
In August 2022, GDAG will again partner with Yorkton Pride, this year presenting a paint and karaoke night that is sure to be a fun activity to add colour and spirit for Yorkton’s Pride Week.
In September 2022, visiting artist Ho Tam will work with local participants to make artwork and share stories from here. Ho Tam’s photography and book-making specialization will guide the workshops and help participants create and share their work.
In November 2022, local artist Jinali Patel will create a large rangoli installation in the gallery. We plan to host a reception to celebrate the artist and share about this beautiful Indian artistic tradition.
“As a recurring component, we will continue to offer professional development sessions as part of GDAG’s annual Local Artist Show. Free for local artists, these sessions provide artistic guidance and career advice from an established professional artist,” detailed the report.
The gallery is also in the early stages of a multi-year initiative.
“GDAG’s multi-year project Belong Where You Find Yourself, is an important element in our outreach strategy, engaging 12 local participants in a year-long creation exercise under the direction of two lead artists Alana Moore and Amber Phelps Bondaroff. Leading to a major show in 2023, this project provides local participants with the opportunity to work as (paid) artists in the creation of a gallery exhibition. Throughout the project, participants will be guided through multiple art classes and group activities,” noted the report.
New in 2022, “in collaboration with local schools, starting in 2022 GDAG will develop student guides for the exhibitions we present. The guides will provide additional information for teachers and students, including questions and prompts to promote discussion. The guides are informed by school curriculum outcomes, and we plan to promote this resource and welcome more class visits in 2022 and 2023.
“Through our outreach and education activities, GDAG engages a diverse range of people in our community. GDAG’s outreach serves the general public, and through special initiatives we have also focussed effort for target groups such as people living with dementia, youth, students, and local artists.”
The report concluded by suggesting it is meeting changing needs in the community well.
“Programming at the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery is varied and growing. We take particular pride in the number of partnerships we have built over the past year, including with local partners and sponsors who have helped in large and small ways. Our statistical tracking shows positive and increasing audience and engagement numbers,” noted in the report.
“The response we have had from our community, from local and provincial partners, and from the Canadian arts scene, is evidence of our capacity to reach people and to contribute to the social and personal benefits of arts and culture in and from our community.”
