"The journey" by Cecile Miller is part of the Migration and Transformation show on now at the Mann Art Gallery. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff) 

By Alison Sandstrom

In-person art

Mann Art Gallery hosts three new exhibitions

Jul 24, 2020 | 8:00 AM

After months of forced shutdown due to the pandemic, the Mann Art Gallery is back with a bang and three new exhibitions.

The gallery reopened on July 14, and acting director/curator, Lana Wilson, told paNOW they’ve been encouraged by positive feedback from the public during their first week.

She said while artists have made good use of online tools and virtual events during the pandemic, there’s no substitute for seeing art in person.

“Experiencing things live, having those visceral reactions to the work, being able to walk around it to enjoy and experience the texture is so important,” Wilson explained.

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. In the mornings staff run virtual summer camp programming.

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Wilson explained multiple contingency plans allowed staff and artists to quickly spring into action when the province gave them the green light to reopen at the end of June.

“The artists were on standby and they were just waiting for the day for me to tell them ‘okay rent the trailer, can you be here on this day,’” she said.

Several works in Migration and Transformation are paired with audio pieces that visitors can access on their mobile phones by scanning a QR code. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

Migration and Transformation, in the main gallery, features the work of three Saskatchewan artists and spans mediums including sound, sculpture and painting. Some pieces, including a globe with screws marking hotspots of COVID-19 transmission, were created during, and inspired by, the pandemic. Themes of movement, displacement and relocation – by humans, flora, fauna, continents, viruses, and ideologies – are explored throughout the exhibition by artists Lynn Salo, Cecile Miller and Rich Miller.

In 11 Main Street the Mann Art Gallery presents the work of an emerging local artist and recent graduate of Carlton Comprehensive High School. Maria Hirsi is the youngest Indigenous woman to have a debut exhibition at the John V. Hicks Gallery. In a series of 15 paintings she captures sections the basement walls she was allowed to draw all over as a child. Her work deals with questions of family, race, identity, and reconciliation.

Movement & Gesture draws from the gallery’s permanent collection to showcase seven artworks by Pamela Burrill. Curated by summer student Nicholas Markowski, the abstract landscapes emphasize movement and mobility, playing off Migration and Transformation in the neighboring room.

And for those looking to experience art outdoors, the third installation in a public art series by a pair of local Metis artists is set for Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Alfred Jenkins Field House. Leah Dorion and Danielle Castle will be harvesting willow to create an interactive labyrinth.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom