Take a break and check out these new and old exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Hamilton!
Midterm season can be draining and taking a break to view exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Hamilton can be a great way to destress!
This exhibition features more than 70 works created over four decades by Shelley Niro, a Mohawk artist based in Brantford, ON. The first major retrospective exhibition of her work, 500 Year Itch highlights the following themes: matriarchy, past is present, actors and family relations. Niro aims to represent Indigenous women and girls while advocating for self-representation and sovereignty using parody, feminism and spirituality. The exhibit will be available for viewing from Feb. 10-May 26, 2024.
Alex Jacobs-Blum: Living and Lost Connections
Hamilton-based artist Alex Jacobs-Blum presents her first museum solo exhibition using photos and videos to portray the themes of continuity and legacy. "As part of her artmaking process, Jacobs-Blum immerses herself in Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga) homelands, situated around one of the Finger Lakes in present-day upstate New York. There, she embodies Hodinöhsö:ni’ women across generations, connecting deeply with Creation. By documenting her presence in the landscape, she navigates historical narratives, displacement, responsibility, and the shaping of new futures," as mentioned on the AGH website. The exhibit will be available for viewing from Feb. 10-May 20, 2024.
RBC Artist In Residence: Melissa General
Melissa General is a Mohawk artist from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and is the 2023-2024 RBC Artist in Residence at AGH. Her exhibition involves using photography, audio, video and installation to explore the concepts of memory, language and land of the Six Nations of the Grand River, as well as her identity as a Mohawk artist. The exhibit has been around for a year and is almost over, so don't miss it!
Kim Adams is a Canadian artist who explores mobile and industrial societies through his work. "Blending humour, satire and seriousness, he builds “worlds” as a means of social critique," as mentioned on the AGH website. His exhibition portrays satirical dystopian pieces of work, as exemplified in Bruegel-Bosch Bus. His work has been showcased in both parks and museums. This exhibition will be around for a long time, but it won't be here forever.
Have fun checking these exhibitions!
The McMaster Indigenous Health Movement's Art is Medicine exhibit encourages viewers to learn more about health and well-being from an Indigenous youth perspective
From Jan. 26 to Mar. 9, Hamilton Artists Inc. is hosting the Art is Medicine exhibit, curated by the McMaster University Indigenous Health Movement, a student-based initiative at McMaster that works to educate students and community members about current issues related to Indigenous health and well-being. The exhibit features work by Indigenous youth artists Anang Binesi, Courtnee Osawabine, Justice Ryan, Nikaronhya'a Dawn Martin and Shayde Sandy.
The exhibit highlights issues related to Indigenous health and well-being through mediums such as photography, painting and traditional beading practices. The artworks strive to re-examine Indigenous health and add the perspectives of younger generations to the conversation.
Albany Sutherland and Darci Debassige are the co-chairs of IHM and the idea for the exhibit came from their brainstorming efforts This year, their focus has been heavily on community engagement and getting more students off-campus, so Sutherland pitched the idea to Hamilton Artists Inc. and put out a call for Indigenous artists under 30 to contribute to the event.
Sutherland pointed out that there are not many youth shows around Hamilton's art scene at the moment and the exhibit's themes contribute to its uniqueness.
"Focusing on healing, medicine, community and well-being, and intertwining all those themes together, is important and powerful. People wanted to come out and see the art, meet with the artists and learn," said Sutherland.
Focusing on healing, medicine, community and well-being and intertwining all those themes together is important and powerful. People wanted to come out and see the art, meet with the artists and learn.
Albany Sutherland, Co-chair, Indigenous Health Movement
The exhibit has had great turnout so far and the IHM received positive feedback on their community-centred approach. Art is Medicine also co-opened with I hear you everywhere I go, an exhibit by Indigenous and Black tattoo artists at the Inc. The two exhibits complement each other thematically and have attracted a larger audience together.
Sutherland hoped those who visit the exhibit will recognize other ways of seeing and understanding health and well-being beyond the clinical and Western-based ones.
It is also important to acknowledge that Indigenous health, well-being, spirituality and knowledge are all intertwined and show up in different contexts. This exhibit is just one of those contexts, providing new and impactful perspectives to the broader community. [Is this based on something they said in the interview? Seems a bit out of place where it currently is--NG]
Sutherland also explained why students specifically should check out the exhibit, besides McMaster's connection to the IHM and the chance to see friends or peers participating in an art event [this sentence reads awkwardly, reword--NG]
"I think it's also just good for students to get out into the community and leave campus and experience the art scene in Hamilton and community. I know a lot of McMaster students don't get to experience that. So I think it's kind of like a positive push," said Sutherland.
Art is Medicine is a great exhibit to check out for students interested in anything creative or to learn more about Indigenous cultures and traditions. The exhibit also, crucially, provides the opportunity to get more involved with the Hamilton community beyond campus.
The Art Gallery of Hamilton is now offering a lower sensory experience for those with dementia and other accessibility needs
The Art Gallery of Hamilton is now hosting Dementia-Friendly Days so that those affected by dementia or other sensory-sensitivity issues can enjoy the exhibits in a quiet, calmer environment during non-public hours.
The AGH is located downtown on King St. West. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month, the gallery reduces sound levels and sensory stimulation for drop-in, free, self-directed exhibition tours.
Laurie Kilgour-Walsh, head of Programs and Learning at AGH, explained this initiative's origin. Specialized programs for people living with dementia have already been implemented at the gallery for over 10 years, so the AGH has experience creating a safe and supportive environment. Due to this success, the gallery has wanted to expand to general access for people living with dementia, for more casual opportunities to explore the exhibitions.
Beyond lowering sensory stimulation, the AGH also offers other supports on their dementia-friendly days, with staff available to help attendees navigate the building or to chat about the exhibits. This gives visitors the freedom to choose their level of interaction with others, for a more controlled experience.
The building will also have extra signage and directions, as well as a security team, to ensure that visitors are as comfortable as possible.
As a dementia-friendly initiative, this program is unique because it is not a choreographed and facilitated experience. Rather, it is experienced however the visitor chooses.
Kilgour-Walsh has explained that reception has been slow to begin, especially with the winter weather that discourages people from coming out. However, she anticipates that once the warmer weather arrives and more people are aware of Dementia-Friendly Days, regular participants will come in more often.
Kilgour-Walsh hopes that people will feel comfortable regularly coming to the gallery after this experience.
"What I hope is that people will feel that the gallery is a place [where] they can come as they are. [Visitors] can function as they need to...we don't expect our participants necessarily to be quiet as an example. However, their experiences are welcome, so hopefully we'll see them come back [often]," said Kilgour-Walsh.
This initiative is great for any students who have sensory sensitivity issues or have loved ones with dementia, explained Kilgour-Walsh.
"By offering a safe space like this, it also allows caregivers and friends and family members a chance to get out and to have those experiences and to really share them with the person that they love as well. So there's a lot of relationship building that goes on in this," said Kilgour-Walsh.
By offering a safe space like this, it also allows caregivers and friends and family members a chance to get out and to have those experiences and to really share them with the person that they love as well. So there's a lot of relationship building that goes on in this.
Laurie Kilgour-Walsh, Head of Programs and Learning, Art Gallery of Hamilton
Kilgour-Walsh also added that the program has been funded by a grant from the province of Ontario and for students to keep an eye out for other opportunities the AGH has to offer, such as other programming or educational initiatives that might be of interest.
For more information on the schedule when Dementia Friendly Days are held, or to optionally pre-register for tours, visit here.
The McMaster Museum of Art is hosting a workshop to teach the basics of mini zine making and trading art
For this year's Thrive Week, the McMaster Museum of Art is hosting a mini zine-making workshop. The workshop will be hosted on January 23 from 12 to 1 p.m.
Thrive Week is being held from January 22 to 26, and it is being managed by the McMaster Okanagan Office of Health and Mental Well-being. Its purpose is to bring the university community together to discuss mental health and find ways to support each other. Different areas of campus will be holding events throughout the week for students, alumni, staff and faculty.
Past Thrive Week events have included a therapy dog visit, a guided forest walk, a farm visit and a kind thoughts box.
The event will cover the basics of making mini zines while allowing participants to practice their own unique artistic style. You can also learn about trading your creations and the artistic process of zines in general. The workshop will also have a tour of the museum's exhibition Chasm.
The workshop is free to attend and includes free access to zine-making materials. To attend, you have to register online. Spots are limited!
Students should check out the upcoming event if they are interested in creating art or zines, learning more about different artistic forms or taking a break from studies to do something fun. Students should also keep an eye out for other Thrive Week events, especially if they are looking for ways to prioritize their mental health during the busy start to the semester. The full listing of Thrive Week events can be found here.
The temporary art event held at Pier 8 over the month of Novemeber, immersed community in a unique sound and light show in an effort to draw them to the waterfront
From Nov. 1 to 26 between the hours of 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., the city of Hamilton held a temporary art exhibition at the Pier 8 waterfront called Sonic Runway. The event immersed citizens in a light installation, which sent sound signals to create patterns of light down a walkway. The exhibition was free for everyone to attend.
Peter Fortune, placemaking, public art and projects manager for the city of Hamilton, explained that from, the beginning, the exhibition hoped to create awareness for the waterfront, showcase the potential of Pier 8 and encourage community members to visit.
Fortune's role in the city is to come up with placemaking and public art initiatives to transform spaces and make them appealing places to visit. Placemaking refers to developing a part of a city so that people would want to live and establish themselves there.
Community members can approach Fortune and share with him what they are hoping to see and he can then work with them to bring creativity to the city.
Fortune discussed how Sonic Runway was the first large-scale placemaking initiative the city has run.
"I don't think the site has experienced anything like that before. . . also this is one of the few times that we've brought in nationally recognized artists [for events like] Sonic Runway," said Fortune.
Feedback for the event was overwhelmingly positive. Over 20,000 people visited the exhibition while it was open.
Fortune hoped that, with this event and others like it, the collective creativity identity of the city will continue to develop as the community gains more insight and involvement with Hamilton's creative and artistic side while taking part in placemaking and meaningful experiences.
Fortune also highlighted how the principal part of the exhibition was to encourage students and others to dream, by showing how the things they learn in class can be translated into the real world and offering an opportunity to learn more about the chance to learn about the technical side of placemaking, such as user interface design and electrical engineering. Students could see how they might apply their own skills within this field and how choosing an arts-based career, while it might be difficult, does pay off.
Fortune also hoped the project helped to change student perspective of the city, highlighting how there is more to it than just campus and giving places like the waterfront a new image and identity, rather than being only seen for industrial purposes.
"Instead of just being on campus and cloistered there, go and explore the city and realize that [it] has the ability to surprise you. This is one of those examples of something that could definitely surprise you because I'm not sure if a lot of people [realize that]," said Fortune.
Instead of just being on campus and cloistered there, go and explore the city and realize that [it] has the ability to surprise you. This is one of those examples of something that could definitely surprise you because I'm not sure if a lot of people [realize that].
Peter Fortune, placemaking, public art and projects manager, city of Hamilton
Fortune encouraged students to check out future events the city of Hamilton will host, especially for the winter and holiday season. With so much creativity in the city, there is sure to be something for everyone to enjoy. Events can be found here.
The Dundas Museum and Archives is showcasing the work of late local artist Catherine Gibbon with a specialized nature-based focus exhibition
From Oct. 4 to Dec. 2, the Dundas Museum and Archives is showcasing Catherine Gibbon's art in a specially designed exhibition.
Catherine Gibbon was an artist based in Dundas who was also the founding member of Carnegie Gallery. She was a graduate of McMaster University with a degree in Art History. Gibbon was a self-taught artist who also received some mentoring from the Dundas Valley School of Art.
Her passions consisted of the environment and her art. Gibbon also worked as an Artist in Residence in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan. Her talents also extended to playing the wooden flute, and she performed with local traditional music groups.
Gibbon has showcased work in galleries in England, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, as well as public collections nationally and abroad.
The exhibition at the Dundas Museum and Archives is titled "Home / Ground," and it features artwork from Gibbon's estate.
"[It focuses] on works of a smaller scale that reflect the artist’s quest to capture landscapes both familiar and new," states the Dundas Museum and Archives website.
The event is free to attend, and it exhibits both drawings and paintings. The exhibition could be a great opportunity to pay tribute to a local artist if you are interested in the visual arts or environmental art.
This digital hub aims to increase local engagement with arts and culture by connecting community members and artists with local arts events and opportunities
The Arty Crowd is the Hamilton Arts Council’s digital hub for connecting artists and community members with arts-related events in the city.
In 2017, a symposium called The Big Picture brought together local artists and arts organizations to examine challenges and opportunities for the community’s arts and culture scene. Out of this event came the idea to create a website housing arts-related resources.
David Huson, artistic director at the Hamilton Arts Council, explained that the process for organizing the website was lengthy. It involved collaboration with the local community through discussion with citizens. The website's creators looked at numerous case studies to learn what content would be relevant and useful for the website to include.
Even the name of the digital resource has a story, according to Hudson. The intent of the name is to take “the arty crowd,” once used disparagingly, and to re-purpose that for the community, giving it a new and more positive meaning.
"Basically there was a bit of uproar in the art scene, and Mayor Lloyd Jackson in 1959 declared. . .I've got the quote here: "The people of this city have made it abundantly clear that they want no part of this modern art. We can't let the arty crowd run things." We've reclaimed that name as The Arty Crowd," said Hudson.
Individual artists, art organizations, art lovers in the community and non-artists in creative industries can all create accounts on the website. The Arty Crowd website is controlled by the account holders themselves, where those who organize the events post their information, keep it updated and manage their general account. Hudson has pointed out that there are over 1,500 account holders.
The website focuses on these areas of content: chances to contribute to creative and artistic events, funding opportunities and employment opportunities. These are mainly posted by the users, but the Hamilton Arts Council does contribute from time to time. The events that are promoted are often local, but the website also promotes events outside of the city for those who have access and might be interested.
The Arty Crowd is a unique database for Hamilton due to its sole focus on the arts and the sense of autonomy for its users.
“I think there are event listings in Hamilton that do encompass some arts events, but they'll also encompass eating out and tourism," said Hudson.
Hudson also pointed out that the reception for the website has been warm and positive. Many arts organizations and artists have been taking advantage of the site and the support from the community has made it a successful endeavour.
Students should check out the website if they are interested in the arts community and would like to get involved with more events. Hudson also encouraged those who might not consider themselves to be artists, but who are creatively inspired, to get involved and still be able to contribute in some way, stressing that membership for artists and creatives is completely free.
“It's a portal to get connected with the arts in any way, whether it's just to attend and watch or whether it's to get involved or get connected. I encourage people, if you are an artist or creative or you contribute to the arts landscape, to set up an account, set up a profile and add your content,” said Hudson.
It's a portal to get connected with the arts in any way. . .I encourage people, if you are an artist or creative or you contribute to the arts landscape, to set up an account, set up a profile and add your content.
David Hudson, Artistic Director, Hamilton Arts Council
Hudson added that they are currently working on adding a new feature to the website for artists to look at spaces to show their work. Those who want to rent out a space will be able to look at profiles on the website and find their best fit.
The Arty Crowd is also currently running a TV show live on Cable 14 called The Arty Crowd Out Loud! where monthly episodes showcase local arts venues and events to build support and audience for the website’s purpose and the city’s art scene. The show can also be seen on demand here.
If any students are interested in attending arts events or would like to become more involved with the arts in Hamilton, The Arty Crowd is a great digital resource for locating these opportunities.
Explore beyond the McMaster campus and visit these art displays throughout the city this semester!
As midterm season is upon us, take a break and visit these art displays throughout the city!
Bead Maze – West Harbour GO Station, 353 James St North
This piece was designed by Laura Marotta, a local artist who explores the intersection between geometry, architecture and modular construction, involves producing standardized components of a structure in an off-site and assemble them on-site. Bead Maze was commissioned by Metrolinx and the City of Hamilton in 2016. It is an enlarged bead maze meant to portray the freedom and mobility provided by public transit. Each colour represents a specific component: green represents the Metrolink trains maneuvering through the city’s infrastructure, which is grey, while benefiting the environment, represented by blue. The structure represents a moving network, moving and stopping, like the trains.
Carter Park Mural – 32 Stinson St
This mural was painted by Bryce Huffman, a local tattoo artist, and was commissioned by the Stinson Community Association and the City of Hamilton. The mural fuses portrayals of animals and sports, creating a playful and youthful vibe. For instance, it includes a blue bird wearing a baseball cap sitting on a baseball bat branch with a nest of baseballs. Through this image and others, it highlights historical and environmental attributes of the area.
Be:longings – 85 Oak Knoll Dr
Gary Barwin, Simon Frank and Tor Lukasik-Foss collaborated to create Be:longings. They are all local artists. It was installed this year in July to honour the memory of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat in Nazi-occupied Hungary who oversaw a mission that saved nearly 100,000 Jews. It is composed of ten bronze suitcases situated in different parts of the new Churchill Park pathway to represent the themes of travel, escape, refugees, emigration and human rights.
Growing Together – 27 Hwy 5
Growing Together is a wall mural and five banners created by artist Andrés Correa. It explores the themes of landscape and family, as well as the importance of having a sense of community by representing the diversity in the city and the residents of Flamborough. This was commissioned by the City of Hamilton and installed in 2013. Correa captures a sense of community by integrating groups of people of all ages playing sports together in a rural landscape, showing that they are growing together as one community.
Enjoy checking these out!
Downtown Hamilton will be lively with music, visual art, fashion, literature and more as Supercrawl returns for another year
A nonprofit organization founded in 2009, Supercrawl spotlights Hamilton’s vibrant arts and culture community. Taking place every year in September, the event is a weekend of artistic events and performances.
This year’s Supercrawl features three music stages, a theatre-dance stage, a fashion tent, a family zone, a visual art zone and an author tent. Beyond all of this, Supercrawl also hosts numerous local vendors, making it a great occasion for shopping as well.
Those interested in attending Supercrawl can see CFMU’s own Jamie Tennant moderate authors panels and discuss his own writing or they can check out the Ark Collective for local BIPOC-owned fashion businesses. Events begin in the daytime and continue into the late night. A full schedule can be found here.
Supercrawl is a well-loved community tradition in Hamilton, but it also draws in crowds from outside the city. According to the Supercrawl website, over 200,000 people attended the event last year. The website also highlights the economic benefits of this, stating that last year’s Supercrawl had an economic impact of approximately thirty million dollars.
For McMaster University students looking to become more involved in the Hamilton community, Supercrawl is a great starting point. Students can explore local art, music, literature, and fashion, all within a two-kilometer radius.
The 2023 class of studio arts takes on intersectionality and decolonization through their graduating exhibit at the McMaster Museum of Art
From Apr. 6 to 28, SUMMA 2023: Where We Intersect will showcase the work of this year's bachelor of fine arts graduating class.
Where We Intersect: Identities, Environments, Activisms has a focus on the stories of the artists. They each created works that fall into one or more of these three realms. The media of the exhibit is made up of a large variety, including drawings, paintings, photographs, installations, printmaking sculptures, projections and sound based works. The aim of the exhibit is to exemplify the newer generation’s resilience in the face of a global pandemic, violence, environmental devastation and existential angst.
“It's a very turbulent time that we're in and I think that this work conveys a kind of a sober, but also a hopeful kind of collective inquiry into how do we cultivate resilience in these turbulent times,” said Mosa McNeilly curator of SUMMA 2023.
“It's a very turbulent time that we're in and I think that this work conveys a kind of a sober, but also a hopeful kind of collective inquiry into how do we cultivate resilience in these turbulent times,”
Mosa McNeilly, curator of SUMMA 2023
McNeilly first met with the students in January to begin preparations for the exhibit. The first meeting was dedicated time for studio arts students to consult with McNeilly on their progress on their pieces and to plan an overarching theme for the exhibit. The students came up with the title, Where we Intersect, and after consulting with them she decided on the subtitle, Identities, Environments, Activisms.
The title is a very important aspect of the exhibit. For SUMMA 2023, it was important to the artists to explore intersection and intersectionality. The students of this exhibit were aware of this concept and as they discussed their positionality within current society, the conversation sparked the finality of the theme of the exhibit.
“There's an intersectional ethic in how [the students are] seeking to understand their relationships with each other and in their analyses of how they position themselves in terms of race, place, ability, spirituality, sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity,” said McNeilly.
The students in this exhibit truly impressed McNeilly over the time she has spent working with them. She believes they took the many forms of media to accentuate their own thoughts. Moreover, she was impressed at how they all had a focus on decolonization within their work.
They each had ideas for how they wanted their work to be presented and to step away from traditional practices. It gave her hope that the future generation of artists will embrace intersectionality in their work and question their position relative to it.
“What I find compelling about this group of emerging artists is [that there is] impetus towards decolonizing . . . [The students] were not interested in conventional, formal museum aesthetics, some of them, they wanted to push against those standards of presentation,” said McNeilly.
“What I find compelling about this group of emerging artists is [that there is] impetus towards decolonizing . . . [The students] were not interested in conventional, formal museum aesthetics, some of them, they wanted to push against those standards of presentation,”
Mosa McNeilly, curator of SUMMA 2023
