Recent News:
- Juror for Polygon Gallery’s 2023 Chester Fields teen photo contest alongside Karice Mitchell and Gonzalo Reyes Rodriguez.
- Contributing writer for Fashion Fictions exhibition catalogue, edited by Stephanie Rebick. Comes out July 2023. See Writing for details.
Gallery Experience:
Vancouver Art Gallery
Curatorial Assistant (FT/Permanent) Oct 2022 – Present
- Supervisor: Richard Hill, Smith Jarislowsky Senior Curator of Canadian Art
- Researching and gathering information for upcoming exhibitions
- Writing extended label copy
- Writing for exhibition publications and catalogues
- Attending studio visits with artists
- Writing about artworks that are being considered for acquisition
- Working with database systems including STAR, Axiell, FileMaker Pro, and Raiser’s Edge
- Assisting with exhibition installation including pre-production planning
Curatorial Assistant on the following projects:
Firelei Báez (upcoming: Nov 2, 2024 to Mar 23, 2025), curated by Eva Respini. One of the most exciting painters of her generation, Báez delves into the historical narratives of the Atlantic Basin. Over the past fifteen years, she has made work that explores the multilayered explorations of the legacy of colonial histories and the African diaspora in the Caribbean and beyond. She draws on the disciplines of anthropology, geography, folklore, fantasy, science fiction and social history to unsettle categories of race, gender and nationality in her paintings, drawings and installations.
Rooted Here: Woven from the Land (Dec 16, 2023 to May 12, 2024), curated by Richard Hill, celebrates the work of four prominent local Salish weavers: qʷənat, Angela George (səlilwətaɬ/Tsleil-Waututh); Chepximiya Siyam’ Chief Janice George (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh/Squamish); Skwetsimeltxw Willard “Buddy” Joseph (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh/Squamish); and Qwasen, Debra Sparrow (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm/Musqueam).
J.E.H. MacDonald? A Tangled Garden (Dec 16, 2023 to May 12, 2024), curated by Richard Hill. In 2015, the Vancouver Art Gallery announced the acquisition of ten previously unknown painted sketches attributed to J.E.H. MacDonald, one of Canada’s most celebrated painters and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Soon after, experts in the wider arts community began to publicly raise questions about the authenticity of the ten works. The exhibition not only provides an answer regarding whether the ten sketches can be attributed to MacDonald, but also allows visitors a rare and detailed look into how that conclusion was reached.
Conceptions of White (Sept 9, 2023 to Feb 4, 2024), curated by John G. Hampton (Mackenzie Art Gallery) and Lillian O’Brien Davis (Art Gallery of York University), with support in Vancouver from Vancouver Art Gallery’s Mandy Ginson. Conceptions of White is an exhibition offering context and nuanced perspectives that help viewers grapple with contemporary configurations of White identity. The exhibition examines the origins, travel and present reality of “Whiteness” as a concept and a racial invention that classifies degrees of civility/humanity.
Fashion Fictions (May 27, 2023 to Oct 9, 2023), curated by Stephanie Rebick, with contributing curators Amber-Dawn Bear robe and Siobhan McCracken Nixon. Fashion Fictions surveyed experimental design practices that exist at the intersection of fashion and other modes of cultural production. International in scope, the exhibition explored the increasing influence of research-based, materially driven practices on the global fashion scene, while acknowledging the proliferation of creative practices that challenge the aesthetic, material and technological conventions of fashion. In this exhibition, I was a contributing writer for the catalogue of the same name, see here.
Hard-Edge (Mar 4, 2023 to June 4, 2023), curated by Richard Hill, showcased a selection of hard-edge abstract paintings from the 1960s and 70s. The exhibition drew from the Vancouver Art Gallery’s permanent collection, featuring iconic works by artists such as Jack Bush, Roy Kiyooka, Guido Molinari, Frank Stella, Takao Tanabe and Joan Balzar, some of which were xhibited at the Gallery for the first time since their acquisition.
Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver, BC)
Associate Director (FT/Contract) Oct 2021 – Oct 2022
- Managing expenditures within the BAF budget including bookkeeping
- Development and grants
- Responsible for organizing committee meetings
- Overseeing the coordination and development of core programs
- Managing special projects
- The above tasks in addition to the Gallery Coordinator’s tasks
Gallery Coordinator (PT/Permanent) May 2021 – Oct 2021
- Managing the operational aspects of the gallery and residency spaces
- Maintaining inventory
- Coordinating service providers
- Prepping the gallery for exhibition
- Installing and deinstalling exhibitions
- Overseeing our internship program
- Organizing events and associated programming
Unit 17 (Vancouver, BC)
Gallery Assistant (PT) June 2018 – May 2021
- Writing didactic texts and press releases for the gallery
- Updating the website
- Prepping gallery for exhibitions
- Attending studio visits
- Writing fair applications
- Assisting at fairs including Frieze New York (2019) and Art Toronto (2018)
Art Gallery at Evergreen (Coquitlam, BC)
Gallery Assistant Nov 2017 – April 2018
- Organizing and executing Westminster Savings Family Days
- Supervising weekend volunteers
- Curatorial research
- Assisting in the installation of exhibitions
SFU Galleries – Audain Gallery (Vancouver, BC)
Gallery Intern Jan – April 2018
- Writing exhibition texts and blog posts
- Installing vinyl lettering
- Preparing walls and plinths for exhibitions
- Assisting with events such as openings and launches
Education:
McGill University – Master of Arts, Department of Art History and Communication Studies. Class of 2020. Thesis supervisor: Dr. Christine Ross.
Simon Fraser University – Bachelor of Arts with Distinction, School for the Contemporary Arts. Major: Art, Performance and Cinema Studies. Class of 2018.
Professional Development:
UBC – MC655 Dismantling Barriers to Inclusion in the Workplace – completed June 2022
Emily Carr University of Art + Design – CECS 120 Adobe CC for Design + Production – completed Dec 2021
Curatorial Projects:
Around Us – Burrard Arts Foundation – June 20 – Aug 6, 2022
a distance, a heart felt – Duplex Artist Society – May 6 – May 25, 2022
Crudités – Marine Drive Station – April 1 – Aug 31, 2022
future relics of our time – Equinox Gallery – Feb 19 – March 19, 2022
UTOPOS – Deluge Contemporary Art – Sept 11 – Oct 10, 2020
Green Piece – Unit 17 – Sept 28 – Nov 20, 2019
Volunteer:
Vancouver Art Gallery’s IDEA Committee – 2022-present
UNIT/PITT (Vancouver, BC) – Board of Directors – 2021-2023
McGill Art History GSA – Co-President – 2019/20
Recent Grants & Awards:
Canada Council for the Arts:
2022 – Arts Abroad – Residencies (deferred)
2018 – Professional Development for Artists – Specialized Training
BC Arts Council:
2022 – Projects grant for Individual Artists (independent curator)
McGill University:
2019 – 2020 SSHRC Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship
2018 – 2020 Graduate Excellence Fellowships
2019 – 2020 Zella Bronfman Butler Bursary
2019 – Media @ McGill Travel Grant
Simon Fraser University:
2022 – FCAT Excellence Awards – Emerging Alumni Award Recipient
2015 – 2018 Undergraduate Open Scholarships Based on CGPA
2017 – International Mobility Suite Scholar
Selected Talks and other Speaking Opportunities:
2023 – Presenter: Selected alumna to speak at Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology convocation ceremony.
2022 – Interviewer – Artist talk: Interviewed Sara Gulamali for her exhibition [green heart emoji] at Burrard Arts Foundation via Instagram Live for Capture Photography Festival.
2022 – Guest Lecturer: Simon Fraser University CA 118 – Intro to Contemporary Art – Lecture about my exhibition future relics of our time at Equinox Gallery.
2022 – Panelist: McGill University Women in Leadership conference.
2022 – Curator – Tour: Equinox Gallery curator tour of future relics of our time via Instagram Live.
2021 – Presenter: Interviewed by the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums as a part of their Young Friend’s Council Fall Interview Series.
2020 – Presenter: “Margins of Error: Otherness and the Arts” – University of Toronto’s Graduate Union of Students of Art’s Wollesen Memorial Graduate Symposium. Paper: “The Heavens in Maya Blue: Indigenous Resilience at Colonial Tecamachalco.”
2019 – Presenter: “Potentials of Ecocriticism” – McGill University’s Department of Art History and Communications graduate student conference. Paper: “Artistic and Affective Strategies to Combat Solastalgia.”
Study Abroad:
2017 – Contemporary Arts Field School, Berlin, Germany: Organized by Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts and Professor Judy Radul; Writing essays and journals to reflect upon our experiences visiting dOCUMENTA 14 quintennial art exhibition (Kassel), artist studios, museums, galleries, performances, and lectures in and around Berlin.
Teaching Experience:
CMC Tutoring (Vancouver, BC)
English and Writing Tutor Jan 2021 – June 2022
- Working with varying age groups from Grade 6 to University age on assignments, essays, in addition to planning general lessons in English and Language Arts following the British Columbia Curriculum.
Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, BC)
Teaching Assistant Spring, Fall 2021
CA 319 – Critical Writing in the Arts with Dr. Claudette Lauzon
CA 210 – Artworks, Theories, Contexts with Dr. Claudette Lauzon
McGill University (Montréal, QC)
Teaching Assistant Fall 2019
COMS 310 – Media and Feminist Studies with Dr. Carrie Rentschler
Freelance/Contract:
Dr. Ruth Beer – Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Vancouver, BC)
Research Assistant April – June 2021
- Writing articles/sections of books. Working with the themes of Arctic art in Canada and resource extraction.
Universities Art Association of Canada (UAAC/AAUC) Conference
Research Assistant Sept – Oct 2020
- Supporting conference hosts SFU and UBC (Claudette Lauzon and Erin Silver) on the 2020 UAAC conference which was held virtually.
McGill University – (Montréal, Quebec)
Research Assistant Feb – May 2019
- Department of Art History and Communication Studies with Dr. Carrie Rentschler. Looking to see whether the topic of “sexual consent” is taught within undergraduate programs located in North America, and editing the book chapter where these findings were presented.
MascallDance (Vancouver, BC)
Research Assistant/Writer (Oct 2020 – Aug 2021)
- THE IMPOSSIBLE HAS ALREADY HAPPENED is an international co-production about water. After attending rehearsals, I transcribe themes and quotes towards the production of newsletters and eventually the compilation of a performance catalogue of essays written by myself, in addition to various contributors.
Project Manager (Aug 2020 – Jan 2021)
- Recruiting choreographers to participate in MascallDance’s first-ever virtual rendition of BLOOM – a choreographic residency and performance series that combines dance, comedy, and taste (wine or tea curated by a sommelier); organizing and managing video shoots; liaising between parties; marketing the show; creating the post-mortem document.