Rubber Bands and Little Hands

The students at Yaletown Montessori came by to share their own still life with us: a recreation of  James Carl’s installation Thing’s End. We’re pretty impressed with their work, and that they were so inspired by their recent guided visit at the CAG.

CAG Goes to the Circus

Thank you Cirque du Soleil for giving us tickets to send our volunteers to the Circus. We were able to offer a few opening night tickets that were donated to us by Cirque du Soleil to some of our especially active and long-term volunteers, who have recently gone above and beyond in helping with CAG programming and special projects.

Here’s what some of the volunteers had to say about Kooza:

“The age old tradition of acrobatic’s can still give an audience a chill… it certainly gave me one as I witnessed beautiful elegance from carrot topped trapeze artists and reckless abandon on the part of wrestler like acrobats who were determined to push the will to live to the extreme” – Daniel

“It was a Classic Cirque performance. We were totally entertained, from the humorous antics of the French Canadian pick pocket/magician to the wheel-of-death jumping acrobats”. – Charles

and about the experience of volunteering at the CAG:

“The most interesting part of volunteering at the CAG is the feeling I get that I am helping, in some small way, the art community. I love the shows that are put on in the gallery, the staff, and the artists that choose to show. When I am working there I feel like I am part of something that really matters to a community of artists and people who have a love affair with art, and I’m just happy that I can provide all of them with a service to keep that community flourishing. ” – Charles

“I love talking about art and exploring the various meanings and interpretations that art installations can evoke. Volunteering at the CAG lets me do this, plus everyone there is devoted and passionate about working in a not-for-profit environment that encourages art exploration. Overall it’s just an enjoyable experience.” – Briana

“What I enjoy about making the guided visits at the CAG is that every tour is different, you engage in different discussions with the public, no matter what age they have and that’s always surprising.” – Patricia

CAG volunteers and friends at the circus

rethink + cag

The staff of Rethink communications visit Triumphant Carrot: The Persistence of Still Life

On Friday evening, the CAG played host (a beer friday event!) to the staff from Rethink communications as a  thank you for their continued collaboration and participation with ongoing  yearly projects.

We are extremely grateful to the dedicated staff at Rethink for all their hard work, which includes the creation of our much admired website: 

www.contemporaryartgallery.ca

www.rethinkcanada.com

Ian Grais (founder and partner, Rethink) with Christina Ritchie (CAG Executive Director) and Jenifer Papararo (CAG Curator)

Ian Grais and the staff of Rethink

admiring Jayce Salloum's 'flowers, 1999-2010'

rethink staff 'mingling' at the CAG

thanks rethink!

Jonah Gray – New staff member for Summer

In June I took over at the reins of the CAG’s 2010 auction catalogue. Previously, this task had fallen to Jill Henderson, the Gallery Coordinator. This year, a Young Canada Works grant provided an opportunity to hire someone new to oversee production of the catalogue full-time.

I jumped at the opportunity to do something similar to the consistently edifying, but unpaid, work I have done for the past four years on Pyramid Power, an experimental arts magazine. Since the moment I arrived, I have felt entirely at ease—thanks, doubtless, to the gracious welcome I received, not to mention the atmosphere of good-natured ribbing that prevails. I repaid this kindness by passing on a cold from my one-year-old, Francis.

Fresh from my first year at UBC’s Critical and Curatorial studies program, I have been trying to absorb as much as I can about the CAG’s inner workings. Whereas the program largely focuses on the theoretical side of curating, one of the field’s main allures for me has always been its practical aspects—what you might call the art of getting things done. This is, of course, the business that takes up much of the days here. Between, Christina, Allison, Jenifer, Jill, Abi and Phil, I feel privileged to have such an adept crew to observe and learn from.

Jonah Gray

guided visit volunteers, bring to life, still life

Students from Vancouver Film School participating in a guided visit inspect Kelly Mark's 'GDS (graphite drawing series) Still Life #3'

During the Summer months and into the fall the CAG is excited to be offering guided visits of our exhibitions, free of charge and to wider audiences,

thanks in part to our dedicated volunteer guided visit leaders !

In June we have already accomodated groups from Vancouver Film School, Yaletown Montessori pre-school and our first German language visit.

Keep posted for an upcoming French language guided visit in mid July, date to be announced !

Gerald Ferguson, 'Apple' 1985, cast iron. From the exhibition Triumphant Carrot; The Persistence of Still Life

Eric Cameron, 'Beer Can-Can (1248)', 1997 from Triumphant Carrot; The Persistence of Still Life

If you would like to book a free guided visit please contact Jill Henderson  j.henderson@contemporaryartgallery.ca to arrange to bring your group, large or small, from your family, community, school, summer camp or workplace !