A FEW KEY PROJECTS
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The Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency
A massive undertaking by three key individuals in Vancouver’s not-for-profit sector, The Blue Cabin project was all about the remediation and repurposing of an historical North Shore mudflats squatters cabin as a floating artist residency, complete with a tiny house and artist studio. As project Development Director, my involvement covered a range of responsibilities, from logistical research for the evolving project, to building momentum for its launch, to providing a public face for The Blue Cabin during the project’s development phases. It was very cool to have been on this awesome adventure.
Read about The Blue Cabin project here: https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2019/01/07/Save-Artist-Shack/ and also here: https://canadianart.ca/features/the-little-blue-cabin-that-could/
Top image: The Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency, False Creek, Vancouver, Canada. Photo: Henri Robideau. Image below: The remediated Blue Cabin is trucked from Maplewood Farm to a dry dock in North Vancouver, Canada for project completion, 2019. Photo: Marlene Madison.
Images: A few glimpses into The Blue Cabin remediation at Maplewood Farm, North Vancouver, Canada, 2017-18. Photos: Marlene Madison.
Emily Carr University Student Art Sale
From 2012 to 2019, Emily Carr U engaged me to produce their legendary annual Student Art Sale. Each year, up to 200 students registered to participate in the Sale, and submitted around 7,000 works of art and items per event. In 2019, public attendance exceeded 6,000. As a learning opportunity for those participating in the event, I developed a series of seminars that introduced students to professional practices, strategies on pricing their work for the Sale, and preparing + presenting work for public viewing. They also took part in running the event.
→ Fun fact: Many artists made their first ever art sale at the Emily Carr Student Art Sale.
Read about Student Art Sale event here: https://www.ecuad.ca/news/2018/celebrating-the-most-successful-student-art-sale-ever and also here: https://www.insidevancouver.ca/2019/11/26/legendary-student-art-sale-emily-carr-2019/
Images: Emily Carr Student Art Sale, 2019. Photos: Student Art Sale archive.
Vancouver125 SummerLive + BirthdayLive
In celebration of Vancouver’s 125th birthday, the City held two free outdoor public festivals: SummerLive, a three day cultural festival that took place in mid summer at Brockton Oval in Stanley Park with over 100,000 attending; and BirthdayLive, a one day event held at Jack Poole Plaza in early spring, with more than 15,000 in attendance. As Project Curator for the media art component of these events – aka time-based – my assignment involved curating, programming, and project managing 44 discrete programs that featured over 75 video works by more than 60 Vancouver artists. A few guest curators were invited to programme specialized segments.
time-based for SummerLive took its cue from the Stanley Park site, screening a number of works that referenced nature, culture, and the urban landscape. Programming included contemporary video, film animation, experimental film and video, literary works, performance art, documentary film, and image collections of early Vancouver from City of Vancouver Archives. The BirthdayLive event featured media art and documentary works that referenced the City’s history and related historical events more directly.
Programme listings and credits for SummerLive’s time-based can be found here: https://time-based125.blogspot.com.
Images 1-3: SummerLive, Brockton Oval, Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada. Image 4: Media station, SummerLive. Image 5: BirthdayLive, Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver, Canada. Photos: Marlene Madison.
VANCOUVER 2010 Cultural Olympiad
Left to right: (Billboard-R) – Adad Hannah, Aphrodite, 2008. From the series Prado Project. Billboard, 2nd Avenue at Fir Street, Vancouver, Canada. | Elizabeth Zvonar, Founding Fathers, 2009. Bus shelter, Granville Street at West Georgia Street, Vancouver, Canada. For Endlessly Traversed Landscapes project. Guest curated by Natalie Doonan. A Vancouver2010 Cultural Olympiad production. Photos: Natalie Doonan.
From 2007 through 2010, I spent an exciting and interesting few years with the Vancouver2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games – first as the Cultural Olympiad’s Visual Arts Programmer for its two lead-in festivals, and then as Head of Visual Arts to head up the Vancouver2010 Cultural Olympiad Visual Arts Festival. The 2010 event featured 38 projects that presented the work of more than 300 regional, national, and international artists working in visual, media, literary, and performance art. Projects were produced both in-house and in partnership with artist run centres, cultural institutions and organizations, and with the support of government partners and sponsors. It was truly a unique experience, and even though I hardly slept a wink for the entire time, I must say it was great fun to have worked with so many amazing people and on such incredible projects. Here are just a few.
Culture Shock: Video Interventions at the QET, 2010. Video Installation. Curated by Stephanie Rebick. Technical direction, Mark Curry. A Vancouver2010 Cultural Olympiad production organized in association with the Vancouver Art Gallery’s CUE ARTISTS’ VIDEO PROJECT. Photo: Marlene Madison.
Michael Lin: A Modest Veil, 2010. Organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and presented with the Vancouver2010 Cultural Olympiad and the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Program. Photo: Ella Madison. Read about the artist and his project here: https://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/exhibitions/michael-lin-a-modest-veil/
Ed Pien, Tracing Night, 2010. Large-scale interactive Installation, Museum of Vancouver. Presented with Museum of Vancouver and support from the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. Photos: Museum of Vancouver archive.
Eric Metcalfe, George Lewis, IKONS, 2010. Interactive installation at Five Sixty Gallery, Vancouver, Canada. Damon Holzborn, technical realization. Rick Ross, technical consultant. Lewis’s 14 minute acoustic version of IKONS premiered by Turning Point Ensemble at the exhibition opening. A Vancouver2010 Cultural Olympiad production. Photo: Chris Cameron. More here: https://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/culturalolympiad/2010/02/11/avant-garde-legends-join-forces.html
Isabel Hayeur: Fire with Fire, 2010. Installation at 112 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, Canada. A Vancouver2010 Cultural Olympiad production. Presented with the support of the Government of Canada and / et du Gouvernement du Québec. Photo: Submitted by the artist. See Fire with Fire here (fire begins at around :50 seconds.) https://vimeo.com/9233511
Left to right: Sonny Assu, Trickle Down, 2010. Bus shelter, Powell Street at Main Street. | Garry Neill Kennedy, 2010. Skystrip, Canada Line Train. | For Endlessly Traversed Landscapes project, guest curated by Natalie Doonan. A Vancouver2010 Cultural Olympiad production. Photos: Natalie Doonan. See the full Endlessly Traversed Landscapes project here: https://www.nataliedoonan.com/work/endlessly-traversed-landscapes