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The Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery (MJMAG) will welcome its first Indigenous artist/curator in residence next week, as Sadi-Rose Vaxvick gets her own studio space to build to an exhibition — the museum and art gallery also welcomes Matt Froese and Anna Rieber for a five-month rotation in their new artist studios.
“We’re thrilled to be launching our new Indigenous artist- and curator-in-residence program with Sadi-Rose Vaxvick, a local Indigenous artist,” said Jennifer McRorie, curator/director of the MJMAG. Vaxvick is Nêhiyaw and Saulteaux registered on Ochapowace First Nations, and has contributed pieces to the community including the Seven Sacred Grandfather Teachings, a public art installation outside the MJMAG.
“We are also launching a completely new program called Artist Studio, where we’ve created studio spaces in the back of the gallery for artists to work for the next five months. And we’re happy to say that Matt Froese and Anna Rieber will be working in the gallery.”
The Indigenous Curator/Artist-in-Residence program at the MJMAG is the product of years of consultation and dialogue with the local community. McRorie said she and her staff are very excited to welcome Vaxvick and get her contributions on Indigenous artworks, artifacts, and displays.
Vaxvick will take up semi-residence in one of the three new studios the MJMAG has finished, while the other two studios will feature a rotation of local artists.
The plan is for Froese and Rieber to also host regular open studio hours, so the public can drop in and watch them work, ask questions, and learn.
“It’s a way of supporting local practice, but also highlighting the creative process, to let people sort of get an inside glimpse into how artists work,” McRorie added.
The three artists will be part of the Opening Reception next Friday, May 30th for two new exhibitions at the MJMAG: True North, from the MJMAG Permanent Collection, which will run all summer; and PRIDE, featuring submitted works from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, which will run for the month of June.
The opening is at 5:30 p.m. and is free to attend, with free coffee, munchies, and tea. It’s also an official part of MJ Pride’s Pride Week celebrations.
McRorie explained more about the new programs.
“With Sadi, the (Indigenous Artist-in-Residence Program) supports her working in her studio half the time, and then the other half of the time, she’ll be working with the collection. So, she’ll be doing some research, working with me on exhibits in the museum and the gallery, and then also doing programming with school tours and community groups.”
The hope is that Vaxvick will complete a body of work while in residence at the MJMAG, with her own exhibition to eventually follow.
“Sadi does painting, but she also does beading and print-making — she has a very multifacted practice. And Matt Froese, of course, is a local potter, he’ll be in the studio working with clay. And Anna Rieber works with painting and drawing, more two-dimensionally.
“They’re going to be in the studios from May 30th to November 15th, and so I was thinking in early November we could have a reception ... so the public can come in and see what they created in the five months they were here.”
Learn more about the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery at mjmag.ca, including dozens of summer programs for youth.