FROM THE VAULT – Exhibition Showcasing the Vernon Public Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection

Featuring: Sophie Atkinson, Allan Brooks, Joe Plaskett, Paul Jones, Holly Middleton.

Exhibition on view from October 3 – December 18, 2024

The Vernon Public Art Gallery (VPAG) is pleased to present From the Vault, an exhibition highlighting select works from its permanent collection, on display from October 3 to December 18, 2024. This showcase offers the public a rare opportunity to view pieces by influential artists with ties to the region, including Allan Brooks, Sophie Atkinson, Janet Holly Middleton, and Paul Jones, with additional works by renowned BC artist Joe Plaskett.

VPAG’s permanent collection consists of over 670 artworks by 154 artists. The earliest piece dates to 1909, while the latest acquisitions were made as recently as 2022. Each piece contributes to the story of the region’s artistic heritage and evolution.

Featured artist Allan Brooks (1869–1946), known worldwide as a naturalist and illustrator, made significant contributions to North American wildlife studies, especially of Canadian bird species. Brooks, honored by Canadian Heritage in 2000 as a person of Canadian Historical Importance, devoted his career to capturing the unique fauna of British Columbia and beyond.

Trailblazing artist Sophie Atkinson (1876–1972) was among the first women to document the Okanagan landscape in her work. After WWI, she traveled internationally before settling in Canada, where she painted commissioned works for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Her art captured the rugged beauty of Western Canada, establishing a legacy that would inspire future generations.

Janet Holly Middleton (1922–2018) combined her artistic talent with a passion for education. Her career included teaching positions at the University of Alberta, Banff School of Fine Arts, and University of Guelph, where she influenced countless Canadian artists. Known for her adventurous spirit, Middleton drew inspiration from her travels, producing works with scenes from across the globe.

Joe Plaskett (1918–2014) brought his artistic vision to an international stage, with works held in collections from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island, including the National Gallery of Canada. Plaskett’s talent was recognized early on by Lawren Harris, and he was awarded the first Emily Carr Scholarship in 1946. This opportunity took him from San Francisco to New York, and eventually to Paris, where he created some of his most celebrated pieces.

The exhibition also includes pieces by Paul Jones (1921–2018), a Vernon-based artist and writer who served on the VPAG board in the 1990s. Jones’s work integrates sand and acrylic resin to evoke the landscapes of his youth near the Pembina River, creating textured pieces that speak to both personal memory and place.

Join us for the opening of our member’s exhibition, Exposed! The reception will take place on October 17 from 6-8 PM at the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

The community is warmly invited to join in the celebration, meet the artists, and enjoy a short talk by some of the artists about their exhibition. Light bites and drinks will be served, and entry is by donation.

The opening reception for our new exhibition, Rewilding: The Forest Will Forget Us, will take place on October 3 from 6-8 PM at the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

The community is warmly invited to join in the celebration, meet the artists, and enjoy a short talk by some of the artists about their exhibition. Light bites and drinks will be served, and entry is by donation.

Rewilding: The Forest Will Forget Us, Lyndal Osborne, John Freeman, Liz Ingram, Bernd Hildebrandt

Exhibition on view from October 3 – December 20

The exhibition Rewilding: The Forest Will Forget Us, created by Lyndal Osborne and John Freeman, and Liz Ingram and Bernd Hildebrandt, is an exhibit about the resilience of nature as witnessed in land sited on a boreal forest lake in Alberta. In the process they acknowledge the many other stories that go back millennia, and which have been shaped by people living and surviving on the land. These legends and beliefs are now re-emerging from oral histories of the original peoples of these lands and help us to shape our common existence within nature.

Exposed! VPAG Member Exhibition

Exhibition on view from October 17 – December 20

This group exhibition of artwork produced by the Vernon Public Art Gallery’s members give the public a view of a variety of different media used to create works of art in various artistic genres ranging from abstract art to landscapes, still lives, and portraiture.

The opening reception for our Midsummer’s Eve of the Arts Auction Preview will take place on June 27th.

The community is warmly invited to join in the celebration and preview all of the artwork that will be available for bidding during the auction at Midsummer’s Eve of the Arts. Light bites and drinks will be served, and entry is by donation.

The opening reception for our new exhibitions will be on July 25, from 6-8 PM at the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

Opening on July 25th are the following:

Descent into Classicism by Glenn Clark

Inside Out by Lana Schuster

The community is warmly invited to join in the celebration, meet the artists, and enjoy a short talk by some of the exhibiting artists about their exhibitions. Light bites and drinks will be served, and entry is by donation.

Inside Out: Lana Schuster

Exhibition on view from July 25 – September 17

Artist statement:

I am interested in so many things about painting. The paint for one. I love to scoop it up, squeeze it out, and mix it around, watch the colours develop, spread it around, see what happens, how the colours and forms look against each other. The brushes for another. I have my favourites. Mostly the ones that hold a lot of paint. The ‘Why paint?’ Because I am compelled to, I can’t not. The ‘How to paint?’ Now it’s getting really interesting. Because this is what it’s really all about. I try to stay open to new ideas, to the suggestions of my voice inside, my outside voice. It is all about trusting the process and being willing to paint authentically, to be part of something new.

The beginnings of my process may start with observing what’s around me. Or it could be a response with something going on internally that I may or may not be aware of. That can be as dramatic as the experience of losing a loved one or simply just wanting to spread some paint around. I’m often moved to paint after I’ve spent time outdoors. Sometimes I start with a plan for a landscape or a concrete image and then I get lost in the paint and process and something completely non-objective emerges. My intuition takes over, if I let it, if I trust it, if I allow myself.

Creating these works surprise me every time. What you see in them is an expression of an experience, a record of an experience in time, something in the past that has passed but truly lives on in the painting. What you see in them is  what you see in them – what is evoked or personally meaningful for you. I hope  that in looking at them, you will feel something, see something, perhaps even experience something that resonates with you.

Descent into Classicism: Glenn Clark

Exhibition on view from July 25 – September 17

Artist statement:

When I was young, I dreamed and schemed of creating neo-classical paintings.  There are a lot of ducks one must put in a row before mural size classical themed paintings can develop.  Fifteen years ago, I took a couple years off my regular practice to build a studio and that opened the gate of possibilities.

I always get there it just takes me longer.  Beyond the space and gumption, an artist needs the reason, finances, imagery, time, ambition and lots of practice to create this type of work.  After visiting the Louvre in 2016 there was a jolt, my paintings would look to the past for guidance. It finally all came together and I suspect this descent is turning into something more akin to a spiral.  

It always seemed to me that classical artists from previous centuries had better props to work with; horses, armor, castles and archaic ruins. I needed new models to push ahead and a photo shoot at a jousting event in Osoyoos was perfect to get started.

What drives an artist; is it the fear of death? The love for life and art are interconnected. When you look at centuries old work you sense a window into the past, a connection, a message or warning through this time hole called a painting. You see how things were, the humor, mood, fashion, cruelty of the time. It’s like the artists were reaching out through a one-way portal to the future, never wanting to let go, hanging on through their art. 

Timing is everything and it’s a good time for artists to take cues from the eighteenth century and beyond when art famously rebelled against the status quo.  People are consistent, history repeats.  Neo-classicism, the art of the time of the French Revolution, arguably the most important chapter in the history of modern civilization; the perfect art for a time of upheaval. All these influences; art history, my own history, and the current events that are making history.  You throw that in a studio with yours truly and this is what shakes out.

The opening reception for the four new exhibitions will be on May 23rd, from 6-8 PM at the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

Opening on May 23rd are the following:

Accidentals by Robert Fee

Emergence by UBCO BFA Students

Through Our Eyes by Members of the Teen Junction

An Eclectic Collection by Members of the VPAG Crit Club

The community is warmly invited to join in the celebration, meet the artists, and enjoy a short talk by some of the exhibiting artists about their exhibitions. Light bites and drinks will be served, and entry is by donation.