The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition in the Community Gallery, Before I Go To Bed, a project by Dr. Alysha Farrell of Brandon University. The opening reception will be held on January 27, 2022 at 7:00 P.M. at the AGSM. The public will have the opportunity to engage directly with the participating youth artists when they gather for a roundtable discussion on Saturday, February 5 at 1:00 P.M.
Before I Go To Bed Tonight features work by youth from the Westman region that was
created during a semester-long project led by Dr. Farrell. Participants in the project were urged to look at the climate crisis head-on by professional artist-led workshops. Given that youth will inherit the future, this meaningful exchange resulted in a creative explosion of works in the exhibition. They were encouraged to explore themes of anthropocentrism, eco-justice, stewardship of the earth, the disproportionate impacts of climate change and fostering a deep connection to the natural world. Creative expressions of a bleak reality reconciled into images of learning to live amid the Earth’s decreasing habitability.
“The issue of climate change is so big that it can feel impossible to talk about,” says Dr.
Alysha Farrell, the Professor of Education at Brandon University who created and led the
project. “But by communicating through art making, these youth–who have no choice but to talk about it–can express not just how they understand climate change but how they feel about it as well. I hope the exhibition provokes conversation in the wider community about what we can do together to ensure a livable planet for generations to come.”
The exhibition will run concurrently to opimihaw, which features work by Mary Anne
Barkhouse that addresses environmental futures from an Indigenous Canadian perspective, in the Main Gallery. Due to the current health and safety regulations, AGSM’s activities are subject to change. Visitors to the gallery may check on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for the most up-to-date information. Dr. Farrell would like to thank Brandon University and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for aiding in the development of this project for the AGSM’s Community Gallery.
(submitted)
