Mother’s Day is around the corner

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation for Mother’s Day, designating the second Sunday of May to be a national holiday. Since then, we have celebrated over 100 years of moms taking care of us 24/7, since we were born.

If you are looking to give back to your mother for all she has helped you with, join the over 80 countries who will celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

To help repay some of the debt you owe to your mother consider taking her out for a Mother’s Day brunch on May 8th. Hosted by the RMG in Arthur’s on the 4th with catering provided by Pilar’s Catering. There will be two seatings at 10:30am and 12:30pm. Reservations are required, email czamulinski@rmg.on.ca to secure your spot.

Photo by Brilynn Ferguson

There will be an assortment of fresh pastries and baked goods along with a variety of options for meals and a dessert buffet to follow.

Along with the brunch, we have our regularly scheduled OPG Second Sunday with a special Mother’s Day theme. Children will be creating a unique tile mosaic, a beautiful card and gift wrap for the special person in their lives.

There is no reservation required for OPG Second Sundays, just drop by the RMG from 1pm to 3pm.

Now let’s talk gifts for mom!

Don’t forget to stop by the RMG Shop before May 8 to check out some of these, and more, unique locally made gifts for the special lady in your life including:

Some new supplies for culinary endeavors.

One of these handmade Wizard of Oz themed editions by Kelly Grace.

Some of these fantastic body products by Aide Bodycare.

Or a great Canadian product for your Canadian mom.

Make sure to treat your mom extra special on May 8 and the rest of the year too! Don’t forget about Father’s Day on June 19! The RMG Shop has plenty of locally made dad-friendly gifts.

Spring into a Durham art gallery or museum!

This article was previously published on Oshawa This Week.

Donna Raetsen-Kemp, CEO of The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, on cultural treasures in your backyard

Your Durham Region museums and galleries are gearing up for spring!

We’re all working hard to bring you the kind of programming you want — inspiring, challenging, engaging, thought-provoking and, heck yes, even entertaining. You might be surprised at the wild array of creative and cultural things to do right here in your own backyard.

At The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, we’re shining a bright light on our local community. We’re looking for meaningful, interactive ways to connect you with our arts programming and national calibre exhibitions. We’ve added unorthodox gallery programming like yoga and mindfulness sessions to our roster. Surprised? Surveys suggested it and we agreed — what better place than an art gallery for gentle movement and quiet reflection?

On a more traditional arts note, check out the meditative quality of working with clay at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington.

On the flipside, art galleries can be amazing places for social gathering. The all-ages, RMG Fridays, on the first Friday of each month, and Station Gallery’s April Drawing for Art are great examples of amped-up cultural events that bring people together in celebration of art. Whether you like your arts and culture experience served up slow and quiet, full of energy and enthusiasm, or somewhere in between, your Durham Region art spaces have something in store for you.

If you know your public art gallery well, visit soon. If you never thought a public art gallery or museum was the place for you, give it a try! You might be surprised to find that there’s a whole lot more going on behind those doors than you imagined.

Your Durham Region galleries are free to visit, so drop by for 10 minutes or stay for an hour. Sometimes it takes a few visits to feel a connection.

Consider a gallery hop. Start your day at the RMG, SG or VAC and plot your course from there. You may want to add a visit to Parkwood Estate, the Canadian Automotive Museum or the Oshawa Community Museum.

And, finally, it may not feel like it right now but summer is just around the corner. If you’re looking for ways your kids can flex their creative muscles, public art galleries across Durham Region have a plethora of summer art camp options. Be warned, programming is top notch, so spots will fill up fast.

Check out the websites for more details – and then jump in with both feet.

Interview with artist Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock

In the lead up to her solo exhibition Familiarity in the Foreign (on view from April 30 – June 5) at the RMG, we sat down with artist Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock to ask her a few questions about the show and her practice.

The RMG: Hi Lindsay! Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock: Hi RMG! I’m a young Canadian photographer and artist. I grew up in London, Ontario where I had the pleasure of attending the amazing BealArt program. While there I really discovered my love of photography as well as the darkroom. I then earned a bachelor of fine arts from York University in Toronto. I minored in psychology at the same time, which I feel has influenced my artistic practice. After graduating I continued to pursue my art practice, having occasional shows and being awarded grants from the Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. Concurrently, I began working in editorial and commercial photography- first as a photo assistant and then as a photographer. In 2014, my husband and I decided to throw all our things in storage and try something new. We’re currently using Mexico City as our base which is giving us the opportunity to spend more time travelling and doing artistic work.

Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock, Mezcaleria, Digital C-Print, 2014

RMG: What materials do you work with?

LLG: As I mentioned, my photographic practice has two wings so to speak. A gallery based practice and editorial work. However these two ends compliment and inform one another. I’ve learned skills from my experience in editorial that have aided my art, and vice versa. It’s difficult to truly divide one from the other.

These days I primarily shoot with a digital-SLR. Although, whenever I have the chance I like to shoot medium format film. I really love photographing portraits with a medium format camera. I feel like I get to connect with the subject in a different and perhaps more intimate way.

Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock, Wind on the Ferry, Digital C-Print, 2015

RMG: Let’s go back to last fall. Why were you interested in submitting to our fundraising auction RMG Exposed? Please let us know a little more about the piece you submitted, Wind on the Ferry.

LLG: A few years ago I came across the RMG fundraiser, decided to submit and was awarded the documentary prize. I had heard of RMG before but living in Toronto and without a car, I had never been. When I was there for the Exposed event I was blown away by the space and the work there. Toni Hamel’s The Lingering was on exhibition. It was beautiful and captivating and I still think about it regularly. After my initial experience at RMG I of course wanted to support the gallery and submit again.

The piece I submitted in 2015, Wind on the Ferry, was taken last summer during a trip to Ucluelet, BC. While on the ferry I felt a slight nostalgia with faint, and possibly imagined memories. Twenty-five years prior to taking this photo I made the same journey via ferry from mainland British Columbia to Vancouver Island. There was a feeling of the sublime onboard the ferry. An enormous vessel dwarfed by great waters and powerful winds. The curtain caught my attention as it had been pulled out of the window by the wind and was fluttering on the exterior of the ferry. There was something very comforting and domestic about the fabric curtain and at the same time its position was unnerving.

Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock, Coin Operated Binoculars, Digital C-Print, 2015

RMG: What are you most excited about showing to our audience in your exhibition Familiarity in the Foreign? What do you hope visitors get from viewing your photographs?

LLG: For me, the photographs in this exhibition have a quiet, emotive aspect to them. I think they often suggest a story of something that has just happened, or is just about to take place. My hope is that visitors who see my exhibition will find a photo that speaks to them. Something that reminds them of a time or place in their lives, or even a story they’ve heard. I want viewers to be able to enter my photos and be taken somewhere else, to have an emotional response that’s detached from where they in that actual moment. I suppose these are rather lofty goals, but it would be nice.

RMG: One of your works, Coin Operated Binoculars, will be on view in downtown Oshawa in the Core 21 windows. Can you please tell us a bit about that photo and why it was selected it for that space?

LLG: This photo was taken August 2015 at Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada. I took this at the end of a two week trip that started in Edmonton, Alberta, went to Vancouver Island in British Columbia and ended back in southern Alberta. It was really exciting to see just a fraction of the beautiful and diverse landscapes that exist in Canada. During our trip we had been to some very remote areas, so Lake Louise was a change of pace with so many tourists there. I liked it though, and was drawn to the binoculars because they were a reminder of the history there. No matter how much the world has changed, we still love admiring scenic views. At the same time, focusing on the binoculars blocked out all the other chaos that was happening around me.

This image was chosen for a couple reasons. Aesthetically, I thought it worked well on a large scale and was intelligible from a distance too. Also, I’ve had lots of reactions to this specific photo. The two lenses give the binoculars a humanoid appearance which viewers seem to be intrigued by.

Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock, Coin Operated Binoculars, 2015. Installed at CORE21 Oshawa

RMG: What inspires you? Is there a particular artist’s work that has influenced your practice?

LLG: A lot of my inspiration comes from novelty; seeing a thing or place for the first time. When I’m shooting, a lot of intangible things influence me; an electric feeling in the air, the calmness of a place, the warmth of the morning sun. I’m driven by affect and invented narratives. As far as artists influencing me, it’s hard to choose just one. I spend a lot of time looking at imagery and photo essays. These can be on photo blogs, in magazines, or the websites and Instagram accounts of other artists. I’m also lucky enough to belong to a community of photographers who are also friends. I’m constantly being exposed to new work and ideas.

Volunteer and Membership Event

Jessica Moffitt, RMG Communications Intern, spent her winter semester at Durham College working alongside Sam Mogelonsky, Manager of Marketing and Communications. Over the duration of her placement, Jessica learned about social media management, writing and marketing, but really found her niche in event management. Assisting our Manager of Community and Volunteer Development, Carla Sinclair, Jessica helped plan and orchestrate The RMG’s annual volunteer appreciation event. On April 17, the RMG celebrated our volunteers and members and Jess was there helping out and capturing the event during her Volunteer Week Instagram takeover.

Volunteers. They are the backbone of almost any non-profit organization and add so much heart and soul wherever they donate their time and talents. The volunteers at the RMG are a prime example of the dedication it takes to make an organization and community thrive, which is why we take the time every year to thank them with the RMG Volunteer Appreciation Lunch and Membership event.

This year’s event featured a delicious spread of spring themed salads and sandwiches from Pilar’s catering in Oshawa, along with thank you gifts from the RMG and an recognition scroll from Oshawa’s MP Colin Carrie. Volunteers of all ages and interests mingled as they enjoyed their lunch at Arthur’s on the 4th which was gleaming with the warm spring sunshine.

After lunch and speeches from Carla Sinclair, Manager of Community and Volunteer Development and Donna Raetsen-Kemp, CEO, guests headed down to the Isabel McLaughlin Gallery for the Membership Event featuring a presentation from Charlotte Hale, Toronto gallery owner and fine art photography collector. Introduced by Oshawa Mayor John Henry, Hale guided the audience through the art of purchasing and collecting fine art photography from a beginner’s perspective. The talk concluded with a spread of desserts, coffee, tea and a live acoustic guitar performance by Elijah Mabana.

The RMG is humbled by the energy and commitment our volunteers extend to the gallery each and everyday. We look forward to celebrating their involvement in the cultural community for years to come.

Get to Know Us – Sonya Jones, Associate Curator and Curator of the Thomas Bouckley Collection

At the RMG, we often get asked about what we do each day, how we got into the crazy museum world and also what skills would be needed to do our jobs. With graduation looming for many college and university students, we will be profiling members of our team to shed some light on what it is we do behind the scenes!

The RMG: What’s a typical day like for you?

Sonya Jones: What’s nice about having 2 titles and varied responsibilities is that no day is the same as the other! It’s refreshing to be able to wear many different hats doing what you love. Right now, I’m busy doing lots of studio visits, writing and prepping for the upcoming Jay Dart exhibition, working with a co-op student, volunteers and an intern, and trying to get everything for the next year in order (since I’m going on maternity leave in July). Some of my typical responsibilities are: curating contemporary art and historical photography exhibitions, collections management for all of our collections (permanent collection, Thomas Bouckley Collection, Library/Archives), managing and administrating our three collection databases, managing copyright and reproduction, facilitating art loans, and creating and implementing public programming activities.

RMG: How did you get into this field?

SJ: I originally went to Carleton University to study Journalism; however, all of my electives were art history courses. At one point near the end of my first semester of first year, I realized that I was putting all of my time and energy into my art history courses rather than on my major! Having grown up in a family who collected art, with my grandma and mom volunteering at the Burnaby Art Gallery, I was always exposed to art and galleries in general. I decided to switch my major in second year to Art History, and soon got a part time job at the Carleton University Art Gallery. This job opened many doors for me—whether inspiring me to pursue a career in an art gallery or giving me wonderful networking opportunities. It was a dream student job!

I did a practicum at the National Gallery of Canada in my third year, and after I graduated I got a job at the Canadian Heritage Information Network as a project assistant for an online new media art website. I later completed the Fleming College Museum Management and Curatorship program where I learnt many hands on collections management skills. During this program, I completed my full time summer internship at the RMG. It was hands down the best part of the program! Following my internship I worked for 3 years for a historical Canadian art dealer in Toronto until a job at the RMG was posted. I was absolutely thrilled when I was hired!

RMG: What skills or training do you need for your job?

SJ: Having a lot of experience in the field helped me get to where I am. Education is important too, but experience is key. I was also lucky enough to meet the right people and network a lot. Having an art history degree is useful for curating, and having museum studies for collections management is also helpful.

RMG: What’s your favourite part of your job?

SJ: Curating and working with artists! Also, I love connecting the community with its history and finding ways to interpret art or history in engaging and accessible ways.

RMG: What are 5 things you couldn’t live without in your job?

SJ: There’s so many but here’s my top five:

RMG Staff – what a team we have here! It’s such a pleasure working with the amazingly creative and talented staff.
Computer – I use it all the time, whether doing online research, managing the databases, emailing, writing essays etc.
Outlook planner – Keeps me organized and tells me when I need to be somewhere!
Scanner – I’m constantly scanning/digitizing historical images, documents etc.
Permanent Collection – It’s a treat having access to the vault and getting to work with the amazing RMG collection.

RMG: What do you get up to outside of the RMG?

SJ: I’m a mom of a 2 year old so my days are busy! We spend a lot of time outside at my parents beautiful property, visiting with friends, and are currently getting ready to move! It’s a busy time for the growing Jones’ family!

Curator’s Choice – the green fairy storybook

Our Curator’s Choice comes from the upcoming exhibition ‘Sarindar Dhaliwal: The Radcliffe Line and Other Geographies.’ We asked Senior Curator Linda Jansma to pick a work in the show, and she selected the ‘green fairy storybook.’

Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved learning to read, sitting on the floor between the stacks in the public library…

– the green fairy storybook

The six-foot long table is scratched and dented, cup rings scattered around its top, as well of blobs of ink in the open drawer. The legs of the table are solid but each of the four end in delicate flourishes as they meet the floor. An exquisite array of coloured books are placed on this well-worn table (although, interestingly, this is a recently built table, made to Dhaliwal’s specifications by Phillip Murray). The books are bound with green leather plates with gold lettering. The narrative runs like the words on a page, from left to right requiring not just a shift of the viewer’s eye, but of her body, as well, in order to read the sentence that starts with “Once upon a time” and ends with “this work represents a resolution of sorts; a coming home to the place where all the narratives she has written began.” On moving around the back of the piece one sees the inside of each book—multi-hued paper that reflect the binding. The paper, purchased in Pondicherry, India, is handmade, its edges delicate and colour brilliant. The books are not uniform in size, and the interior of various books contains different hues of the same colour. Looking at the book from this angle, the coloured pages become animated, not unlike looking at musical notes on a staff.

In the narrative that runs along the binding, Dhaliwal mentions fairy books: the green, yellow, red, blue, and lavender of her childhood. The reference is both to Andrew Lang’s 1889-1910 anthology of fairy tales and to her childhood. A variety of cultures and countries are represented in the hundreds of tales that Lang collected in uniformly published books with varying coloured bindings. It is not difficult to imagine Dhaliwal engrossed in such stories as King Kojata, The Enchanted Snake and Prince Fickle and Fair Helena.

In the original The Green Fairy Book, the preface is titled “To The Friendly Reader.” Growing up in Southall, on the western edge of London in the mid-1950s, a young Sarindar Dhaliwal took stacks of these coloured fairy books home to read. Her memories of that time were of a disapproving mother caught between her native Indian and Western values. She felt that Dhaliwal read too much and that by doing so (ironically) would compromise her school studies. So this work, as much as it is about childhood memories of reading, is about a relationship between mother and daughter. While the girl grew in her love for stories and colour, her illiterate mother struggled with her identity. Dhaliwal recalls her saying “we don’t want to do this,” referring neither to herself or her daughter, but rather to the Sikh community.^{^[1]} Where do the in-between truly belong?

While the narrative and the illustrations found in Lang’s fairy books expanded Dhaliwal’s universe beyond western London and her Indian roots, colour has always fed her imagination. This seems appropriate when thinking about colour. As author Victoria Finlay notes: “colours… exist but only because our minds create them as an interpretation of vibrations that are happening around us.” ^{^[2]} In her video piece olive, almond & mustard we see the grim reality of 1950s Southall, shot in black and white, a colourless, somber place. This makes the contrast with Dhaliwal’s work even more intense—the colour of her imagination more fully realized.

the green fairy storybook is about Sarindar Dhalwal’s desire to read and love of colour. It is also about relationships, the immigrant experience and the development of an artist.

– Linda Jansma, Senior Curator, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

^{^[1]} Lecture by Sarindar Dhaliwal at the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi Chandigarh, May 22, 2013. http://www.lalitkalachandigarh.com/videos.php?page=9, referrenced October 7, 2015.

^{^[2]} Victoria Finlay, Colour, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2002, 4.

Sunny Summer Fridays at the RMG

School might be out and offices quiet with people on vacation, but the RMG will be busy on the first Friday of every month with our exciting line up of summer RMG Fridays!

May

To celebrate International Youth Week in May, we are kicking off the summer season on May 6 with Young Minds, featuring a variety of art from youth in Durham Region. The musical performances for the night include the harmonious sounds of 2 Cute 4 Country along with Sarling and the Fox serenading the gallery. We also have a unique and powerful slam poetry by Jaylen Stark.

For the visual art buffs, we have Lindsay Laukner Gundlack’s photo exhibition on display, titled Familiarity in the Foreign. Lindsay’s exhibit was RMG Exposed 2015’s winner! For the kids – or any crafty guests – Karen Burwell will be in the studio with her “Drawing stories to music” art project, a super fun way to get your creative juices flowing!

Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock, Coin Operated Binoculars, Digital C-Print, 2015

June

With Pride month kicking off at the beginning of June, what better way to celebrate Pride and the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Queer (LGBTQ) community than having our own Pride Show on June 3!

We’ve lined up some stellar performances by Adam McMastir and Kate Reid for your listening pleasure, and you can catch a sneak peek of Driftwood Theatre’s summer production. You will also get the chance to tour Liminal, on display in June. So bring your pride and embrace all parts of our community on a warm, sunny, summer night!

July

This month, we’re letting Canada take center stage on the first Friday (July 1 – Canada Day) so we’ll be revving up for RMG Fridays on the SECOND Friday, July 8! It might be Canada’s birthday, but we are putting our own twist on the usual red and white this month!

A Splash of Colour offers guests a colourful taste of summer with Sarindar Dhaliwal’s exhibition: The Radcliffe Line and Other Geographies, a vibrant and colourful showcase of art. Our entertainment for the night will be Laurent Bourque, followed by Dezz & Carol with their soulful melodies. Keep the colour flowing with us in the studio with our exciting art project!

Sarindar Dhaliwal, the green fairy storybook (detail), 2009, bookwork, 50 x 187.5 x 87.5 cm. Collection of The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, purchased with the financial support of the Isabel McLaughlin Acquisition Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program, 2016

August

With summer almost over, we are winding down this month on August 5^th with some chilled out music and cool jams.

Guests will have the opportunity to tour The Singing Alarm: Inside Knob Hill, the exhibition of street artist, lyricist, poet, photographer and urban explorer Jerm iX. Enjoy the sweet vibes of Rory Taillon and Patrick Dorie, Durham Region musicians who will be turning the lights down low on summer.

jerm IX

Schedule in the RMG this summer on the first Friday of every month (second in July) and you’ll add the perfect amount of summer lovin’ to your plans.

Also, don’t forget to get your RMG stamp for half price cover at the Moustache Club for the official RMG Fridays after-party!

Victoria’s Co-op at the RMG

My name is Victoria Orjalo, and I am a Grade 12 student at Monsignor Paul Dwyer. I picked the RMG to do my Co-op placement because I am interested in studying and teaching art and am an aspiring artist. The RMG is the perfect fit and I am very fortunate to be a Gallery Studio Co-op student. Here five days a week, I have absorbed the extraordinary effort put into the Gallery Studio and school programs. I enjoy the incredible dedication of staff bringing joy to clay, watercolour and acrylic classes, as well as the fun school programs that includes a studio activity and a gallery tour. While working here I’ve helped children create art, worked on databases, done event setup and gained a deeper understanding of principals and fundamentals of art.

One of my favourite jobs is designing and constructing the event board for OPG Second Sundays and other family events. Each board has a different theme and I get the responsibility of designing them. My favourite board that I have done would have to be the Valentine’s Day Event board, which I designed based on the old styled handmade Valentine’s Day cards. The most satisfying part is the creative freedom and the enthusiastic reaction from people seeing it.

I have learned important life skills such as multitasking under pressure, working with children of all ages and being an engaging speaker. The studio is a great space for comical and creative thinkers. Having the opportunity to be behind the scenes of an art gallery has made me even more excited to start a career in art.

My experience at the RMG has been fantastic. The staff is passionate and are amazing to be around. Anyone thinking of doing a Co-op program should definitely check it out.

Victoria Orjalo

Experiencing the RMG through Inartistic Eyes

Samantha Pender is a Durham College public relations student completing her winter placement at the RMG as a communications intern.

Before I came to the RMG as a communications intern, I admittedly knew very little in the way of art. Being artistically challenged myself, I had never thought to explore art before coming here. But taking one look around the gallery immediately changed my thinking about art and how to appreciate it, despite lacking my own artistic skills.

Being a communications intern, I don’t get to spend much of my time looking through the galleries of the RMG. When I have been able to sneak away, however, I am always taken aback by the art surrounding me. While looking at the manipulated art and beautifully shot landscapes from Holly King, the wondrous abstract of Painters 11, and the many other different kinds of art throughout the RMG, I realized that you don’t really need to know that much about art to appreciate it.

Yes, understanding the style, medium or perspective of the artist can be helpful, but when it comes down to it, art is art. It’s a beautiful and absurd peak into the creative mind of a talented soul, and that is something I won’t be overlooking again.

Interning at the RMG has opened my mind to many things, not just the beauty of art. Researching content for Museum Week, was able to catch a glimpse into the history of Oshawa and see the familiar streets of today as an almost completely different town in black and white. I learned about architecture and came to appreciate different aspects of a building, something I knew nothing about. My supervisor, Sam, broadened my horizons by instilling the importance of learning things outside my comfort zone, something not to be taken for granted.

Working for a non-profit organization so deeply rooted in the community has been a great experience for me, as giving back to the community is something I care very much about. Seeing how the RMG dedicates so much time to the community through RMG Fridays – I worked on the RMG Fridays 5^th Anniversary – as well as weekend family activities like OPG Second Sundays has only grown my love and appreciation for the gallery over the past three months.

Samantha Pender, 'Ronnie the Bren Gun Girl' from the Other NFB

Samantha Pender, RMG Communications Intern, with ‘Ronnie the Bren Gun Girl’ from the Other NFB

Interview with Volunteer Meg Cox

For National Volunteer Week Canada, we sat down with RMG volunteer Meg Cox to learn more about what she loves most about the RMG.

The RMG: Why did you choose to volunteer at the RMG?

Meg Cox: I had just moved to Oshawa and knew that galleries draw interesting, creative people- I was looking to get involved in an active community, and with volunteering at the RMG- I found one!

RMG: What’s your favourite part of the gallery?

MC: It’s a tie between the Isabel McLaughlin Gallery, housing the permanent collection, and the RMG shop. The gallery space is stunning, serene and peaceful- it encourages viewers to linger. The RMG Shop is an incredible resource for locally sourced and crafted gifts. It is the perfect place to shop for birthdays and holiday – always something unique to find!

RMG: What work of art is your favourite/has had an impact on your and why?

MC: I’m crushing on Holly King’s installation: Edging Towards the Mysterious. Her work it exciting and makes you want to slow down, unravel the pieces and puzzle them together.

RMG: What do you enjoy most about leading yoga at the RMG?

MC: The community we’ve created- the ability to connect art and yoga in a beautiful space- encouraging wellness in downtown Oshawa, the list goes on! We practice in the Isabel McLaughlin Gallery, where the theme of the permanent collection’s theme is movement – there is no better place to unwind after a day than in shavasana, surrounded by art.