Community Curates Week 9

While you may assume that because an artwork is in our collection, that we have ownership of it and can use the image as we see fit, this is incorrect. Artists still maintain copyright of their work and we must seek permission to use it. As a result, copyright is a huge factor in everything we do online. Some artists have given us permission to use their images for educational or promotional purposes, others have given us full permission, while in other cases we have gained full permission as the copyright has expired (as it does 50 years from the death of an artist.)

Our collection has recently been digitized (meaning it has been carefully photographed and recorded digitally) and is now available to be searched online, yet not all images have been cleared to be published online. As a result, it is an ongoing project for us to obtain permission to use works of art in our online directory and in projects such as Community Curates. It is our hope that someday the majority of our collection will be approved for viewing online so that a more comprehensive view of our holdings is easily accessible for all.

In selecting works for Community Curates, we are limited to using works that we do hold copyright to. Here are five more works for you two choose from. With just one week left, week 10, we’re nearing completion of the project. We’re very excited to debut the results in the coming weeks.

1. Michael Behnan (Canadian, b. Pakistan, 1947 – 1982)

Spadina and Dundas 1974

ink on paper

Gift of the artist, 1975

2. Charles E. Heil (American, 1870 – 1953)

Haystack at Bourg-la-Reine 1896

watercolour and graphite on paper

Gift of the heirs of the Hortense Gordon estate, 1976

3. Lynda Hayward (Canadian, b. 1941)

Weedscape I 1977

photo-serigraph monotype on paper

Purchase, 1977

4. Susan Low-Beer (Canadian, b.1943)

Untitled 1993

watercolour and graphite on paper

Gift of the artist, 1994

5. Michael Snow (Canadian, b. 1929)

Carla Bley 1965

photolithography and relief printing on paper

Purchase, 1970

Community Curates Week 8

Crowdsourcing is defined as, “the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a “crowd”), through an open call.” The term, coined in 2006 has become a shorthand to describe the ability to leverage mass collaboration that has been made easy because of the speed of communication created by the internet.

The Community Curates exhibition is a crowdsourced art show, where the community who follow us online are acting as our curators. What we learn from this and how we interact with the community as a result of the information we gather by creating the project are the benefits to us, while to you it might be the opportunity to see more of our collection that is often hidden from view. We also think it is interesting to hear when you feel the choices are difficult to make; we experience this often when curating exhibitions.

Here are the selections for Week 8:

1. Joan-Marie Dean (Canadian, b.1934)

Isis 1977

etching and aquatint on paper

Purchase, 1977

2. Fred Haines (Canadian, 1879 – 1960)

The Harvest Moon c. 1922

aquatint on paper

Gift of Charles Goldhamer, 1983

3. Kent Monkman (Canadian, b.1965)

Untitled c.1993

watercolour on paper

Gift of the artist, 1994

4. L. A. C. Panton (Canadian, 1894 – 1954)

Christmas Card c. 1940

woodcut on paper

Gift of Charles Goldhamer, 1983

5. Mary E. Rawlyk (Canadian, b. 1934)

Wringing Shirt 1974

relief etching, screen process and card relief

Gift of the Ontario Arts Council, 1974

Community Curates Week 7

Summer rolls on and our Community Curates project is soon to wrap up, with only two more weeks of voting to go after this week. We are beginning to plan the installation of the works you have chosen. We plan to include a QR code on the text panel of the exhibition. A QR code is a matrix bar code that can be scanned by a smart phone. The code will lead to you a place where you can leave comments on the works that have been chosen. We hope you’ll continue to participate with us on this project in this manner!

Presenting your images to select from for Week 7:

1. Charlotte Brainerd (Canadian, b. U.S.A., 1921-1995)

Sun Roots 1965

etching and aquatint on paper

Purchase, 1968

2. Ron Eccles (Canadian, b.1944)

Time of Aphelion 1975

etching, aquatint and engraving on paper

Purchase, 1977

3. F. W. Jopling (Canadian, 1860 – 1945)

Whirlpool Rapids Illuminated – New York Side 1916

mezzotint and drypoint on paper

Gift of W. Ross Murray, 1976

4. Jock Macdonald (Canadian, b. Scotland, 1897-1960)

Untitled 1954

watercolour and ink on paper

Gift of Mary Hare, 1990

5. Rick Zolkower (Canadian, b. U.S.A, 1950)

Reclining Statue #1 1988

toned silver print

Gift of Ernie and Rivette Herzig, 2000

Community Curates Week 6

There are as many opinions as there are experts. – Franklin Roosevelt

Everyone has a different opinion about what they consider to be art and opinions vary on what galleries should hang on their walls (or display on the floor). This project has been very interesting to us as we watch the various views, (all correct of course), funnel through the polling process and curate an exhibition. After all, opinions and preferences when it comes to art are personal and are correct for each of us. It is one element of curating that is very interesting.

A work of art can be an emotional experience for one viewer, while the same work may leave another person cold. Have any of your own choices surprised you? Have you chosen a work that in another venue, you might not have liked? Is it hard to choose between a figurative or abstract work? We’re archiving all the comments made during this process, so please feel free to leave us any and all feedback you might have in the comments.

Here’s the Week 6 selections! Top 2 make it through to the exhibition.

1. Caroline Benedicks Bruce (Swedish, 1856 – 1935)

Untitled n.d.

watercolour on paper

Purchased with the assistance of the Government of Canada through the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, 1986

2. Gary Michael Dault (Canadian, b.1939)

Piano Lake 1983

collage on paper

Purchase, 1983

3. Brian Kipping (Canadian, 1953-2007)

Untitled 1973

mezzotint on paper

Purchase, 1977

4. Virginia Luz (Canadian, b. 1911)

Haunted Borley 1951

gouache, pen and ink and graphite on paper

Gift of Yvonne McKague Housser, 1977

5. Sydney H. Watson (Canadian, 1911 – 1981)

The Red Glass 1949

gouache, ink, graphite on paper

Gift of Alexandra Luke, 1967

Community Curates Week 5

Each week we have been striving to include works from local artists. By local we mean artists who either called Durham Region home, currently live here, or grew up here. Some examples include John Landers, Barry Smylie, Isabel McLaughlin and Linda Selbie Ward. This week, we include Jeff Morrison. You can learn more about Jeff Morrison by visiting his website http://www.jeffmorrisonart.com

Last week we had another tie. This is an unexpected hurdle for us with this project, but it is part of the fun as well. The tied-for-second-place images will be put in our Window Wednesdays album on Facebook (early in the day on Wednesday) and you can go there to vote in the tie breaker.

Week 5

1. Stephen Arthurs (Canadian, b.1951)

While Living In A Vacuum, Any Intelligence At All Would Be Deemed As Genius, Any Effort Viewed As Supererogatious 1981

acrylic on paper

Purchase, 1984

2. Bertram Brooker (Canadian, 1888-1955)

Abstract Still Life n.d.

pen and ink on paper

gift of Doris Huestis Speirs, 2001

3. Clarence Gagnon (Canadian, 1881 – 1942)

The Heavy Sea n.d.

linocut and woodcut on paper

Donated by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1988

4. Tom Hodgson (Canadian, 1924 – 2006)

Flowers 1962

watercolour and ink on illustration board

Gift of Alexandra Luke, 1967

5. Jeff Morrison (Canadian, b. 1957)

Portrait of Despair 1980

watercolour and inks on paper

Purchase, 1982

Community Curates Week 4

Welcome to week four of our Community Curates project. Nearing half-way through, we’ve been surprised by some of the results. The majority of selected works have been landscapes. In response to this, we’ve selected two works this week for your consideration that are challenges to the traditional approach to landscape.

As yet, no abstract works have been selected. We think this is because people are most drawn to what is familiar to them, but it could be any number of factors leading to the popular choices! Out of the six works selected, three have been historical, two are figurative and four are landscapes. It’s interesting to watch the results!

On to this week’s voting!

Week 4:

1. Barry Smylie (Canadian, b. 1948)

Corollary 1988

lithograph on paper

Purchase, 1989

2. Linda Ward Selbie (Canadian, b. 1949)

Treacherous Terrain 1991

Konica colour print on paper

Gift of the artist and Andrew Selbie, 1991

3. F.S. Coburn (Canadian, 1871 – 1960)

The Actress n.d.

conte and coloured crayon on paper

Donated by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1988

4. Michael A. Sowdon (Canadian, b. 1948)

Untitled No. 1 1974

offset lithograph on paper

Gift of the Ontario Arts Council, 1974

5. William Ronald (Canadian, 1926 – 1998)

Untitled 1953

ink on paper

Gift of the artist, 1970

Community Curates Week 3

We’ve encountered an unexpected result in last week’s voting! We had a tie for second place. As a result, we’ll be hosting a tie-breaking vote on our Facebook Fan Page in our Window Wednesday album. If you want to help settle the tie between Milne’s Red Church and Seguin’s Untitled, be sure to like us on Facebook to recieve the notification we have posted the showdown! Bevington’s Tracks was our first place winner.

In this week’s voting we present five diverse works for your consideration. Be sure to vote and let us know what you think in the comments. Thank you!

Week 3:

1. Caven Atkins (Canadian, 1907-2000)

Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec 1937

watercolour on paper; Purchase, 1980

2. Bill Laing (Canadian, b. Scotland, 1944)

Monday Afternoon 1976

etching on paper

Gift of Ken Carpenter, 1983

3. Les Levine (Canadian, b. Ireland, 1935)

Chest X-ray 1966

photo-serigraph on acetate

Purchase, 1970

Livick_untitledfromamericaseries_2000ls69

4. Stephen Livick (Canadian, b. England, 1945)

Untitled (from Amerika series) 1976

platinum print on Arches watercolour paper

Gift of Ernie and Rivette Herzig, 2000

5. Miriam Squires (Canadian, 1914-2005)

Untitled No.3 1984

watercolour and paper on paper

Gift of Isabel McLaughlin, 1989

Community Curates Week 2

Here’s your chance to vote in Week 2 of our Community Curates project! Click here to see the results from Week 1.

Last week we were asked in the comments why we did not include the dimensions of the works. This was an intentional choice. Leaving out the dimensions allows there to be an element of surprise when you come to the gallery in September to see these works hung. Some large, some small, these works will look quite different in person than they do online. Part of what makes this project interesting is the dynamic between seeing works online and then later on, in person. Our Window Wednesdays project on Facebook illustrates to us that our ‘fans’ enjoy us bringing the gallery to them through social media, but we’ve heard many comments that they are surprised when seeing the works in the gallery how different they appear. Size, texture, richness and tone are lost on screen.

Here are this week’s selections. Have your say. Top two choices will be hung in the gallery from 23 September, 2011 to 11 March, 2012.

Week 2:

1. Stanley Bevington (Canadian, b.1943)

Tracks (Editions 1) 1974

offset photolithograph on paper

Gift of the Ontario Arts Council, 1974

2. David Bierk (Canadian, b. U.S.A., 1944 – 2002)

Covering Repression (Arts Against Repression) 1982

serigraph and photolithograph on paper

Purchase, 1982

3. David Milne (Canadian, 1882 – 1953)

Red Church, No. 3 1941

watercolour and graphite on paper

Gift from the Douglas M. Duncan Collection, 1970

4.Tutzi Haspel Seguin (Canadian, 1911-2009)

Untitled n.d.

etching and aquatint on paper

Gift of Joan Murray, Whitby, 1996

5. Alan Weinstein (Canadian, b. 1939)

Vizier 1971

etching and drypoint on paper

Gift of the artist, 1976

July FIRST FRIDAYS!

We’re excited to announce the RMG’s sixth edition of FIRST FRIDAYS!

July’s First Fridays is on a special date and time: July 8^th. The party kicks off at 5pm with the opening reception for the gallery’s two new exhibitions, FIERCE and Geordie Lishman: Hidden Worlds. At 6pm Boom Bust & Echo will perform, followed by singer-songwriter Kate Boothman at 7pm. Cash bar and free to attend. Party continues until 9pm!

Kate Boothman is perhaps best known for her work in the band Sunbear. Kate will be performing a solo set and we are excited to welcome her to the gallery. Check out Kate’s myspace page here to hear some of her music.

Boom Bust & Echo are a new local act with a tie to artist Geordie Lishman – his brother Aaron Lishman is in the group!

July’s edition of First Fridays is an event partnership with Durham Tourism www.durhamtourism.ca.

We hope you will all join us for this great evening of art and live music!

True Power, Geordie Lishman

Membership Appreciation Party

Sunday May 29th, we hosted a party to thank our members for their loyalty. Curator Linda Jansma introduced our newly renovated Isabel McLaughlin gallery space with a discussion about Hardwired for Narrative. Hardwired is a new installation of works from our Permanent Collection. Check out some pics from the day in the slideshow below and read more about the exhibiton by clicking here.

See the full gallery on Posterous