Estevan Art Gallery & Museum, Saskatchewan

The Canadian art landscape is ever-changing. Akimbo keeps you apprised of the standard-bearers as well as the upstarts in our monthly series on exhibition spaces from across the country. This month, we speak with Tye Dandridge-Evancio, Director/Curator of the Estevan Art Gallery & Museum in Estevan, Saskatchewan.

What is the history and mandate of your gallery? 

The Estevan Art Gallery & Museum encourages involvement in the dissemination and development of artists, and cultural and historical practices by bringing to the people of southern Saskatchewan a balanced program of exhibits, collections, and public programming. We focus on two areas to reflect our rapidly expanding social and cultural diversity:

1. We are a public museum that offers the interpretation of ideas and perspectives concentrating on the history of the Northwest Mounted Police, and First Nations and Metis people of southeastern Saskatchewan.
2. We are a public art gallery that offers a free exchange of ideas and perspectives.

The museum is located in the oldest historic North West Mounted Police post in Saskatchewan. It collects, preserves, researches, exhibits, and interprets objects that illustrate the arrival of the North West Mounted Police to the Estevan area in the summer of 1874. Our fine arts collection consists of prints and paintings donated by SK Arts. These works include well-known Saskatchewan/Canadian printmakers and painters such as David Thauberger, Ernest Lindner, Michael Lonechild, Doris Wall-Larsen, and Ronald Bloore. Enhancing this collection is the largest collection in Canada of Andrew King printing blocks, prints, and travel trunks.

What’s a highlight of your neighbourhood?

We’re located in a rural community that is approximately 16 km north of the Canada/US border. Identifying local highlights is difficult as I am sure to miss someone or something: the Estevan General Store, which markets wares crafted by artisans from in and around the Estevan area; the Estevan Public Youth Centre, a brand-new, youth-focused, non-profit partner, where artmaking workshops are offered throughout the year; Woodlawn Regional Park, with whom the EAGM has collaborated on Inside Out, an art series in which we take exhibiting artists’ displays out of the gallery and into nature; the Estevan Arts Council, which focuses on performing arts and some visual arts; Souris Valley Theatre, a non-profit professional live theatre located at Frehlick Hall in Woodlawn Regional Park with a season that spans from June to August.
And, oh my, the food. Terrific restaurants locally run and operated, where you can have a quick bite, lunch, or dinner: Jenny K, Eddie Websters, the Tower Café, Jino Asian Delight, Blackbeard’s, to name a few!

What’s your favourite part of running an art gallery?

John Brady McDonald, YOU CAN MEASURE THE TRUTH OF CANADA’S RECONCILIATION PROCESS IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF ONLINE NEWS STORIES ABOUT INDIGENOUS ISSUES – Racism Online (title by Ronnie Dean Harris), 2019, acrylic on canvas

Opportunity abounds! Working with art and artists, along with creating art, instructing art classes, and fostering youth interested in art, is like being paid to do what I love most. Connecting with artists and helping to present their work to the world is a special experience. I learn so much about the incredibly talented Canadian artmakers whose work we exhibit. They have a unique ability to communicate their life stories and histories, and to comment on society as they/we experience it. My position as Director allows me to be part of shaping the messages they share. It is a position I value greatly.

How do you find out about new artists?

Monique Martin & Alexandra Hedberg, Vicissitude, 2022, silkscreened canvas

Establishing relationships with artists is an ongoing process that takes many different forms. We’ve had the privilege of being recommended by other artists with whom we’ve worked in the past and who’ve had a positive experience with us. Gallery staff have connections with practicing artists who we are able to reach out to and with whom we collaborate. Additionally, we are members of the Organization of Saskatchewan Art Councils (OSAC), an umbrella organization that enables arts organizations to connect with artists, instructors, and performers from all across the country. OSAC supports touring exhibitions and performances that smaller communities might not otherwise be equipped to access. EAGM staff also attend Showcase, an annual OSAC event, where Saskatchewan Gallery Directors and Curators meet to share our favourite exhibition experiences, which then allows each of us to return to our home community with new ideas for programming.

Where do you see yourself in five years? 

Hanna Yokazawa Farquharson, Mother Earth, 2022, antique Japanese silk kimono and thread

The EAGM will continue to serve as a hub for arts and cultural experiences within our community. We will continue to offer a rich program for youth, including summer camps and school holiday camps. Expanded opportunities for adult workshops and classes within the community will be well established along with the possibility of an adult art retreat, so artists of all skill levels can learn and show off their knowledge. Partnerships already begun will flourish and together we will bring new artistic and social opportunities to the area. In 2024, the EAGM partnered to advance LGBTQ+ programming during June’s Pride Week. Our intention is to increase the amount of what’s available to the LGBTQ+ and allies community. We will also support the formation of a Pride Council in the City of Estevan.

What excites you about your upcoming exhibitions?

Heidi McKenzie, Conveyor Brick, 2022, detail

Our current display features two exhibitions: Brick by Brick: Absence and Presence by Heidi McKenzie, a multi-media installation featuring archival and contemporary photographs from Medicine Hat’s I-XL Brick and Tile Factory; and Atim Maskikhiy (Dog Medicine), an exhibition toured by OSAC featuring works by over seventeen local artists interpreting the dog-human relationship as expressed through preliminary findings of a community-driven research project conducted in the La Ronge tri-community area in Northern Saskatchewan. Both shows will be on display until August 23.
From September 6 to November 8, the EAGM will be hosting an exhibition by Jamie Reynolds featuring a series of paintings that explore the Indigenous history of Saskatchewan/National Parks. The thought provoking messaging offered in this collection is significant and timely. Our National Parks are situated on land that previously held economic and spiritual value to Indigenous peoples. Parks Canada designated land for public use and only recently began to work with Indigenous peoples to include their voices, teachings, and understandings in visitor experiences. We are excited to be working with Reynolds to arrange a mini-residency in the fall and hope that schools, along with community members, will attend.