Jennifer Long & Shea Proulx: Tracing Days

Shea Proulx, EMJ Bouquet

Jennifer Long & Shea Proulx: Tracing Days

Exhibition & Community Engagement Session
March 11 – April 17, 2025
Gallery@501, Sherwood Park, Alberta

Sustaining & Growing, Artist-Parents in Conversation
Friday, March 14, 10:00 – 11:30am

Opening Reception
Saturday, March 15, 1:00 – 3:00pm

Gallery@501 is pleased to present Tracing Days by Jennifer Long and Shea Proulx. This exhibition of painting, photography and illustration takes inspiration from the artists’ shared focus on daily life and motherhood. Inspired by child-centred spaces, domestic landscapes and family interactions, Long and Proulx record snapshots of life. Through their respective creative practices, meaningful connections are made and everyday routines memorialized.

Jennifer Long examines the complicated intergenerational mother-daughter relationship and its connection to memories evoked by light, textures and gesture. Designed specifically for the Gallery@501 space, Long’s installation spans across the walls and floor for a unique viewing experience for visitors. Shea Proulx explores the creative power that hides in moments while observing her children in shared public spaces, recreation facilities and even at the dentist. Proulx’s paintings, sketchbooks and several of her published books will be on display.

Join both artists for an artist talk and public reception at Gallery@501 on Saturday, March 15 at 1:00pm and a community engagement session, supported by Balancing Act Canada, on Friday, March 14 at 10:00am.

Gallery admission and related programming are free.

Jennifer Long, Caesura Series, 2017-ongoing

Sustaining & Growing, Artist-Parents in Conversation
Supported by Balancing Act Canada
Friday, March 14, 10:00 – 11:30am

Lead by artist-parents Jennifer Long and Shea Proulx, the session focuses on sustainable strategies for artists with care-giving responsibilities. In a relaxed setting, the artists will introduce their work and discuss the challenges, successes and the strategies they employ to maintain their creative practices. Attendees are encouraged to share their perspectives in this knowledge-exchange session and the information gathered will used to expand the artist-parent resource document developed for the gathering. This programming welcomes participants’ children and carers/partners and all present are invited to move freely within the gallery. A child-geared arts activity station, nut-free refreshments, and stroller parking will be available. (Please note, this session is open to all members of the arts community, and is not limited to those with caregiving responsibilities.)

Support for Sustaining & Growing is funded in part by Balancing Act Canada as part of their Level UP! initiative. Balancing Act supports artist parents and caregivers in Canada, by advocating for greater equality, accessibility, and inclusion within the arts workforce.

To register, call 780-410-8585 or email artgallery@strathcona.ca

About the Artists

Through a Feminist lens, Jennifer Long’s practice focuses on themes of mothering, transformation, and community as she examines daily life and her rituals within it. Long has received funding from municipal, provincial and federal arts councils and her artwork has been exhibited and published internationally. She is a founding member of Feminist Photography Network, whose work focuses on reimagining and humanizing professional art practice. www.jenniferlong.ca

Through tracing and repetition, Shea Proulx constructs autobiographical visual narratives that transcend the boundaries of individual lived experience. Proulx has published four books, exhibited widely, and is the recipient of municipal, provincial and federal arts funding. Proulx teaches Botanical Drawing and Children’s Book Illustration at Alberta University of the Arts and is Vice-President on the board of directors for Panel One, a Calgary/Mohkinstsis based comics festival. www.sheaproulx.com

About Balancing Act & Gallery@501

Balancing Act was founded with the goal to affect change and increase access to employment for parents and caregivers working in the arts. They collaborate with artists, arts workers, and arts organizations to develop pathways for change at an individual, organizational and systemic level. Their Level UP! Initiative offers financial support, consultation, and evaluation to Strategy Partners as they explore the implementation of supportive measures for parents and caregivers. Mothra: Artist Parent Project is the 2024/5 Visual Arts Sector Lead.

Strathcona County’s public art gallery, Gallery@501, is dedicated to showcasing exhibitions from a diverse range of artists, arts groups, and culture collaborators. Located in the Strathcona County Community Centre, Gallery@501 manages a variety of exhibition and display spaces and opportunities for participation in the arts. Gallery@501 and the artists are one of Balancing Act’s 2024/5 Visual Arts Strategy Partners.

Strathcona County is located on Treaty Six Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region Two and Four. Strathcona County honours the First Peoples of this land. We recognize that we stand upon land that carries the footsteps of Cree, Métis, and Blackfoot amongst many other Nations, who have been here for thousands of years. Therefore, Strathcona County has an inherent responsibility to foster healthier relationships with First Peoples and further the Calls to Action.

Gallery@501
501 Festival Avenue, #120
Sherwood Park, AB T8A 4X3
strathcona.ca/gallery501
artgallery@strathcona.ca
780-410-8585
Instagram @gallery501

Accessibility:
Gallery@501 is fully accessible. Stroller parking is available in the main gallery. Baby change tables are found within the complex. For more information reach out to us at artgallery@strathcona.ca.

We acknowledge the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Government of Ontario, and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council for their roles in producing this programming.

Image descriptions:
1. Dark blue line drawing on a lighter blue background, which fades to white and a sliver of yellow at the bottom of the scene. A man sits on a park bench with two dogs, watching two children play on a playground. A bouquet grows out of the top of the playground and a single daisy grows out of a basketball hoop.
2. On the right, a colour photo of the back of a child’s head and shoulders. Their hair is filled with shampoo bubbles. Slightly underneath the child and twice the size on the left is a photo of the sea. The waves are coming from two directions and swirls form in the middle of the water.