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Kelowna Art Gallery Annual Report 2011 Cover image: Wanda Lock, She laughs every time she thinks about it, 2011, mixed media on paper, 22 x 30 in. (55.8 x 76.2 cm). Gift from the artist, 2008. Left to right: Marla O’Brien, Fern Helfand, Derek Sanders. Birgit Bennett, Leona Baxter, Deborah Owram, Nataley Nagy, Lori Van Rooijen, Stan Somerville, Laura Myles, Joanne Onrait. Absent: Ian Jones, Jim Meiklejohn, Tammy Moore, Mary Smith McCulloch, Sandra Kochan. The Kelowna Art Gallery Photo taken March 2012 gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the City of Kelowna, the Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia, Board of Directors 2011 Central Okanagan School District #23, Regional District of Central Okanagan, Central Leona Baxter Birgit Bennett Okanagan Foundation, and President Fern Helfand our members, donors and sponsors. Jim Meiklejohn Tammy Moore Laura Myles Vice President Marla O’Brien (until April 2011) Joanne Onrait To engage, inspire, Derek Sanders and enrich the greater Marla O’Brien Mary Smith McCulloch community through the Vice President Stan Somerville exhibition, collection, (from May 2011) (from October 2011) and interpretation of Lori Van Rooijen visual art. Ian Jones (from October 2011) Treasurer Directors Deborah Owram Sandra Kochan Secretary City Liaison © Kelowna Art Gallery 2012 Design by Kyle L. Poirier Presidents’s Report All of us – the Board of Directors, staff and volunteers of the Kelowna Art Gallery, would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you, our members and friends, for your continued support of the Gallery and its mission to strengthen visual arts in the community. By presenting a wide range of nationally recognized exhibitions, publications, educational programs, and community-based projects, we provide opportunities to be inspired, to learn, to create, and to debate. We couldn’t fulfill this mission without you. While it has been a difficult economy for funding of the arts, the Kelowna Art Gallery staff and Board of Directors are pleased to put forward positive financial results. Uncertain economic times required the Gallery to be cautious with its expenditures and the restoration of our reserve funds was determined to be prudent for 2011. I am so grateful to the many people who have made the Gallery an important part of their lives through their continuing service and support making my two years as President extremely rewarding. All of us extend our warmest thanks as well to outgoing Board members Birgit Bennett and Joanne Onrait, both of whom have made exceptional contributions to the Gallery over the past six years. While they are stepping down from the Board, we look forward to their continued participation in shaping special events and fund development at the Gallery in the coming years. In October, 2011, we had the pleasure of welcoming Stan Somerville and Lori Van Rooijen to the Board of Directors. They both have a lot to offer the Gallery as they bring their vast professional experience and love of the visual arts to the Board table. The Board of Directors had a busy year. Strategic planning and fundraising were the foci of the Board’s work in 2011, in addition to offering guidance and governance in the Gallery’s operations. I would like thank each of the directors for working effectively together. We have embarked on further strategic planning as we continue to explore the most effective strategies for the Kelowna Art Gallery to use in order to fulfill its mission. In closing, the Gallery could not operate without the support of the Gallery’s fine staff, community, members, donors, volunteers and the many stakeholders who have contributed to the success of this significant cultural institution. Respectfully submitted, Leona Baxter President 2 Executive Director’s Report Since its founding in 1976, the Kelowna Art Gallery has been building a reputation as a nationally significant venue for exhibitions, scholarship, and educational programs. We showcase important contemporary art, drawn from around the world, as well as, Canada, British Columbia, and the Okanagan region, all in the belief that art and creativity are the birthright of every individual, a cornerstone of a healthy society, and a catalyst for social and economic vitality. The roles and responsibilities of a public art gallery are multi-faceted, and as with any organization – it is the people involved who make the difference and contribute to our success. Together, our Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, donors, and visitors, provide the essential ingredient that enables the Gallery to set high standards for innovation and high quality in everything that we do. Thank you! As you can see from the reports presented in the 2011 Annual Report, the Kelowna Art Gallery has had an extremely busy 12 months. The high quality program of exhibitions and publications orchestrated by curator Liz Wylie and supported by Registrar Christina Hedlund, is a testament to the Gallery’s mandate of promoting the work of contemporary Canadian artists. Liz has successfully provided the community with a changing slate of exhibitions that reflects the wide variety art making in Canada. In addition, Liz and Christina worked with the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Directors to add twenty-one important works of art to the Gallery’s permanent collection. We were delighted to commission three local artists to produce work for our Kelowna International Airport satellite exhibition space. The Dysfunctional Chairs series provided our visitors with unique installations from six artists for the past four years. While we are disappointed it has come to an end, we look forward to planning future use of the Rotary Courtyard. The Gallery’s ambitious education and public programming department led by Renee Burgess, and assisted by professional staff and volunteers, offered a diverse array of scholastic programs and life-long learning opportunities in the visual arts to the community at large. Thanks to the public programming team who are committed to offering innovative and fun-filled learning activities and continue to explore new opportunities to inspire, learn, create, and debate. In 2011 The Kelowna Art Gallery vastly increased its public profile and local, regional and national media coverage with thanks to Kris Johnson, our Marketing and Events Coordinator. Kris has undoubtedly been able to attract larger audiences through his effective use of both traditional and social media. The GO Parties, our Seeing Red and White gala dinner and art auction and the Genesis Fashion show are only a few examples of the many Gallery events that Kris has organized and have contributed to increasing both the Gallery’s profile and revenues in the past year. The Gallery undertook the colossal task of redesigning our website and the Gallery’s logo and brand, thanks to the leadership of Kyle L. Poirier, our graphic designer. Kyle has also continued to fine tune our IT needs and ensure that we are making the most of the technology available to us. In addition to visioning a new look for the Gallery Kyle must be congratulated for the excellent quality of Gallery print materials and publications he produces. Thanks to Administrative Assistant, Penny Hechter, for her excellent work on the Gallery’s membership program. Penny has also provided support for the Board of Directors, Gallery committees, and our front desk staff. Debbie Batckyi provided financial administration to the Gallery for which we say thank you. The Gallery’s front desk team provided visitor support and orientation, while managing a variety of tasks in support of our work here. The Gallery maintains a roster of approximately 100 volunteers 3 Executive Director’s Report who provided valuable assistance as docents leading school tours, and events support. A number of individuals have offered their time and expertise to Gallery committees. We are grateful for their sound advice and community outreach. In conclusion, while it has been a difficult economy for funding of the arts, the Kelowna Art Gallery staff and Board of Directors are pleased to put forward positive financial results. Uncertain economic times required the Gallery to be cautious with its expenditures and the restoration of our reserve funds was determined to prudent for 2011. We are extremely grateful to our members, donors and sponsors, as well other financial supporters: City of Kelowna, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of British Columbia, the British Columbia Arts Council, Central Okanagan School District #23, the Regional District of Central Okanagan, the Central Okanagan Foundation, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and the Canadian Museums Association. Respectfully submitted, Nataley Nagy Executive Director Curator’s Report We were pleased to present an exciting and varied roster of exhibitions, all accompanied by publications, in the 2011 year. We reduced our program from six exhibitions in each of the Mardell G Reynolds and Treadgold/Bullock galleries to four, and we brought our Dysfunctional Chairs series in the Rotary Courtyard space to an end. The program of two installations each year at our satellite space at the Kelowna International Airport remained intact. Nevertheless we remain committed to generating provocative exhibition programming for the community and our visitors, and are glad to report on our successful collaborations with other galleries, as well as on touring exhibitions that we secured for our audiences, all supporting our mandate of promoting the work of contemporary Canadian artists. The curatorial aim is to provide a changing slate of exhibitions that reflect the wide variety of approaches to artistic practice and art making in Canada. From our small solo shows in the Mardell G Reynolds Gallery to the large exhibitions in our climate-controlled space, the Treadgold/Bullock Gallery, we set out to showcase a wide variety of work by artists of all sorts of persuasions, ages, backgrounds, regions, and ideologies.

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