Grasslands Gallery Online is showing a new virtual exhibit titled “Wintering” featuring 13 contemporary Saskatchewan artists. The gallery is available for viewing until March 26.
“The world seems noisy these days,” said Laureen Marchand, gallery director and exhibition curator. “Or maybe the world is always noisy and it’s just the cumulative effect of two years of pandemic and all the controversy that who-would-have-thought would spring up around it, but here at Grasslands Gallery Online, the need for reinvigoration and peace feels strong.”
Marchand is an artist herself who has been exhibiting for 35 years. She lives in the relatively remote South Saskatchewan community of Val Marie – the gateway to Grasslands National Park.
She started the gallery as a way of exhibiting her own and others’ art throughout the pandemic. It has gone so well that she plans on continuing.
“I think it enables Saskatchewan artwork to be more widely seen.”
“The gallery started with six artists, and I’m about to launch the 14th,” Marchand said. “I’ve deliberately done it slowly, because it’s a one-woman show, and I want to do a good job for everybody.”
She said the artists are all serious, professional artists from Saskatchewan. “They live all over the province,” she said, “they’re from Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina, Outlook, and Val Marie.”
The gallery has become an associate member of the Saskatchewan Professional Art Galleries Association (SaskGalleries). SaskGalleries is a non-profit that gives the following guarantees for customers of their affiliates:
- The gallery represents professional artists whose art practice is their full-time job;
- Pays the artists properly based on standard payment principles;
- Prices the art fairly and in line with national standards;
- Is knowledgeable about the art and artists they carry; and
- Is an established business.
Marchand is proud of the website and its presentation. “When someone clicks on a particular artwork,” she explained, “there’s an option to… see what it would look like hung in a sample room. And all the rooms are different, they’re all chosen to show off each work.”
She can truly curate her exhibitions by setting up virtual rooms. The gallery’s rooms can be “walked” through, with works shown to scale and seen in order of their arrangement.
Exhibitions also do not have the space restrictions of real-world galleries. “Wintering” features four or five artworks from each of the 13 currently-affiliated artists.
“I like this particular gallery space because it has virtual windows with virtual light coming in,” Marchand said.
When artwork is purchased, the artists ship directly from their home studios. They take care to package the purchased work professionally and are reimbursed for their shipping costs. Because the artwork is transported only once, there is a reduced use of materials, carriers, and fuel.
Marchand said the feedback from buyers so far has been unanimously positive.
The latest exhibition is curated to “bring light,” including birds, flowers, a path in a meadow, a view into space, and views into pure colour.
“My intent with ‘Wintering’ was to provide a viewing experience to kind of counter both the physical cold and the (social) noisiness of this particular winter,” Marchand explained. “The responses have been that people experience a sense of peace when they walk through the exhibition."
Take a look for yourself at grasslandsgallery.com.
