MOOSE JAW - The Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery (MJMAG) welcomed a new addition to the team this spring, and the gallery is thrilled to announce its new manager who brings with her years of experience and a passion for the arts to complement the gallery with a fresh, vibrant vision.
Violet Tang, the new operations manager at the MJMAG, began her first shift on May 29.
The role of operations manager typically entails oversight of the museum’s financial matters as well as the management of its administrative elements, and this is where Tang’s education and experience are naturally suited.
Her role, as museum director Jennifer McRorie pointed out, will also entail more of a diverse range of managerial aspects – including the opportunity to get involved in the gallery’s exhibition planning and curation. This opportunity is the result of limited staffing at the local gallery.
“In the summer I’ll be taking on more of the exhibition making and planning side of things,” Tang said. “I already have a lot of interest and curiosity into the museum’s spaces, and I have some general ideas of what I want to do.”
Tang immigrated from China back in 2015 and attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. where she studied art history. There, she earned her undergrad and master’s degrees, and for two years she served on the Kingston Arts Council as its grant co-ordinator. This background helped her gain experience in finance and program management within an art gallery setting.
On graduating, Tang said she hoped to remain in the artistic world but sought to travel across Canada in search of a cultural landscape she could feel drawn to.
This search led her to Moose Jaw and the downtown MJMAG.
“I just immediately felt that this is the place I… really belong to,” she explained. “People were really nice, welcoming, and open-minded (in Moose Jaw). They have great energy here.
“When I actually went into the museum it (felt) even better than what I imagined.”
Starting her new role in late May, Tang described the start of her career as “a crazy journey.”
“I arrived the night before (the Dave Pelletier exhibition, ‘Wóknaga: He Tells His Own Story’),” she recalled. “(M)y second day of work was the opening day for the exhibition… I also drove 3,000 kilometres in five days from Ontario (to get here).”
Tang said she was looking forward to participating in her first ParkArt fundraiser one month later and has appreciatively described the event as “energizing.”
With ParkArt now concluded, Tang said she’s looking forward to her new role in exhibition planning.
“After (ParkArt), I think (that I’m most looking forward to) planning exhibitions and thinking about what I could do with the Chinese Canadian collection…,” she said.
“Also – (I’m looking forward to) just living in Moose Jaw in general,” she added, expressing her excitement over the opportunity to experience life in the Canadian prairies.
After witnessing the community spirit during ParkArt and the dynamism of Moose Jaw’s artistic community firsthand, Tang said she’s come to appreciate this level of support.
“I hope that, in the near future… we can bring more dynamic events and programming… to the community, and… to feature the voices of people from the community (of Moose Jaw),” she concluded.
The MJMAG is located at 461 Langdon Crescent. To contact the gallery, call 306-692-4471 or visit MJMAG.ca. You can also follow the gallery on Facebook at ‘Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery.’
