Museum studies intern curates Inuit art exhibition in uLethbridge Hess Gallery

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 17:27:55 +0000

Thanks to the significant donation from Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Perkins Hess to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery, and the extraordinary opportunities offered to Art History and Museum Studies students at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, visitors to the Hess Gallery have the chance to engage with never before exhibited Inuit art.

Exhibition curator and museum studies intern Jaylyn Potts. Photo by Angeline Simon.

Unikkausivut: Stories from the North opens Thursday, Jan. 16, curated by museums studies intern and senior fine arts student Jaylyn Potts. Featuring a selection of Inuit prints illustrating the colourful stories that have been passed down through generations, Potts’s motivation was to select artwork that has never publicly been shown at the U of L before, and the Hess donation provided numerous options from which to choose.

The gallery was selected to receive the extraordinary bequest from Marmie Hess in 2017 largely because they do so much to engage people with their vast art collection.

“Marmie wanted her gift to assist young people with learning about the arts and there is no better way to achieve this than to have a student curate an exhibition,” says Dr. Josephine Mills, gallery director and Art History/Museum Studies professor. “The student gets in-depth professional development and they bring a perspective to their curating that helps connect with students who visit the art gallery.”

Gallery staff have been working tirelessly to catalogue and manually enter over a thousand artworks into the database, with a significant amount of it being Inuit work.

“I was immediately drawn to the Inuit prints, particularly those that used a vibrant colour palette, had intricate and detailed texture, and had a unique and compelling title,” explains Potts. “While a significant amount of the works appear charming and playful, they are actually based on dark and gruesome Inuit stories. The juxtaposition between story and artwork provokes and inspires us as viewers to think about Inuit stories and the influence they have had on Inuit culture in the past and present.”

Unikkausivut: Stories from the North opens Thursday, Jan. 16 with an opening reception at 4 p.m., remarks from the director at 4:30 p.m. followed by a curatorial talk with Potts. The exhibition runs until March 13, and is free to the public Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursdays until 8:30 p.m.

Students step into the future

trevor.kenney — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 22:36:22 +0000

For a group of current ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students, the future home of science became a reality recently when they took a step onto the construction site of the new Science and Academic Building.

Members of the Organization of Residence Students (ORS) and residence advisors Kate Potts, Jaylyn Potts, Brady Hornung, Adam Geib and Kya Zoretich were among those given a tour of the building. Having never been on a construction site of this size before, the students say they were left in awe after the tour.

“The main atrium when walking into the building was most impressive to me,” says ORS President, Hornung. “The obvious appeal of having a giant glass wall overlooking the coulees is going to make the space feel very open and welcoming. The way the project is built around this main atrium with offices, meeting rooms and classrooms will create such a positive energy for this hub at the heart of the Science and Academic Building.”

For Kate Potts, ORS vice-president of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall, learning how the building is designed to enhance transdisciplinary work was enlightening.

“I enjoyed seeing how bright and open the space is going to be as well as hearing about the thought that went behind each and every decision made for the project,” says Potts.

Leading the tour of the building was an especially significant highlight for Program Director, Brian Sullivan.

“Students are going to benefit so much from having a state-of-the-art facility to learn and explore in. Being able to show this group of students the spaces they’ll be getting to experience and seeing the amazement on their faces was truly wonderful,” says Sullivan.

As for contributing to the student experience, Vice-President of Coulee View, Adam Geib says the new building will be a huge positive for the future of U of L students.

“I think this building is going to improve the lives of students greatly,” says Geib. “I think it will not only allow for more opportunities to be taken by students who are in the sciences, but as well I think that it will allow other programs to expand and get new spaces of their own since the science labs will be moved over. This building will put the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the forefront for research and will allow students to experience things they would not have before.”

UNews - Jaylyn Potts

Museum studies intern curates Inuit art exhibition in uLethbridge Hess Gallery

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Students step into the future

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