grunt is pleased to announce that Netherlands artist, Desiree Palmen, will be travelling to Vancouver in July to work with urban Aboriginal youth to explore their experiences and feelings in relation to Vancouver’s landscape. The artist will spend 4 weeks working with youth to paint them into a chosen place in Vancouver. These on-site painting projects will be photo-documented and these images will be publicly displayed in various locations by the fall.

Help fund this unique, collaborative project which allows Aboriginal youth to work with an experienced, international artist.
Donate here: http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?charityID=s33679

Help Desiree Palmen travel to Vancouver by donating your Aeroplan Miles here: http://beyondmiles.aeroplan.com/eng/charity/338

Vancouver, BC – grunt gallery is proud to announce the book launch for BLIZZARD: Emerging Northern Artists. This newly published catalogue includes essays by Candice Hopkins and Tania Willard that examine and reflect upon artwork by Jamasie Pitseolak, Nicholas Galanin, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Geronimo Inutiq (MadEskimo), and director Derek Aqqiaruq. Originally shown as an exhibition at grunt gallery in the summer of 2012, this catalogue spotlights Indigenous artists working in the North who are using their traditions to forge new ideas around contemporary art.

“BLIZZARD paints an alternate picture of the North: not a North created by paternalism, colonization and tourist board initiatives, but a distinctive place framed by compelling artists who are drawing from their experiences and influences, which include the lands and cultures of the Arctic as well as pop culture, new technology and their own interpretations of the South.” – curator, Tania Willard

Join grunt gallery and Tania Willard in celebrating the launch of this exciting new publication on Friday March 22nd, 6–8pm at grunt. Listen to the original vinyl album of famed Inuit rock band, Northern Haze, and pick up your copy of BLIZZARD.

Location:
grunt gallery, 350 E 2nd Ave – Unit 116, Vancouver, BC V5T 4R8

Learn More:
grunt gallery website: www.grunt.ca
Pre-order your copy of BLIZZARD: http://gruntgallery.bigcartel.com/product/pre-sale-blizzard-emerging-northern-artists

Special Thanks:
This publication was made possible by the generous support from the Government of BC through the Innovations program of the British Columbia Arts Council, The Government of Nunavut through the Department of Economic Development and Transportation, The Michael O’Brian Family Foundation, The McLean Foundation, Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association, Scriba International Art Society, Trench Gallery, Jasmine Redfern, all of our Indiegogo donors, the logistical support of Robert Kardosh from Marion Scott Gallery and Pascale Arpin.

Questions?
Contact Karlene Harvey, Communications Director
Karlene@grunt.ca
605-875-9516

Position Title: Exhibitions Manager

Location: grunt gallery
Reporting to: Programming Director
Hours: 40 hours per month (weekly schedule dependent on current projects); some evening and weekend work; flexible schedule

Start date: April 2, 2013
Deadline for applications: Friday, March 1, 2013 at 5:00pm

General Description of the Position:

The Exhibitions Manager is responsible for all details around the shipping, installing and de-installing of exhibits, as well as logistics management for other projects in the gallery, Media Lab (gruntKitchen) and offsite. The Exhibitions Manager reports directly to the Programming Director and is responsible for basic installation tasks such as storing, packaging, crating, shipping, hanging and lighting of exhibits, as well as exhibition maintenance. The Exhibitions Manager will also oversee logistics for any touring exhibitions. The Exhibitions Manager is also responsible for management of the exhibitions budget, contracting, negotiating with the artists over project details, and maintaining the quality and installation standards of the exhibition. This ten (10) hour a week job requires flexibility around the schedule and self-management.

Required Competencies:

– Budget Management
– Collaboration
– Commitment
– Communication
– Computer Skills
– Creativity
– Flexibility
– Installation Skills
– Reliability
– Communication Skills
– Resourcefulness
– Tolerance

General Responsibilities:

– Coordinating installations and supporting the artist with his/her vision;
– Arranging details with the artist including contracts, travel and shipping;
– Maintaining the gallery and the Media Lab;
– Participation on various committees and project groups as required;
– Working with the Program Director to obtain a good understanding of program requirements and ensuring the support of the artist;
– Managing program budgets;
– Liaising with and hiring skilled contractors to provide assistance with the installation/de-installation process;
– Other duties as required.

Required Skills and Education:

– Excellent understanding of artist-run centres
– Past experience with exhibit installation;
– Post-secondary education in an arts related program is an asset;
– Previous experience (work or volunteer) with arts organizations;
– Working knowledge of MS Office, Word, Excel, databases, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, video editing, projection, and other technical skills;
– Strong/expert communication (written and spoken) and time management skills
– Resourceful, hands-on and pro-active;
– Must be highly organized, detail oriented, committed to quality and able to work independently with minimal supervision;
– Ability to work flexible hours.

About grunt

Formed in 1984, grunt gallery has built a reputation on innovation and cutting edge program exhibitions, performances, artist talks, publications and special projects that showcase current and past work by contemporary Canadian and International artists.  We focus on work that would otherwise not be seen in Vancouver, and are proud of our ability to act as an intersection between various cultural groups based on aesthetics, medium or identity.  We consider our programming as a work in program that is always changing and is always interesting.

How to apply: All applications must be received by Friday, March 1, 2013 at 5:00pm

 If you believe that you are a good fit for us, and we’re a good fit for you, please mail or email your resume and cover letter in confidence to:

grunt gallery
116 – 350 East 2^nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V5T 4R8

email:  meagan@grunt.ca

grunt is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all applicants.

Take advantage of these great deals and remember to pre-order your copy of the BLIZZARD catalogue!

Choose from the following:

BLIZZARD: Emerging Northern Artists

$16 + shipping
This catalogue looks at indigenous artists (Jamasie Pitseolak, Nicholas Galanin, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Geronimo Inutiq, and Derek Aqqiaruq) working in the North who are using their traditions to forge new ideas around contemporary art. This catalogue includes an essay by Candice Hopkins and Tania Willard. BLIZZARD looks at a younger generation of Northern Artists schooled in the traditions of their artists families, but breaking barriers by questioning relationships that tie North and South. Images and gallery documentation by Henri Robideau.

*Please note: This book is currently being printed and will be ready for mail-out by mid-March.

Purchase it here.

Vancouver Arts 3-Book Combo

$30 + shipping (reg. price $55).
This combo features Altered (2010), Access (2008), and LIVE (2000).

Read more about the Vancouver Arts Book Combo here.

Contemporary Indigenous Artists 3-Book Combo

$45 + shipping (reg. price $61).
This combo features the newly printed BLIZZARD: Emerging Northern Artists (2013), Beat Nation Catalogue (printed in Nov. 2012), and a hard-cover version of Old Growth: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (printed 2011).

*Please note: This book combo includes BLIZZARD which is currently being printed and will be ready for mail-out by mid-March.

Read more about the Contemporary Indigenous Artists Combo here.

Andante (a walking pace) at Richmond Art Gallery has an opening reception on Feb 2nd, 2013 (3-5pm).

The group show includes work by Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Mike Andrew McLean, Haruko Okano, Ruth Scheuing, and UWHAH (Until We Have a Helicopter). Adante (a walking pace) features a work by Cheryl L’Hirondelle that was originally commissioned by grunt gallery.

“Integral and common to the artworks in this group exhibition is the seemingly ordinary activity of walking. The title, Andante, draws from this tempo marking to mean – “at a walking pace” – a moderately slow pace that enables us to be attentive to our surroundings, literally and imaginatively. The works comprising Andante (a walking pace) are conceived as a conceptual practice, a process from which emerge diverse narratives reflecting artists’ responses to the various urban and rural landscapes they move in and consider.

The history of walking is an intriguing one with the capacity for narratives that hold cultural, political, social and spiritual meanings. From aboriginal rituals, religious and political pilgrimages, to intrepid explorers, artists, writers, and folk simply moving from one place to another, walking has inspired, challenged and been the subject of artistic investigation.

The artists presented in this exhibition explore the theme of walking to examine our surroundings, literally and imaginatively, in a range of media including photography, woven textiles, audio-visual media, sculpture, and installation.”

Visit the website for more information.

Hybrid identities in archived art

ART / (queer) intersections remembers pivotal 1990s performances

Monday, December 10, 2012
Written by Erin Flegg

Vancouver has a reputation (at least among those of us not born here) for playing hard to get. A diverse range of political and artistic communities has long thrived here, but they aren’t always easy to find.

A new series of online exhibits called Activating the Archive, from the grunt gallery, aims to draw out the vibrant histories of often marginalized groups and reacquaint Vancouver with its often radical past.

Interdisciplinary artist and scholar Christine Stoddard curated one of the exhibits, titled (queer)intersections.

The exhibit, made up of essays, video and photos, focuses on queer identity politics expressed through performance art in the 1990s.

“The ’90s for me was really when that notion of queer started to emerge as a political and identity category,” she says. “It’s taking the lesbian/gay movement and way of thinking about your sexuality and identity, and kind of opening it up to a less rigid category.”

Stoddard came to Vancouver toward the end of the 1990s, moving here with her first girlfriend to do a master’s of fine arts at Simon Fraser University. She got a job at the lesbian bar Charlie’s (“Oh god, I was a terrible server!”) and started to meet women who were also interested in exploring queer feminisms and with whom she would perform.

“That was the first time I really felt like I belonged here. It sounds sort of cheesy, but it’s true, I did.”

The grunt’s Halfbred cabaret series, featuring Oliv (above), marked an important moment in Vancouver’s queer art history, says Christine Stoddard.(grunt archives)At the time, she says, she didn’t consider herself a very radical queer. She grew up in the relatively small city of Halifax and says she was just looking for some kind of reflection of herself.

When she came out to her parents as bisexual, they had a hard time understanding, she says. They probably would have had an easier time had she used the word gay or lesbian, she reflects.

“It does confuse people when you don’t fit into a nice delineated box.”

CLICK HERE to read the entire article at Xtra West…

Donate to grunt by Friday, January 11th, 2013 through Canada Helps and you will be issued a tax receipt. Consider the monthly donation option. It’s easy, efficient, and provides grunt with steady and consistent income that helps with planning future programming!

Click HERE to donate!

November and December have been a whirlwind of events and fundraising initiatives!

grunt gallery is happy to announce that $4,920 was raised for the grunt gallery Endowment Legacy Fund. This amount has been submitted to the Canadian Heritage’s Canada Cultural Investment Fund – Endowment Incentives Component program. This is a matching-funds program that works to encourage private donors to contribute to not-for-profit professional arts organizations to help support long-term stability. Read more about this program here. This fundraising initiative is an important one for grunt. We are incredibly thankful to everyone that was able to donate to our Legacy Fund and look forward to continually growing this endowment.

The Eclectic Cabaret: grunt gallery fundraiser kicked off on December 1^st at the Russian Hall in Vancouver. This event featured a number of different performers and brought grunt’s community together to celebrate and raise funds for future programming at grunt gallery. New and veteran volunteers, and grunt’s board of directors were a driving force in ensuring the cabaret was a success. The staff at grunt are thankful for all of the help and support we received and look forward to cultivating a strong group of volunteers for 2013.

December programming at grunt includes an exhibition entitled Remains by artist, Mark Mizgala. Working with the City of Vancouver’s Transit Shelter Advertising Program, grunt gallery has facilitated the production and distribution of the posters across the city as an off-site exhibition. The opening reception will take place at grunt gallery on December 12, 2012 (7–10pm).

Programming Director, Glenn Alteen, and Communications Director, Karlene Harvey, are excited to attend the opening reception of Beat Nation at The Power Plant in Toronto on December 14th, 2012. Keep an eye on grunt gallery’s Facebook and Twitter for photos!

Before grunt closes for the holidays, we will be hosting our annual Winter Solstice Party on Friday, December 21^st (7pm-11pm). This is a special event for grunt’s supporters, artists, community members, and friends. We invite you to drop by grunt for a drink, enjoy some appetizers, and perhaps even bid on a silent auction gift basket. grunt gallery will be closed from December 22nd, 2012 – January 1st, 2013.

Our first exhibition of 2013 is an installation by Adrian Stimson entitled, “Holding Our Breath”. The opening reception will take place at grunt on Friday January 4^th, 2013 (7-10pm), this exhibition will run until February 9^th, 2013. Sign up for our newsletter to receive press releases and updates.

Join us on December 21st, 2012 (7pm – 11pm).

Additional thanks to the following silent auction contributors: Happy Bones Yamuna Body Rolling, Forysa Boutique and Yoga on 7th.

grunt gallery Legacy Fund:
Beat Nation Prepares to Head East: Tania Willard, Co-Curator, Recalls Where It All Started

Grunt gallery is committed to working with emerging artists, curators and innovative ideas to create high impact exhibitions and projects. An example of this is Beat Nation, which originally took form at grunt gallery in 2008 as a website project curated by Tania Willard and Skeena Reece.

“I have worked with grunt over the years as a curator-in-residence, publications designer, editor, and conference organizer, and I think all of this has really helped me in being able to continue to work in the arts and have a unique perspective,” said Tania Willard, co-curator for Beat Nation. “I owe grunt my art life. There are not that many places or spaces that nurture emerging artists and curators, while at the same time being a place for established and senior artists.”

The “Beat Nation – Hip Hop as Indigenous Culture” website evolved into an exhibition that was presented at SAW gallery and later at grunt gallery on June 26, 2009. Over the years, Beat Nation has seen various incarnations and been presented in an array of venues including PuSh Festival, New Forms Festival and many more. This December, Beat Nation is leaving Vancouver and heading eastward.

“The never-ending project [and] idea that was Beat Nation started with grunt’s online projects, which I helped curate. This project is now touring as a large scale exhibition co-curated with Kathleen Ritter of Vancouver Art Gallery,” said Willard. “It all starts at grunt, where seeds that are always being planted sometimes grow into these beautiful creatures. Kusktemc (thank you).”

Beat Nation will be exhibited from December 14, 2012 to May 5, 2013 at the Power Plant in Toronto, Ontario, one of Canada’s leading galleries for contemporary arts. Plans are currently in the works to take this tour to even more galleries in North America, details to be determined in the near future.

If you are a supporter of grunt and have appreciated the work we do to continue our innovative programming, then please consider giving to our Legacy Fund. The grunt gallery Legacy Fund is a permanent endowment, managed by the Vancouver Foundation, with the purpose of providing a strong and stable base of funds that financially supports grunt and the artists we serve. Your contribution to the Legacy Fund helps provide us with the means to assure our long-term viability.

A chance to double your support:

Grunt gallery is eligible for support from the Canadian Heritage Endowment Incentives Program through which we will receive a match on your donation to the endowment. All funds received before November 21, 2012 are eligible for this matching program. Last year, our campaign raised $3,500, which was matched by over $2,800 from the Heritage program for a total of $6,300. This year we are hoping for an even stronger response.

For more information you can contact Operations Director Meagan Kus at 604.875.9516

Or click here to donate!

Please note: The Vancouver Foundation will issue you a tax receipt for your donation.

We have currently raised over $3,000, please help us reach our goal of $5,000!