Author Archives: soddleif

Hummingbird Spirits: Strength and Resilience

Based on the Hummingbird Spirits printmaking initiative originated by UBC Okanagan Gallery Director and Assistant Professor in Visual Arts Tania Willard, Hummingbird Spirits: Strength and Resilience explores a vast catalog of linocut prints all featuring a hummingbird motif. Each original linocut print was produced during the previous two year annual run of the ongoing Hummingbird Spirits project.

This exhibition is organized by the UBC Okanagan Gallery and is on display in the Galleria at the Rotary Centre for the Arts, Feb. 29 to Apr. 22, 2024.

Play Prev | Next

Second Nature

Second Nature features a selection of works from Okanagan based artists Csetkwe Fortier (Syilx/Secwépemc) and David Doody in addition to works from UBC Okanagan’s Public Art Collection by Jordan Bennett (Mi’kmaw), Judy Gouin and Judith Schwarz.

Curated by Ryan Trafananko and Tania Willard, UBC Okanagan Gallery’s newly appointed director Second Nature explores how the complex visual patterns of the natural world are referenced in contemporary art and cultural identities. The exhibition features a variety of mediums from printmaking to sculpture to painting that highlight the links between organic and industrial structures.

Constructing Perspectives: Three-Dimensional Art Practices

Constructing Perspectives showcases sculptures created through a skill-building, iterative process. Guided by principles of Constructivism, students explore how meaning is conveyed through abstracted form and materiality in sculpture.

The process involves engagement in research and the creation of sketches, maquettes, and prototypes leading to the development of final works made from plywood and steel. A primary endeavour in the process is the strengthening of wood and metal shop skills and practices.

VISA 104: Instructor, Crystal Przybille

Play Prev | Next

Outdoor Banner Exhibition

This project originally launched in 2020, with the first banners erected in the spring of 2021, as a means of creating new opportunities for local artists amidst pandemic-related facility closures. The banner project continues as a unique and engaging way to expand access to exhibition space in the city. Each year, the Outdoor Banner Exhibition Program showcases 13 original works by UBCO students, staff, faculty and alumni.

The banners are installed in the springtime on the light standards at the Rotary Commons—the greenspace between the Kelowna Art Gallery and the Rotary Centre for the Arts—and the Art Walk pathway between the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Downtown Library. The banners remain on view throughout the year, with a call for submissions going out each fall for new artwork for the following spring.

This project is made possible with the partnership of the City of Kelowna.

2021 Artists

Moozhan Ahmadzadegan; Mackenzie Beeman and Nicholas Kucher; Taylor Carruthers; Jon Corbett; Natasha Harvey; Patrick Lundeen; Coralee Miller; Ruth Nygard; Katherine Pickering; Andreas Rutkauskas; Rueben Scott; Stephanie Tennert; Angela Wood

Play Prev | Next

2022 Artists

Serena Arsenault; Kayti Barkved; Kanzie Beeman; Myron Campbell; Connor Charlesworth; Briar Craig; Aubrey Creasor; David and Jorden Doody; Sofie Lovelady; Nayaab Master; Nasim Pirhadi; Maura Tamez; Kelly Yuste

Play Prev | Next

2023 Artists

Bella Chunxiao Jiang; Joanne Gervais; Makeena Hartman; Josie Hilman; Asana Hughes; Chloe Jenkins; Lidnsay Kirker; Christna Knittle; Patty Leinemann; Jordan MacDonald; Mariah Miguel Juan; Sara Richardson; Ziang Wei

Play Prev | Next

2023 Mural: Wild Horses

18 students enrolled in this year’s mural course were busy painting this new mural outside the Landmark District Market throughout July and August. The mural was celebrated on Thursday, August 17, 2023. This is the fourth mural painted by UBCO’s Visual Arts students who collaborated with instructors David and Jorden Doody to paint a colourful, large-scale mural.

The theme for this year’s UBCO Public Art Project draws inspiration from wild horses of the Okanagan. Wild horses have long been a symbol of strength and freedom for many cultures. As our fourth mural in our local flora and fauna series, this mural uses the wide panorama of the architecture to illustrate a fantastical view of our picturesque region.

UBCO’s Department of Creative Studies partnered with Stober Group for the 2023 mural course, helping to secure a highly visible wall in the growing Landmark District.

Support for this project was made possible with the generous donations from Sunbelt Rentals, Stober Group, Dulux Paints, and Fresh West Official.

Play Prev | Next

Plastic Grass: MFA Thesis Exhibition

This exhibition held at the Lake Country Art Gallery featured the thesis work of MFA Visual Arts students Michaela Bridgemohan, Natasha Harvey, Scott Moore.

Scott Moore’s artwork addresses the way we relate to our environment. Moore’s hyper-real digital and sculptural renderings of everyday objects compel us to examine the world around us and our concept of ‘place.’

Natasha Harvey’s large-scale collage and lino-print works deal with the paradox of living and revering the beauty of natural spaces while being overcome by its canceling through rampant development.

Michaela Bridgemohan’s work explores topics around relational connections and cultural identity, diving into stories through ritualistic use of both traditional and unconventional materials.

Exhibition dates: June 4th to July 16th, 2022

(images 1 to 6 show the work of Scott Moore; images 7 to 9 show the work of Natasha Harvey; images 10 to 1 show the work of Michaela Bridgemohan)

Play Prev | Next

2022 Mural: Painted Turtle

Nine students in the visual arts mural painting course began work in early May 2022, unveiling the finished painting on June 23.

This latest mural is located 2820 Pandosy St., and continues the theme of the previous two murals in downtown Kelowna—sensitive habitats and ecosystems of the Okanagan. Each mural depicts local flora and fauna to help bring awareness to some of the sensitive habitats in the local area.

The design features a large western painted turtle, showing it as the sun sets in a very calm surreal setting.

Support for this project was made possible with the generous donations from Sunbelt Rentals, CTQ Consultants Ltd., Opus Framing and Art Supplies and Fresh West Official.

Play Prev | Next

Strategies in Digital Art: Virtual Worlds

FCCS instructor Emerald Holt (VISA 269.001 “Strategies in Digital Art: Virtual Worlds) is pleased to present the class final exhibition of virtual environments that place the artwork in critical, historical, and cultural context within creative inquiry in the arts and digital media production. The virtual worlds explore non-liner storytelling, media aesthetics, modelling, animation, interaction design and coding using 3D modelling software and Unity game engine. A culmination of the students’ finest video fly-through compositions will be on exhibition for the month of April and May 2022.

The virtual environment exhibition will be shared with the larger university community in the FCCS video wall in the foyer, Sawchuck Family Theatre in the university commons building from April 22 to May 6 (Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays), and with the public community audience at the Rotary Art Centre Urban Screens in downtown Kelowna from April 21 to May 31, 2022.

Play Prev | Next

2021 Mural: Golden Hour

Ten students worked on this project at 1358 St. Paul St. throughout July and August of 2021, unveiling the finished mural, Golden Hour, on August 19, 2021.

With this mural, the students hope to build a strong connection to the importance and fragility of the region’s local ecosystems. A blue heron is the central character, and course instructor David Doody describes the heron as an ancient and beautiful bird that survives and thrives only when there are healthy fish stocks.

“By including the iconic beauty of our picturesque valley as the mural’s backdrop we hope to remind viewers that we are all living in a natural work of art,” he says. “With this design, we hope to pay homage and respect to the land and those who came before us.”

Support for this project was made possible with the generous donations from Sunbelt Rentals, CTQ Consultants Ltd., Opus Framing and Art Supplies and Fresh West Official.

Play Prev | Next

Botanical Colour by AJ Salter

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has seen many adaptations of conventional exhibitions toward online formats. Students in VISA 362, a third year photography class taught by Andreas Rutkauskas, were asked to consider what online dissemination of their photography can offer an audience. Branding and marketing as an artist are important skills in this time especially, therefore they were asked to consider using this assignment as a way of exploring a visual brand or alter ego.

Below is a snapshot of what one student, AJ Salter, completed for the project, a documentation exhibit on the benefits of sustainable clothing focusing on the education and exploration of natural dyes and sewing a garment by hand.

“For VISA 362O with Professor Andreas Rutkauskas, I ran this online exhibition for an assignment with the theme Speculative Exhibition. I believe that social media is a fantastic way to reach people and is relevant more than ever during the current socially distant times when people are still looking for ways to connect with others. I would like the content to revolve around continued themes I have already worked with, but in a new way.

After looking at fast fashion, vintage clothing, and discussing the importance of being mindful of wastefulness I curated an exhibition that documents a step-by-step process where I make a garment by hand starting with using locally sourced natural dyes to create the colours.

By documenting this process on social media, it allows viewers to follow along and learn the process as well as extra information and techniques I posted using the captions for the photos or videos as well as the story feature. I believe this added to my previous themes of fashion and waste and incorporated the element of time that also exists in my previous works; such as the time it takes to make clothing that is durable vs how long typical fast-fashion pieces made in bulk will be worn before being thrown out. From start to finish the exhibition was documentation and informational in nature, with the final product marking the end of the show.”

You can view the entire process on Instagram @botanicalcolourexhibition