SFURA private tour of VAG’s MashUp exhibit.
The SFURA board would like to support initiatives suggested by our members who
could take on most of the organizing. Jay and Carolyn Burr recently experienced an
outstanding public tour of the MashUp exhibit now on at the Vancouver Art Gallery
and (with Evelyn Palmer’s help) Jay is organizing a private tour for interested
members by the same guide. (See details about the exhibit and tour guide below).
We would meet at 9:45am on Monday, April 25, and after the tour gather for lunch
at the Gallery Café, where we have reservations at 12 noon.
For admissions, the VAG has offered us a special group price of $3.50 apiece
(Admission for seniors is normally $15). Those who are members of the Gallery
have free admission and would pay only their share of the cost of the tour. Assuming
20 participants, the share of the $150 cost of the tour would be $7.50. We would
cancel if fewer than 15 plan to attend, to keep the per person share of the cost of the
tour below $10.
In this announcement we are asking if you and possible guests are likely to join us.
In a second email we will ask if you and guests will definitely attend and how many
are VAG members. The number of committed participants will be used to calculate
the per person share of the tour guide’s cost. In a third email, you will be told of your
share of the cost and how to send your payment to SFURA. The SFURA will have to
provide a check for the total amount at the door.
Please reply to burr@sfu.ca by Monday April 11 if you are likely to attend.
MashUp, The Birth of Modern Culture is a major exhibit that occupies the entire 4
floors of the VAG and traces the development of contemporary art from ideas
developed by Picasso, Braque and contemporaries at the beginning of the 20th
century to a mode of creativity that has grown to become the dominant form of
cultural production in the early 21st century.
http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_mashup.html
Jessa is an excellent, clear speaker who was very effective at giving an
understanding of contemporary art during the public tour. "With private tours of
course questions, comments etc. are always welcome and easier to discuss as we go
along, than with the large public tours, and you can let us know if there are certain
areas or interests you are hoping to cover, or special interests of your group."
Instead of covering just one floor as in the public tours, Jessa suggested she guide us
through the entire exhibit to bring out the themes that tie the entire exhibit
together.
Bio: Jessa Alston-O’Connor is an art educator and independent arts writer and critic
from Vancouver. She holds a Masters in Art History from Concordia University with
a concentration in Asian Canadian Art, Identity and Food Culture in Contemporary
Art. Over the past ten years she has taught Art History at the University of
Saskatchewan and worked in public art galleries and collective run art spaces across
Canada, developing and delivering programs for meaningful connections between
art and diverse publics. She is an educator in Public Programs at the Vancouver Art
Gallery and instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
The Gallery Café offers a wide variety of quite elegant dishes, wine and beer at
reasonable prices. The outdoor patio would be very nice in good weather.
The Burrard or Granville skytrain stations are convenient, and also bus travel will
avoid the cost of parking. Parking is available in the parkade below Robson Square
between the Courthouse and the VAG or the one below Nordstroms. Passenger
drop-off is outside the Hornby Entrance to the VAG (at the red awning); watch out
for bikers in the bike lane.