Kwantlen Art Collective Goes Public with New Exhibit
Work by 14 KPU artists showcased at Newton PopUp gallery
The Kwantlen Art Collective is beginning the semester by showcasing some of their members’ finest work. The Collective has been hosting an exhibition titled Private Inquiries from a Public Exposure at the Newton PopUp Gallery from Aug. 30 to Sept. 16, and to kick the exhibition off, the Art Collective held an opening night gala.
The Newton PopUp Gallery is a retail space located on 72 Avenue, near the Newton bus exchange. It was made available to the Art Collective by the City of Surrey as part of a program to temporarily turn unused spaces around the city into centres for the arts.
“This is probably the third show we’ve been involved in, but it’s the first time we’ve had the whole gallery to ourselves to really create the whole thing and a large gallery that we can put installation work in,” says Jude Campbell, president of the Kwantlen Art Collective. Jude’s installation, titled Monument II, is on display at the exhibition.
“This is a great opportunity for us,” she says.
It’s a long process to put together an exhibition like this, with preparation beginning in June. A large portion of the planning goes into collecting work from eligible artists, considering the pieces that are available, and amassing a collection that works well together. With this particular exhibition, the Collective made a point of displaying art from multiple disciplines—sculpture, painting, installation, and more—whereas in the past, the Collective has been limited to paintings due to space restrictions.
According to some of the artists whose works are on display, the exhibition is meant to celebrate the tight-knit arts community that has been developing at KPU in recent years.
“[The KPU art community] is very supportive. I’d say there’s a good sense of community in the way that everyone kind of knows each other and supports each other,” says Kim Ateah, whose ceramic art, Produce Art is being showcased.
“I came [to KPU] initially to just get my diploma, but I found that the teachers were very well educated and the classes are very small. [The KPU art community] felt like a little family almost. It’s nice,” says Keith Harris, whose painting, Before and After I, is on display.
Artists in the Collective come from a diverse range of backgrounds, which of course creates a rich supply of inspiration to draw from. Artist Durrah Alsaif created her piece, Rays of Light in the Darkness, an installation designed to address the religious persecution she has faced both in her native Saudi Arabia and here in Canada.
“I’ve never spoken about this subject before. Even my family, they don’t know how this affected my life, so this project was kind of about knowing myself more,” says Alsaif.
The Kwantlen Art Collective aims to bring together art lovers from around KPU. In addition to putting together events such as the exhibition at the PopUp Gallery, the Collective holds meetings once a week on Thursday evenings. Both KPU art students and non-art students with a love of fine arts are encouraged to attend.
“A lot of people that I had classes with were in the Collective,” says artist Amy Duval, “[Joining the Collective] seemed like a good way to get involved with the community that was forming at Kwantlen and figure out ways to show our work and establish ourselves as a community.”
