WHEN
APR 21 — MAY 24, 2023
Open Daily 10 AM ― 4 PM
San Juan Artists
WHERE
ArtSpring
100 Jackson Avenue
WHAT
Opening Reception
APR 21 | 5:00 ― 7:00 PM
Artist Panel 1
APR 22 | 10:30 AM
SALT SPRING ARTS
APR 14 – APR 30, 2023
Open Daily 10 AM – 5PM
Mahon Hall
Southern Gulf Island Artists
Artist Panel 2
APR 22 | 2:00 PM
Archipelago — Contemporary Art of the Salish Sea
12 Artists | 6 Mediums | 3 Exhibitions | 2 Countries | 1 Sea
ArtSpring is proud to present a unique and important cultural exchange between two of North America’s most feted arts communities – the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada, and the San Juan Islands of Washington State, USA. In collaboration with the San Juan Islands Museum of Art and Salt Spring Arts.
Archipelago ⏤ Artist Panel 1
One of the aims of Archipelago is to explore and celebrate the similarities and differences between the San Juan Islands and the Southern Gulf islands.
Our artist panels aim to get the opinions and insights of all 12 artists on these commonalities and contrasts, by discussing the shared environment, their expectations as artists, artistic process and voice, the role of artistic communities in their work and life, and whatever else comes up!
The panels will be conversational and informal with the hope that the artists will spark off each other, leading to interesting dialogues between themselves and the audience. We hope the audience will gain some understanding of how each artist creates and what it is like to live and work as an artist in the Salish Sea.
Attend the panel at ArtSpring, then re-join for the 2pm panel at Mahon Hall. Each panel features a mix of Southern Gulf Island and San Juan artists.
Richard Steel
Richard Steel grew up in London England, loving all that the city offered, well, most of it anyway, and was very fortunate and took advantage of being surrounded by art galleries, theatres, live music, and fashion. He worked in retail and exhibition design and display for many years and was lucky enough to attend Heatherly’s School of Fine Art in Chelsea, London, which made him see everything in a very different way.
He moved to Salt Spring Island in 2001, with his wife and young children, where he was able to fulfill a long-held wish to design and make furniture. In 2012 Richard joined the Salt Spring Arts Council, taking on the role of Artcraft manager, where he utilised his experience in retail and display and his love of art. There he was responsible for all aspects of the annual exhibition and sale of the work of 100 local artists and craftspeople, including the curation of 4 showcase exhibitions of individual or group work each year. He enjoyed and was consumed by this role until 2019.
Since then, Steel has continued to curate and install exhibitions on a freelance basis, including the Easter Art Show in 2018 and the Salt Spring National Art Prize in 2019 along with many other exhibitions in ArtSpring, Mahon Hall, and other galleries on Salt Spring Island.
Throughout his life, he has done a lot of voluntary work, both in London and on Salt Spring, including being a buddy to people dying from AIDS in the early 1990s, coaching youth soccer, helping in the schools, and working to get the indoor pool to be built on the island. In the late 1980s, he was one of three people who organized and drove a London double-decker bus around the world raising money for two charities.
Patrick McCallum
Born in Penticton BC, but living most of his life on the West Coast, Patrick McCallum has spent the majority of his career in the creative sector. Essentially self-taught, McCallum has worked in a wide range of roles including commercial illustrator, art director, graphic designer, copywriter, comic book creator, storyboard artist, and art instructor until committing to Fine Art full time in 2015.
Since entering juried shows in 2015 he has won The Award of Excellence at the Sooke Fine Art Show 2015; The Juror’s Prize at the Sidney Fine Art Show in 2016; The Juror’s Prize at the Sooke Fine Art Show in 2018, and “Best in Show” at the 2020 Au Natural International Exhibition of Figurative Art in Astoria, OR. His first solo show was mounted in July of 2018 at ArtSpring on Salt Spring Island BC. Since 2015 he has been featured in 18 group exhibitions.
In addition to creating art McCallum is also active as a curator and exhibition installer. He began working at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria when he was 15 as a preparator’s assistant and was the youngest British Columbian to have earned his Museum and Archivist Certificate. He has mounted a wide selection of shows over the years including “Paused Life: A Collection of Figurative Art Masterpieces”; “WPA and Beyond, The Power of the Poster”; “Thrust: A Visual Celebration of Human Sexuality”; “ ‘Homage’ A Spring Art Show Group Exhibition” and the last three exhibitions of the Salt Spring National Art Prize, one of Canada’s largest national art competitions.
In addition to his artistic pursuits, he holds a Master’s degree in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University, Victoria BC.
