Message from the Executive Director
Our 2011/12 fiscal year ended on a high note – one of the most successful years in recent years with a record surplus. By the end of its historic run, American Chronicles, the first major Norman Rockwell exhibition in Canada, welcomed over 30,000 visitors from several provinces and states. Among our special guests were thousands of school children, convincing us to open our doors on Mondays for special school tours. We also made some new friends from the local community this year: Migrating Landscapes, Canada’s official entry for the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture, was a huge draw for Winnipeg’s architectural and design community and another big hit with school groups. In honour of the Manitoba Society of Artist’s 110th anniversary, the WAG hosted the group’s annual juried art exhibition, attracting hundreds of artists from across the province. Birchwood BMW: Art & Soul Après Ski, one of our annual fundraising events, brought in a record amount thanks to over 1000 guests, many great sponsors, and a fabulous committee of volunteers.st
This summer we are packing our galleries with some stellar international and regional exhibitions. Our blockbuster contemporary show Fairy Tales, Monsters, and the Genetic Imagination features over sixty works by international artists dealing with the mythical, fantastic, and the ordinary storybook tale. Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration examines the groundbreaking inquiry into Japanese influences in Cape Dorset, featuring forty Inuit prints. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words is the creative result of a new academic partnership between the WAG, Plug In ICA, and the University of Winnipeg. Frances Gail, a graduate student enrolled in the new Masters in Curatorial Practice at U of W, worked with WAG curators in assembling this exhibition drawn from the permanent collection. Stephen Hutchings’ Landscapes for the End of Time brings to the Gallery some of the most breathtaking contemporary landscape paintings I’ve seen in recent years, including an enormous eighteen-foot wide painting recently acquired by the Gallery through a generous gift of the artist. Winnipeg artist Ewa Tarsia teams up with 5468796 Architecture for an organic intervention entitled Green... Grass... Dot... Dealing with the real and the synthetic in the urban landscape, Tarsia’s lush creations are a welcome addition to the WAG’s interior and exterior spaces. (And don’t forget about our new outdoor concert series, Live on the Rooftop).
Gearing up for the Centennial, the exhibition The WAG Century takes us on a trip back over the WAG’s first 100 years with art and archival materials, and a special interactive website (wag100.ca) funded by Canadian Heritage. Our Centennial year, which launches in September, is highlighted by three spectacular exhibitions – Winnipeg Now; Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art and Only in Canada: 100 International Masterworks for the WAG Centennial – and one historic partnership with the National Gallery of Canada – NGC@ WAG. Supporting these exhibitions are numerous programs and events, including our Birthday Party, Nuit Blanche, the Centennial Ball, and the Anniversary Soirée. We are giving you plenty of reasons and opportunities to celebrate with us as Canada’s oldest civic art gallery – and one of our country’s finest. Stay connected to the WAG for a year like no other, and be Part of the ART!
Stephen Borys, PhD, MBA