Tag Archives: Confederation Centre Art Gallery

In the Beginning

Get a rare look at the original manuscript of a book that changed the world.

In partnership with the Robertson Library and the L.M. Montgomery Institute at UPEI, and Digital Museums Canada, Confederation Centre Art Gallery has developed a virtual exhibit to celebrate the original manuscript of Anne of Green Gables.

Now you can view page, by hand-written page, and every pen stroke of the original Anne of Green Gables manuscript at annemanuscript.ca

#AnneOfGreenGables#LucyMaudMontgomery

Theatre PEI

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Art Talk Tomorrow

Join us on May 11 at 12:00 p.m. at the Confederation Centre for an ArtTalk!

Pan Wendt, Gallery Curator, will give a short walk-through tour of the exhibitions, Land is not a mat, Aftereffects: Emerging New Media Artists in Winnipeg and Lou Sheppard and Willam Robinson: Cabinet Music (Cantata for Erosion) followed by a Q&A.

Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, Look, it’s daybreak, dear, time to sing, 2021. Installation view, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas. Photo: H&S.

Theatre PEI

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Catching Up On Generations

The Confederation Centre Art Gallery is proud to present “Generations: The Sobey Family and Canadian Art” exhibition this summer.

For the first time ever, the Sobey family’s private collection of Canadian art will be on public display in the Maritimes. From early European newcomers to contemporary Indigenous artists, this exhibition is a celebration of Canada’s creativity past and present.

Join us from June 10 to September 10 at the Gallery for a unique opportunity to explore narratives in Canadian art that reflect on an evolving Canada.

Don’t miss out!

Kent Monkman (b. 1965), Study for “mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Resurgence of the People,”

(Final Variation), 2019, acrylic on canvas, 107.3 x 213.4 cm, Collection of the Sobey Art Foundation,

© Kent Monkman

#GenerationsExhibition#CanadianArt#CCAGSummer2023#Charlottetown

Theatre PEI

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Eight Artists On the Move

RE:visiting

June 4, 2022 – February 4, 2022

This exhibition tracks the changing careers of eight notable Canadian artists by bringing their recent work into comparison with earlier pieces in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery collection. These pairings, which function as focal points of artistic biographies, illuminate the way the trajectories of individual lives and careers reshape our interpretation of works of art from the past.  


The exhibition is curated by Pan Wendt.

Theatre PEI

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Porcupine Art Revisited

Matues Revisited

June 11, 2022 – September 11, 2022

A collection of vibrant porcupine quillwork art created by The Quill Sisters collective, three artists from Epekwitk that have dedicated their time, passion, and creativity to reinvigorating the unique and dynamic tradition of Mi’kmaw quillwork embellishment on birchbark forms, will be featured in the Fredric and Ogden Martin Concourse Gallery. Matues Revisited is presented in partnership with the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Centre for Craft Nova Scotia and the Mary E Black Gallery.

Curated by Aiden Gillis.

Theatre PEI

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Check Out the Summer Trade

The Summer Trade

June 11, 2022 – October 9, 2022

Tourism is a transaction, but also, a complicated set of relationships that subtly shapes both guest and host. By its nature, tourism also holds up a mirror to the host society in which it can see a version of itself. Over the long arc of tourism’s history on Prince Edward Island, stretching from the early Victorian period to today’s economic juggernaut, the summer trade has consistently promoted the restorative effects of the province’s healthy climate, pastoral landscape, and rural culture, and continually refined the tools it uses to reach, attract, and satisfy visitors. Using images and artifacts, The Summer Trade at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery will trace change and continuity in the story of tourism in the Garden of the Gulf over a period of 150 years through a series of thematic modules spanning promotion, transportation (to and within the province), accommodations, attractions, souvenirs, and host-visitor relations. It is a tale of boosters and knockers, promoters and providers, and, of course, tourists in search of what travel brings: entertainment, experience, and the recovery of innocence. 


Curated by Ed MacDonald and Alan MacEachern.

Theatre PEI

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New Season New Works

Spring Gallery Opening at Confederation Centre Art Gallery

– Upcoming public events connect patrons with exhibitions, curators, and artists –

The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG) is thrilled to invite the public to its Spring Gallery Opening on Saturday, March 26 at 7 p.m. The evening will begin in Memorial Hall with light food, a cash bar, and live music from Ryan Van Winkle and Drew Cassibo. Guests will then make their way to the Gallery to explore the exhibitions at their own pace. Several guest curators and artists will be in attendance, including Anne KovalDanika Vandersteen, and David Woods

“There is such remarkable range of artworks on display right now,” says CCAG director Kevin Rice. “We have greatly missed hosting openings and are thrilled to welcome the public to connect with and celebrate art.”  

The Spring Gallery Opening is free to attend, and no registration is required. The current exhibitions include: 

Fairy Tails (curated by Anne Koval)

This group exhibition, with ten artists, explores the wonderous in nature by reconsidering the role of animals in storytelling. The works present fantastical narratives in which animals preside over strange episodes. 

Danika Vandersteen: How to Convey Blue in Black and White (curated by Jill McRae and Andrew Cairns)

The exhibition brings together a colourful and eclectic array of painting, found-object, and textile work to create a compelling and whimsical world populated with people, animals, everyday items, and repeating patterns. 

John Hartman: Many Lives Mark This Place (organized and circulated by the Woodstock Art Gallery, Ontario)

Renowned Canadian painter and printmaker John Hartman captures the intimate relationship between Canadian authors and their personal places of inspiration in large-scale portraits.

Visible Storage: A CCAG Collection Project (curated by Kathleen MacKinnon and Jill McRae)

Gallery staff are working in view of the public on rehousing, repairing, reporting, and retelling the stories of lesser-known pieces from the CCAG vault. The permanent collection is varied and includes paintings, prints, photographs, letters, architectural drawings, and the odd Lucy Maud Montgomery manuscript.

The Secret Codes: Quilts From and Inspired by Nova Scotia’s Black Communities (curated by David Woods) 

Organized and circulated by the Black Artists Network of Nova Scotia, this exhibition focuses on the ways that quilts have functioned as utilitarian and decorative objects, as documentary records of family history, and as a celebration of Black culture. 

Prior to the opening reception, there will be free guided tours of the CCAG led by the artists and curators of the exhibitions: 

4:00 p.m. – How to Convey Blue in Black and White with artist Danika Vandersteen

4:30 p.m. – Fairy Tails with curator Anne Koval

5:00 p.m. – The Secret Codes with curator David Woods 

Registration for these tours is required. Contact Sodam Jeong at sjeong@confederationcentre.com to book. 

Artist Danika Vandersteen will also take part in Family Sunday on March 27 at 1:30 p.m. These free, bilingual workshops are an opportunity for families to explore visual art together. Participants will create mixed media collages inspired by the colourful grids and tessellations found in Vandersteen’s work using coloured paper, markers, glue, and scissors. To register, contact Sodam Jeong at sjeong@confederationcentre.com

For all information on all CCAG events, visit confederationcentre.com.

Theatre PEI

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A Fine Line

New Exhibition Explores Relationship between the Digital World and Reality

 Artist in Residence Casey Koyczan presents exhibition and ArtTalk –

A new media installation recently developed by Tlicho-Dene artist Casey Koyczan opens at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG) on October 13. 

nayiìhtła ; light is Koyczan’s first exhibition on P.E.I., and he will undertake a week-long residency at CCAG. Originally from Yellowknife, YT and now based in Winnipeg, MB, he recently received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba. His approach is rooted in new media, with his work combining traditional art practices with digital realities. 

“This is how we are all experiencing the world now, so it is refreshing to see work that starts from the premise that the digital and the ‘real’ are always overlapping one another,” says gallery curator Pan Wendt

In this exhibition, the artist combines two looped digital multimedia pieces with the unique characteristics of the physical space of the gallery. In the artist’s words, it “explores the relationship between the digital world and our perceptions of reality by imaginatively reshaping architectural spaces”. Dual-channel projections accompanied by audio soundscapes work together in a changing progression that evokes organic objects, natural elements, and organisms in the real world.

“I couldn’t say no to this opportunity when Pan reached out to me, I automatically said yes,” says Koyczan. “It has been great to be presented with the challenge of coming up with a new exhibition. I don’t like to show work over and over again, so I always push myself to make something new.”  

nayiìhtła ; light will be on display from October 13, 2021 – January 23, 2022 and is supported by the RBC Emerging Artists Program. 

An ArtTalk with Casey Koyczan will take place on Thursday, October 14 at 7pm. There is no cost to attend the event, but patrons must register in advance and seats are limited. To register; send your name, phone number, and the number of individuals in your party to Sodam Jeong at sjeong@confederationcentre.com

COVID Guidelines: Masks are required at all times in the gallery. To attend the ArtTalk, patrons must show one of the following upon arrival:

• Proof of vaccination along with a valid government-issued ID 

• Written exemption from the Chief Public Health Office confirming inability to be vaccinated

Theatre PEI

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Two Thumbs Up

Confederation Centre Art Gallery to host new work from BGL

-Two Thumbs Up (Arts and Crafts) to feature the artist collective’s final exhibition of new works.

Award-winning Quebec-based artist collective BGL, who have represented Canada at the Venice Biennale, and have won major acclaim around the world, opens an exhibit of new work at the Confederation Centre Gallery (CCAG) on July 17th.

“This is going to be the last time we will be creating new work as a collective, so even if there are some works that seem to reflect on our end – like the replica of a 19th century hearse or the ‘crashed’ motorcycle – we want them to be joyful, fun, and humorous,” explains BGL member Nicolas Laverdière. “The pleasure and freedom in making art for a living was the reason we got together in the first place. Art was always an adventure into fun for us.” 

In Two Thumbs Up (Arts and Crafts), they reprise elements of their Canadassimo project originally presented at the Venice Biennale in 2015, along with a major new body of work. Curated by Pan Wendt, the CCAG exhibition features two galleries of work. One will include the studio installation from Canadassimo, and the other will show BGL’s latest work, including a series of pieces made with birch twigs. 

“Arts and Crafts is a title that makes sense for the new body of work, which really comes out of the poetry of different kinds of manual labour, things you can only say intuitively in the roughness of manual work,” offers Laverdière. “There’s something about the handmade aesthetic that’s true for us.”

“We are truly honoured to host the final exhibition of new work by some of Canada’s most imaginative, brilliant, and playful sculptors, and we have really been impressed by BGL’s work over the years,” shares CCAG Director Kevin Rice. “BGL was a pleasure to work with during Oh, Canada, a 2014 exhibition organized by Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and presented in our gallery, and we are very excited to be showing a selection of their latest work, as well as their truly grand-scale Venice installation.”

BGL—Two Thumbs Up (Arts and Crafts) opens on Saturday, July 17 and will be on display until December 2021. Special thanks are extended to the Arts Hotel, the official accommodation sponsor in Charlottetown for BGL artist collective.

Theatre PEI

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Get to the Gallery

Don’t Miss our Summer Opening!Join us as we celebrate our new exhibitions on Saturday, July 17 at 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Enjoy great food, listen to tunes from piano player Hannah Melanson, and meet the artists, including BGL members whose exhibition, Two Thumbs Up Arts and Crafts, opens July 17. Tickets are required and can be purchased at the Confederation Centre box office. BGL members Jasmin Bilodeau, Sébastien Giguère and Nicolas Laverdière.
Robert Harris ExhibitionA survey of Robert Harris’ impressive career as a portrait painter fills two of our main galleries with his commissioned and family portraits, self-portraits, genre subjects, as well as landscapes and selected drawings, sketchbooks, family photographs, letters, and memorabilia.  
Bessie in Her Wedding Gown, 1885A Decade of Art in the OpenThis exhibition in the Centre’s concourse commemorates 10 years of Art in the Open,Charlottetown’s outdoor art festival. On display are various relics, souvenirs, photo and video documentation, and a few examples of works created during the festival.                      Art in the Open 2014Click here for a full listing of Gallery exhibitionsGallery Hours:Open daily, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Theatre PEI

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