Congratulations to
Guest Curator, Annette Hurtig
Recipient of Independent Critics and Curators Grant and
The Canada Council for the Arts' Paris Studio Program Award

You might recognize the name of the guest curator of our fall 1999 exhibition. Several of Annette Hurtig's recent projects have been created for and involved support from the Kamloops Art Gallery: the group show The Culture of Nature, for instance, Gisele Amantea: Requiescat, Teresa Marshall: Uncommon Ground(s), the nationally touring exhibition, Philippe Raphanel: Poisons/Phobia, which will be presented at Kamloops Art Gallery late in the year 2000, and the touring international group exhibition Lost Homelands: Manuel Pina, Edward Poitras, Jorma Puranen, Jin-me Yoon, which is on view now in Prince Edward Island and will be shown here next year as well. We are pleased to announce that Annette Hurtig, our former adjunct curator and the guest curator of Jerry Pethick: Drawing/Room, is the recipient of two important awards in recognition and support of her work as an independent curator and critic.

Annette Hurtig received an Independent Critics and Curators long term senior grant from The Canada Council and a Paris Studio award. The Canada Council for the Arts' Paris Studio Program provides financial support and access to a studio/live space at La Cité Internationale des Arts. Paris Studio grants for professional artists are intended to encourage independent creation and research in contemporary arts. During her March through May 2000 tenure at La Cité Internationale des Arts, Hurtig will research several European contemporary artists whose work she identifies as relevant to the Canadian context; she will research and write about works involving sites in France by Toronto artist Stan Denniston; and she will undertake tour itinerary development promoting European presentation of several exhibitions curated by her, including the Lost Homelands exhibition which has been co-organized by Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and Kamloops Art Gallery. She will use the Independent Critics and Curators long-term senior grant to continue work on her current projects and to research and develop new exhibition proposals. Her current projects include Skinjobs, a publication and group exhibition, August-October, 1999 at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, Halifax, which is offered for tour by MSVUAG; Michael Balser and Andy Fabo: Totally (Amazing) Fresh Digitalia, an invitational project for Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax, also offered for tour; Stan Denniston: The Fictions Series exhibition guest curated for Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum; and a Stephen Andrews solo show guest curated for the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, and Windsor Art Gallery. Additionally, she has been engaged to write about the work of Kamloops artist Valerie Deacon for an upcoming Kamloops Art Gallery exhibition publication.

We take pleasure in congratulating Annette on her achievements, and look forward to a continuing association with one of Canada's outstanding curators.