Simple, Summer in the quesnel art gallery

Hello People of Quesnel!

We're back!!! Did you miss us? Because we missed you. The gallery is officially open again after being closed for the long month of January. We were so excited at the thought of seeing you again that we didn't care that we were opening up again in the middle of a sudden drop in temperature. It is cold outside, actually, it is beyond cold outside. So cold, that we decided to warm things up in the gallery by having a beautiful summertime show. Simple, Summer with Lesley Kuhn will be up in the gallery until February 26th. It is a gorgeous show, featuring beautiful, sunny works that will help you get through these freezing days. If you cannot get to the gallery, check out the images on social media and on the website! We are posting an interview with the artist, and if you are interested in one of her works, let us know. We can process transactions over the phone or by e-transfer. A special thanks goes out to Joan Ramsey Harker for sponsoring the show!

While we were closed, we had a nice scrub down and redecorated the Gift Shop. We also did a full inventory of everything. Did you know that we have over 1000 items in the shop? It doesn't look like it, but we do. I know because I counted each and every one of them myself. While this inventory check was a long time coming, we couldn't have done it without the help of our volunteers, and of course, a big THANK YOU to Community Futures North Cariboo for funding this project so that we could have someone set up a digital database. In the next few months, we are upgrading our consignment system so that we are no longer processing sales transactions by hand. This is going to be a huge change for us and we are going to have to work out the kinks as we go, but it is going to lead to some great things for us. We hope that you will be happy about what's coming up for us, but for now, just be happy that we are really excited to not write up receipts by hand. So excited.

Since we are dreaming big, and planning for the future, we decided to open up the CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR 2022!!! We want to get a head start on the next year, and that means looking for upcoming exhibitions now. We are accepting proposals from now until May 31st, 2021, 5pm. If you are interested in showing next year at the Quesnel Art Gallery, please fill out this form, and we will review all applications at the beginning of June. We have included a new policy for our artists, if they bring their own sponsors, they will receive the discounted commission fees instead of having to volunteer for them.

That being said, the Quesnel Art Gallery and Gift Shop is always looking for new volunteers. We rely on them to keep the gallery doors open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and to keep things running well. We understand the concerns about working in a public space, but we do have safety procedures in place to stay safe... and we are not a heavy traffic place. If you are looking to spend some time outside of your home, you could volunteer for a few hours a month with us, talk with a few people, and help out our arts community.

I think that is everything for this month. Stay tuned for an upcoming survey on our programs, the Kidz Art Show in March, and any other exciting information I can share. It's good to be back!

- Tanya Nielsen (Member at Large)
​
Twitter: @QuesnelArt
Facebook: Quesnel Art Gallery
Instagram: quesnelartgallery