The New Alberta Contemporaries Exhibition:

a look at emerging creativity in Alberta

Fall 2011 – Winter 2012

The Atlantic Avenue Art Block Gallery

(working title)

hosted by

The Jim Hill Foundation

curated by

Caterina Pizanias, PhD.

 A Note from the Curator

“To curate within culture is to see art in a totality that is not simply
bounded by art history. It is there that we begin to make room for new
forms of knowledge, new possibilities of articulating different types of
intelligence that are unruly and cannot be disciplined by the academic
world.”
Okwui Enwezor

Critical theory and interdisciplinary studies of art have shaped my curatorial practice, incorporating
notions that: (i) art exists in history, not just in the history of art; (ii) art is influenced by non-art
discourses and practices, and (iii) artists are the primary focus of interrogation, not objects. I seek
exhibits that will push the artistic boundaries and aspire to create “new possibilities,” different ways
of looking and thinking of art so as to integrate theories of art with meaningful social action.

As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, the City of Calgary appears to be both future-
oriented and culturally ambitious; the establishment of the Jim Hill Foundation is but one example
of this movement forward. The JHF, a platform for ideas about the future of art, education, and
culture in the Province of Alberta, is pleased to announce a project entitled “The New Alberta
Contemporaries.” The intent of the project is to provide a significant opportunity for fledgling
artists to exhibit their work and to create occasions for the re-thinking and re-inventing of both art
and education.

Pressured by the recent financial crisis and an ever-more-globalized economy, educational and art
institutions have faced funding cut-backs that have prompted transformations and revaluations
which might not be the best for either art or education. Can anything be done? The exhibition and
parallel programmed events will become an occasion to map out the geography of Alberta’s art
worlds, observe its micro-level divisions, and possibly become a laboratory of creative connections
and strategies for expanded communities, solutions for a brighter future of artistic practice and
discourse.

I invite the chairpersons of the Fine Arts Departments of Alberta’s degree-granting institutions to
share this information with their graduating students as well as with others in your networks who
might be interested in taking part in the ancillary events to be staged throughout the four to five
month duration of this inaugural project. For any queries regarding the project you may contact me
at: cpizanias@telusplanet.net.

Caterina Pizanias, Ph.D.

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Call for Submissions-Graduates

The Jim Hill Foundation, a platform for ideas about the future of art, education, and culture in the
Province of Alberta, is pleased to announce its inaugural project entitled The New Alberta
Contemporaries, a group art exhibition that will take place in the fall of 2011 in its new gallery, The
Atlantic Avenue Block Art Gallery (working title) in Calgary, Alberta. The project will provide a
significant opportunity for graduating students and recent graduates of fine arts degree
programmes to present their work, communicate their practice, and receive timely critical feedback.
For the duration of the exhibit, the Foundation will organize a series of ancillary events such as
symposia, lectures, artists' talks, presentations and workshops that will focus on some of the
overarching issues about artistic practice, theory, and pedagogy and how they affect contemporary
artistic practices.

Art at the moment seems to revolve around certain overarching issues/categories of practice. The
suggested themes below are meant to be viewed as possible parameters only, threads of inquiry,
and not as rigid/constraining formats:

- art exhibitions—has their usefulness passed?

- the changing roles of the artist—artist to curator, to researcher, to theorist, to….?
- research in and as artistic practice
- aesthetics—are they still, can they be relevant?
- artistic notions of identity in a digitalized world.
- are the perennial international exhibitions and fairs good for art, the art market, both?
- can art become a social catalyst now?
- art and its institutions—how complicit are they with neoliberal economies?
- art, science, and technology

Submission Guidelines

The submission is open to all graduating visual arts students enrolled in BFA, MFA, and Ph.D.
programmes in Alberta universities or colleges, as well as those who have graduated from same
during the last two academic years (2008/09 and 2009/10).

· The submission is open to those practicing within a variety of media and/or theoretical
strategies such as sculpture, painting, installation, film, video, performance, photography,
glass, ceramics, design, etc., as long as the works address/reflect on some of the
theoretical and practical pre-occupations in contemporary art worlds.
· The selection of works for the exhibition will reflect the diversity of perspectives in art
practice and explore current issues in their richest and widest implications for the ever-
shifting social roles of art and artists.
· The curator will evaluate submissions on the basis of the quality of the work, the clarity of
the artistic statement, and the work’s suitability to the wider queries of the project.

Submission Requirements and Timing:

· An indication of interest to submit work is due to the Curator of the exhibit, Dr.
Caterina Pizanias, no later than Monday, April 11, 2011. It should be sent via e-
mail to: cpizanias@telusplanet.net.

Submissions must be received no later than Monday, May 16, 2011. Submissions should be made
electronically and should include (i) an artist’s statement and (ii) a CV, both in Adobe pdf file format
and (iii) images of the work(s) proposed for exhibition. Single still images should be in jpg file
format, no larger than 3 Mb and can be e-mailed. If multiple still images or videos are submitted
they should be on DVDs and submitted via courier or registered post, with notification of the way
bill or registration number included via e-mail with the e-mailed submission. Electronic

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submissions should be sent via e-mail to: cpizanias@telusplanet.net. Mailing address for hard
copy submissions will be provided.

· Notification of acceptance to participate will be made by the Gallery by Monday,

June 6, 2011.
· Works to be shipped to the Gallery: any time after June 6/11 but no later than
Thursday, September 15, 2011.

Additional Information:

The Atlantic Avenue Block Art Gallery will pay CARFAC fees to those whose work is selected for
exhibition. A catalogue on the exhibit is planned, and discussions are underway to have the
exhibition travel outside of the Province of Alberta. The Curator plans to visit artists in their studios
to discuss the exhibition and its goals further throughout the months of April and May, 2011. To
invite/arrange for a visit please contact Caterina Pizanias directly at: cpizanias@telusplanet.net.

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Call for Submissions—Ancillary Events Proposals

The Jim Hill Foundation, a platform for ideas about the future of art, education, and culture in the
Province of Alberta, is pleased to announce its inaugural project entitled The New Alberta
Contemporaries, a group art exhibition that will take place this fall in its new gallery, The Atlantic
Avenue Block Art Gallery in Calgary, Alberta. The project will provide a significant opportunity for
graduating fine arts students to present their work, communicate their practice, and receive timely
critical feedback. For the duration of the exhibit, the Foundation will organize a series of ancillary
events such as symposia, lectures, artists' talks, presentations and workshops that will focus on
some of the overarching issues about artistic practice, theory, and pedagogy and how they affect
contemporary artistic practices.

Art at the moment seems to revolve around certain overarching issues/categories of practice. The
suggested themes below are meant to be viewed as possible parameters, threads of inquiry, and
not as rigid/constraining formats:

- art exhibitions—has their usefulness passed?

- the changing roles of the artist—artist to curator, to researcher, to theorist, to….?
- research in and as artistic practice
- aesthetics—are they still, can they, be relevant?
- artistic notions of identity in a digitalized world.
- are the perennial international exhibitions and fairs good for art, the art market, both?
- can art become a social catalyst now?
- art and its institutions—how complicit are they with neoliberal economies?
- art and science

Submission Guidelines

The submission is open to all faculty and non-faculty art world members from across the
province of Alberta. We would like to receive proposals for presentations in any format that will
address/explore/evaluate/examine some of the issues (and not only) outlined above. We
would like to receive your proposals a soon as possible so that we can locate the appropriate
venues for their realization. Final decision will be made by an ad hoc committee on the basis
of the proposed events and our technical ability to stage them. The sooner we hear from you
the better.

Submission Requirements and Timing:

· An indication of interest to submit proposals can be sent at any time to the Curator of the
exhibit, Dr. Caterina Pizanias, but no later than Monday, April 11, 2011. It should be sent
via e-mail to: cpizanias@telusplanet.net.
· Notification of acceptance to participate will be sent by Monday, September 5, 2011.

Additional Information:

The Atlantic Avenue Block Art Gallery will pay CARFAC fees to presenters. A catalogue on the
exhibit is planned, and discussions are underway to have the exhibition travel outside of the
Province of Alberta. The Curator is available to discuss the exhibition and its goals further; you
may contact her directly at: cpizanias@telusplanet.net.

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