20/50 Double Anniversary Exhibition

Teal 3D numbers are fitted tightly together reading “20/50”. Below, angled black text reads “Paved Arts Double Anniversary Exhibition."

March 17 – April 21, 2023

20|50 Double Anniversary Exhibition / Steve Bates, Terry Billings, Lisa Birke, Linda Duvall, Ellen Moffat, Sandra Semchuk, Adrian Stimson

Opening Reception: Friday, March 17, 2023, 7:30-10:30pm
Panel Discussion: Saturday, March 18, 2023, 4pm. Second floor Event Space (view recording here)

On March 31st, 2023, PAVED Arts mark twenty years since the time of its formation from the amalgamation between The Photographers Gallery and Video Vérité, a singular event in the annals of artist-run culture. In point of fact, when we extend this contemplation to include the beginning of The Photographers Gallery who filed their letters of incorporation on March 12, 1973, the intricate web of connections between various organizations in Saskatoon becomes ever more complex. Consider the fact that BlackFlash Magazine evolved from its humble beginning as the newsletter for The Photographers Gallery, or that Video Vérité was once itself an initiative of AKA artist-run, already we have three of the longest running, significant, grassroots cultural orgs in Saskatoon with roots that are woven together, interconnected, labyrinthine. Reflecting on the present moment, PAVED Arts, formerly The Photographers Gallery and Video Vérité, AKA Artist-Run, BlackFlash Magazine, and now Commonweal Community Arts share space at 424 20th Street, still interconnected and collaborative after all of these years.

Each of the artists invited to participate in this eclectic and celebratory exhibition project has made significant contributions to the artistic discourse that PAVED Arts has fostered through the years. To a person, the seven artists involved have been involved at multiple points in our history. Sandra Semchuk was a founding member of The Photographers Gallery, and for PAVED Arts she contributed to the community forum that saw TPG’s permanent collection gifted to the Mendel Art Gallery (now the Remai Modern) and years later mounted the collaborative, hey, hey bison, you are alive billboard project with Archie Weenie. Both Lisa Birke and Steve Bates contributed to Sounds Like at times when the audio art festival was co-produced by PAVED Arts and AKA Artist-Run, just as both artists have staged solo exhibitions with PAVED Arts. Likewise, Terry Billings and Ellen Moffat have crisscrossed PAVED Arts programming with a variety of projects including Moffat’s recent production residency, the earlier solo exhibition Pick Up Put Down and Terry Billings’ participation in a 2-part exhibition exchange with SKOL Gallery in Montreal. Adrian Stimson’s critical, caring and thought-provoking contributions to our community as a whole was perfectly synthesized into his solo exhibition at PAVED Arts, On the Trail of the Woodcraft Indians with the Buffalo Boy Scouts of America. And finally, Linda Duvall’s In The Hole project challenged our centre to expand settled notions of what may constitute curation-as-practice, and how we think of gallery space in relation to “place.” All of these citations could be augmented with other contributions to workshops, screenings and other activities, suffice it to say that these seven artists are part of the fabric of PAVED Arts as an artist-run centre.

20/50 Double Anniversary Tote Bag

In addition to the projects that make up this group exhibition, we have commissioned a special commemorative 20/50 Double Anniversary Tote Bag design from the past Director of PAVED Arts Tim Dallett.  Alluding to his own solo exhibition at PAVED Arts, Dallett has given his design the title Relationships between two or more spaces, audience and performer, modified. 20/50 Double Anniversary commemorative tote bags are available for purchase for $20.00 or $15 for PAVED Members. Combine this purchase with the most recent copy of PAVED Meant and receive 50 percent off of the tote bag!

Stay tuned!

PAVED Arts will be celebrating the 20/50 Double Anniversary events throughout the coming calendar year. In addition, we are excited about plans that are in development with our friends at BlackFlash Magazine who are celebrating an anniversary of their own, marking 40 years! Since its humble beginnings as the newsletter for The Photographers Gallery. Also forthcoming later this year, we look forward to working with Joanne Lyons on a curated screening from the PAVED Arts archive, a selection of short video works dating back to the Video Vérité days.