Emerge is a series of artists’ talks, professional workshops and behind-the-scenes tours organized by the UBC Visual Art Students’ Association (VASA) in collaboration with the Belkin Art Gallery and the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory (AHVA). Emerge 2015/16 was organized by VASA members Patrick O’Neil and Katharina Schultz and Naomi Sawada, Manager of Public Programs at the Belkin Art Gallery, with the support of Deana Holmes, AHVA Undergraduate Advisor. For information about future Emerge events, contact Naomi Sawada, Manager of Public Programs at the Belkin Art Gallery, at naomi.sawada@ubc.ca or (604) 822-3640.

The 2015/16 events were:

Tour: SWARM
10 September 2015
Patrick O’Neil of the UBC Visual Arts Students Association led tours and discussions of the annual September event in which artist-run centres in Vancouver launch their fall exhibitions.

Tour: Behind the Scenes at 221A, Access Gallery and Gam Gallery
26 September 2015, 12:45 pm
Tours and discussions at 221A and 222 with Director/Curator Brian McBay, at Access Gallery with Director/Curator Kimberley Phillips and at the Gam Gallery with Curator and co-founder Tarah Hogue.

Tour: Behind the Scenes at the Belkin Art Gallery
30 September 2015, 5-7 pm
Naomi Sawada, Manager, Public Programs led a tour and discussion at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.

Talk: How to Start-up a Studio or Exhibition Space
October 2, 5:30 pm
Curator Tarah Hogue, a graduate from the the Critical and Curatorial Studies masters program, talked about how she, Julia Kreutz, an educator and two other friends, co-founded the Gam Gallery. Topics included finding a location, publicity, finances, organizing exhibitions and events.

Panel: Post-Graduate Pathways in the Arts
7 October 2015, 5:45-7:15 pm at the Audain Art Centre, UBC
Raymond Boisjoly (artist, MFA Visual Arts), Allison Collins (curator, MA Critical and Curatorial Studies) and Kimberly Phillips (curator, MA, PhD Art History) discussed their experiences and approaches to their practices after they graduated from UBC.

Tour: Behind the Scenes at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Or Gallery and Satellite Gallery
10 October 2015, 12:45 pm
Tours and discussions at the Contemporary Art Gallery with Curator of Learning and Public Programs Shaun Dacey, the Or Gallery with Director/Curator Jonathan Middleton and the Satellite Gallery with Program Coordinator Karen Benbassat.

Studio Visit: Ian Wallace
and Film Screening
14 November 2015, 12:30-3 pm at Ian Wallace’s studio and the Western Front
Ian Wallace, artist, art historian and teacher gave a tour of his studio and discussed his practice. Students then attended a film screening of Light Reading by Lisa Rhodes and an artist talk by Elizabeth Zvonar at the Western Front artist-run centre.