The Kelowna Art Gallery has a new curator. Toby Lawrence will be responsible for gallery exhibitions, accompanying publications, and all permanent collection activities.
“I am delighted to have Lawrence join the Kelowna Art Gallery team,” said executive director Nataley Nagy. “She brings a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm to the position. We look forward to working with her to bring a diverse range of historical and contemporary exhibitions to Kelowna audiences in the coming years.”
Born in Kamloops and raised throughout B.C., Lawrence has held curatorial and programming positions with the Vancouver Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Nanaimo Art Gallery, the University of Victoria Legacy Galleries, and, most recently, was a curator at Studio 111, an experimental arts laboratory supported by UBCO Creative Studies and the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art in Kelowna.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in History of Art from the University of Victoria, a MA in Art History from the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia and is currently working on a PhD in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.
Lawrence has continuously been involved in independent and collective initiatives aimed at increasing dialogue, access, and equitable representation.
Recent exhibitions include Conversations with Lucie Rie, Kika Thorne’s Multiplicity of the Singularity, Carlos Colín’s Definciones (Definitions), along with multi-site, collaborative and co-curated projects Speaking Outside and In Another Place, And Here, focused on international photo-based works.
”I am excited by this opportunity to highlight the artistic activity and relevant issues in the Okanagan region, in dialogue with national and international art practices and discourses,” she said.
The next opening reception will be held Saturday, July 15, from 1 to 3 p.m. This reception will celebrate the opening of two exhibitions: A Legacy of Canadian Art from Kelowna Collections and Nikki Middlemiss: Scaffolding for Minutiae. This event is free and open to the public.