The Emerge program, presented by The Reach Gallery and sponsored in part by the RBC Foundation, is an opportunity for emerging artists and curators in the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland between the ages of 18 and 35 to showcase their work.
Emerge artists and curators are featured in four Art on Demand exhibitions a year. Art on Demand 5.3 was launched on Oct. 3, featuring Isabella Dagnino, a current UFV student, and Lynden Chan, a UFV alumni. Art on Demand 5.4 will be released on Nov. 21 and features another UFV alumni, Madeline Hildebrandt. Both of these exhibitions are curated by Cassie de Jong, a recent UFV Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate.
The Emerge program is in its fifth year and has seen a variety of work ranging from photography to painting to drawing done by amazing artists and put together by dedicated curators. De Jong noted that a lot of UFV students are drawn to the program because of its proximity. However, it’s not only people from UFV: there have also been students from universities like UBC, Emily Carr, and Trinity Western. The program is not only for students, but for any and all community members who consider themselves an emerging artist.
De Jong described the program as being a massive learning experience for her. Her two mentors for the program are Adrienne Fast, curator of art and visual culture at The Reach, and Kate Bradford, assistant curator at The Reach. They gave de Jong a framework of what needed to be done, but it was completely up to de Jong to complete the project; her mentors were there simply for questions and guidance. She described the curation project as being a “trial by fire, but in a good way.”
So, in what ways do artists develop from this experience?
“As an emerging artist, you don’t have very many lines on your CV yet, you don’t usually get to have a solo exhibition right off the bat, and with this program you do,” said de Jong. “It’s really great for [the artists] to be able to have that experience, because that is always your main goal as a professional full-time artist: to get your work out there for people to see so you can start making those connections, and that is what this program allows them to do.”
Along with exposure in a gallery, the artists also get a professional, short video made about them done by another UFV alumni, Mitch Huttema.
De Jong’s involvement in the Emerge program was possible through Adrienne Fast’s previous knowledge of her work, as Fast was the guest critique of her Bachelor of Fine Arts grad show. De Jong had known of the program through other students in her grad class who had done the Emerge curator program themselves and thought de Jong would be a perfect candidate for the program as well. De Jong has been working on the exhibitions since early May. She described the process behind figuring out whose work would fit within the space and if there are one or two artists that could do a group show together.
Such collaboration was possible with Art on Demand 5.3, which focuses on the Trans Canada Highway.
“Chan is from the Vancouver area and his whole practice is about how much he commutes and uses the highway,” said De Jong. “Dagnino is from the other end of the Fraser Valley, all the way in Hope. [The exhibition] talks about how Hope is such a small community, yet is affected so much by the freeway and travellers and tourists heading through [Hope] affecting that landscape. So I connected the two via the TransCanada Highway, Highway 1, and spoke about it being the main artery that connects everyone in this region geographically and ecologically.”
Art on Demand 5.4 is a solo exhibition by Madeline Hildebrant, and features her acrylic gouache on panel paintings that are meticulously created with anywhere from tens to thousands of pixels that she paints.
“It’s about anxiety and dedicating yourself to an artistic practice that will take up all of your concentration and all of your attention so that you can divert your energy away from negative feelings such as anxiety and depression and turn that into a creative mechanism,” said de Jong.
So, what was de Jong’s advice to emerging artists?
“Have good writing skills — that became pretty essential in this whole process,” said de Jong. “Good writing skills, good communication skills, and just getting yourself out there: attend communities, network, get to know people. If people know your face and know what you’re doing, it’s all about who you know in this industry. If you make connections, that’s how you’re going to succeed.”
De Jong also praised The Reach Gallery for their work in the community and urged anyone who wants to get more involved in their art to check out the multitude of opportunities they offer to students and community members.
“The Reach is a really amazing organization that is really dedicated to getting involved in the community and connecting people in the community, and it has been a valuable resource for anyone wanting to get into any facet of the arts.”
Photo: Cassie De Jong
Artworks: Lynden Chan
Image: David Myles/The Cascade
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
