VANCOUVER.- On June 19, 2024, a new exhibition featuring 10 emerging and mid-career Indigenous artists will open at the Museum of Vancouver. Creation Stories: Carrying Our Traditions Forward provides an opportunity for the 2022 YVR Art Foundation (YVRAF) scholarship recipients to exhibit works created with their awards.

“We are excited to be working with the Museum of Vancouver on this fourth collaboration to showcase exceptional artworks by our scholarship recipients,” said Elisabeth Kyle, Executive Director of the YVR Art Foundation. “The Foundation’s work is dedicated to developing and advancing BC and Yukon Indigenous art and artists, and the partnership with MOV creates an important and meaningful opportunity for reach, visibility and representation in a public museum.”

Emerging Artists include Randall (Bear) Barnetson, Violet Gatensby, Danika (Narccarella) Saunders, Tleḥpik Hjalmer Wenstob, Ella White, Derek White and Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun. The Mid-Career Artists are Danielle Allard, Jay Bellis and Levi Nelson. The YVRAF’s scholarship program awards $5,000 to BC and Yukon Indigenous emerging and mid-career visual artists to pursue their art practice through mentorships, education or community focused art projects.

A variety of art practices are explored in Creation Stories, but a common thread is the important role that family connection and mentorship play in carrying cultural traditions forward, and that creativity is a gift to be shared.

“Each of the artworks in this exhibition tells a story about cultural values and identity. Many of the featured artists referenced a teacher or family member as the inspiration behind their work, and for that reason we approached this year’s exhibition as a celebration of Indigenous identity. Although the artists are from different communities, they are each carrying their culture forward by honouring those who mentored them and by sharing these gifts with others.” —Sharon Fortney, MOV Senior Curator of Indigenous Collections, Engagement and Repatriation

Through the assistance offered through the YVR Art Foundation Scholarship program, these artists have been able to expand their knowledge of Indigenous design by attending art school or studying alongside mentors and masters. The Museum is excited to display these works and we invite the public to explore current expressions of Indigenous identity, memory and culture.