The Museum Association of Saskatchewan (MAS) presented the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery (MJMAG) with the Award of Merit at the annual MAS Awards ceremony, June 10th, 2022, in Estevan. Established for projects with a budget of over $50,000, the award-winning project was MJMAG’s 2019 exhibition, A Prairie Vernacular: Folk and Contemporary Art Narratives of Life on the Canadian Prairie, and its subsequent tour of the Prairie Provinces through 2020-2021.
The exhibition, curated by Jennifer McRorie and Joanne Marion, with consultation from Dr. Carmen Robertson and assistance from Diane Lara, included a wide variety of work from historical and contemporary settler and Indigenous artists to explore as thoroughly as possible the relationship between folk and contemporary art of the Canadian Prairies.
Recently, the MJMAG has been developing an online edition of A Prairie Vernacular for Digital Museums Canada.
"It really means a lot to be recognized by our peers in the museum world in Saskatchewan. It is a really great honour to be recognized for the work that we do. A Prairie Vernacular was a pretty significant project for us," said McRorie.
Despite the restrictions of COVID-19, this exhibition of nearly 200 artworks, made by 75 Canadian artists from 35 public and private collections toured to the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat, AB, the Gallery of Swift Current, the Buhler Gallery, (Winnipeg, MB), the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, (Brandon, MB), and the Red Deer Museum & Art Gallery.
To learn more about the Prairie Vernacular exhibit, and the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery then visit http://www.mjmag.ca/ for more information.
