The MacKenzie Art Gallery has announced the appointment of Felicia Gay to the position of Curatorial Fellow. Gay’s position is a cross-appointment with the University of Regina through a Mitacs funded fellowship and runs until April 2021.
Felicia Gay is of Swampy Cree and Scottish (Gordon Clan) heritage and brings a thoughtful lens of Indigenous worldviews and counter-narratives to contemporary curation. She was the founding Artistic Director of Red Shift Gallery in Saskatoon (alongside co-founder Joi Arcand) and was most recently the Curator at Wanuskewin Galleries. Her unique perspective was shaped by her early years living with her grandparents in Cumberland House in northern Saskatchewan, combined with her time in Saskatoon with her mother. This background has given her the ability to engage with works by a broad range of Indigenous artists with a crucial sensitivity.
"We are thrilled to welcome Felicia to the MacKenzie team. Her experience and outstanding critical rigour will be an asset to our organization and the communities we serve. We really look forward to her exciting research and its outcomes: exhibitions, programs, and publications,” says Anthony Kiendl, Executive Director and CEO of the MacKenzie Art Gallery. “Over the past year the MacKenzie has assembled a dynamic curatorial team with a number of key appointments. This enables us to be a leading art museum in North America. Felicia is a key component of this goal, and we welcome her wholeheartedly."
Gay’s appointment is 50% research – working towards her PhD in Art History at the University of Regina, with a focus on Indigenous Curatorial Practices – and 50% practice, working at the MacKenzie Art Gallery to produce exhibitions and working alongside the Programs team to enhance the institutions artistic vision.
"I'm incredibly excited to welcome Felicia to the MacKenzie for this fellowship. Felicia has played an enormous role in building the Indigenous arts community in Saskatchewan and beyond, pushing us to new heights of community-centeredness, accessibility, and depth, and always brings both a critical and ethical approach to all the work she does,” says John Hampton, the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s Director of Programs. “Felicia will be a major asset to our curatorial team, as our institution continues to work as an ally in championing Indigenous artists and rights, while creating new understandings of our cultural realities across the diverse—yet intimately linked—communities of this territory."
“Nena ochi Waskyganeek, Scottish ekwa Muskego inninu iskew, my territory/Treaty 5 and heritage has informed my research and practice as a curator of contemporary art. I feel very honored and grateful to be a part of the MacKenzie Art Gallery team and for their support in fostering my research and work as a curator”, says Felicia Gay. “I have always admired their tenacity and forward thinking in support of Indigenous artists and cultural workers and feel that this is an institution that I can believe in and contribute to. My family and I are enjoying Regina and look forward to what it holds for us in the future.”
During the course of the fellowship, Gay will work on multiple exhibitions and projects, collaborating with exhibiting artists, the MacKenzie staff, as well as the public, to demonstrate how curatorial practice can support communal knowledge creation that exceeds the limitations of any individual viewpoint. One of the first initiatives Gay will be contributing towards will be the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Initiative for Indigenous Futures joint conference and gathering, hosted by the MacKenzie Art Gallery and Sâkêwêwak First Nations Artists’ Collective in June 2020.
