Executive Director’s Foreword · Dauna Kennedy

exeCutive direCtor’s foreword

It is a pleasure to welcome back Shawn Serfas who previously, in 2008, exhibited his work at the Vernon Public Art Gallery during his time as art lecturer and educator at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus (UBCO). Since that time, Serfas relocated to St Catherines and taught at Brock University in the position of Associate Professor. Serfas has just recently returned to the Okanagan Valley and accepted a similar position of in the Department of Creative and Critical Studies at the UBCO. As a full-time Artist and Educator, Serfas has created a new large-scale body of work for this exhibition featuring abstract paintings. The content within these pages which we hope will help to enlighten your insights into Serfas’ work, includes essays by guest writers Derek J. J. Knight and Catherine Parayre, both Associate Professors teaching at the Brock University. I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia, the Regional District of the North Okanagan, and the BC Arts Council, whose funding enables us to produce exhibitions such as this for the North Okanagan region and interested parties across Canada. Together with our Curator Lubos Culen, we hope you enjoy this publication and exhibition. Regards, Dauna Kennedy Executive Director Vernon Public Art Gallery