New gallery show two years in the making

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer

A new exhibition; ‘Belong Where You Find Yourself’ is now showing at the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery in Yorkton.

The exhibition offers a wide of range of different artworks created by a group of local artists and craftspeople working collaboratively and individually across drawing, painting, photography, film making, storytelling, music, musical theatre, wood working, sculpture, and fabric art.

“Showing together as a group exhibition, the collection tells many different stories from people in our community, and it is itself an artistic statement about life, family, love, and belonging. Lead artists Alana Moore and Amber Phelps Bondaroff have been working for over a year with a group of 12 local artists whose lives have been impacted by dementia, accompanying an artistic process to tell their stories and share their creativity. The result is multidisciplinary and multi-generational, with a range of artistic interests and forms of expression,” details the gallery website.

The show is a multiyear project curated and produced by the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery, with assistance from Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan and the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program, in addition to support from the City of Yorkton, Alzheimer’s Society of Saskatchewan, University of Regina, SPHERU, Yorkton Film Festival, and SK Arts.

The Gallery launched the project some 18-months ago to provide people with dementia an avenue to sharing their stories through art.

The project put 12 people with dementia together with two professional artists who guided the participants for a year of art creation, explained Jeff Morton, Gallery director and curator.

The idea was for the two visiting artists to help the local participants “express themselves and tell their stories,” explained Morton in a previous Yorkton This Week article on the launch of the project.

The show includes works by local artists Elaine Berard & Herb

Elder; Bonnie & Leon Jones; Merle & Dean Wiley; Amanda Babey & Verna Off; Pat & Ron Walton; Twila Napoleoni & Jeanette Haberstock.

The work on display was supported and encouraged over the past year by lead artists Alana Moore and Amber Phelps Bondaroff, who strived to meet people exactly where they were, at the time of each meeting.

“We embarked on this journey in March 2022. Some of the artists participating in the project knew each other prior, while others met for the first time over the last year. They all share a number of things in common. They call southeastern Saskatchewan home and are navigating the challenges of Alzheimer’s and dementia, either for themselves or a loved one,” detailed a lead artist statement on the Gallery website.

Dementia is an umbrella term for the loss of memory, language, problem-solving, and other thinking abilities.

Alzheimer’s is the most common among many forms of dementia, and symptoms may present themselves in a variety of ways. While Alzheimer’s is at the forefront of biomedical research, there is no cure, and much is still unknown about its causes and prevention. Currently, over 18,000 people in Saskatchewan are impacted by dementia, although in reality there may be many more, as the disease often goes undiagnosed.

From March 20222023, Amber and Alana visited Yorkton and surrounding communities on a monthly basis, meeting all of the participating artists in their homes.

“At other times we met as a group at the gallery, or individually, sitting in kitchens, living rooms, and workshops to share stories, family photos, and cups of tea. Sometimes we drew, sang songs, sewed, and shared skills. Usually, we laughed, sometimes we cried and most importantly we got to know each other through shared acts of creative exploration,” noted the statement.

“While the artists in this exhibition share a common diagnosis, they are defined by so much more than a disease. As the title suggests, lead artists strived to meet people exactly where they were, at the time of each meeting. We developed individual projects collaboratively rather than prescribing one activity or medium to everyone in the group. This process centered conversation, listening, and getting to know one another, while attempting to remain in the present moment. We explored existing interests, hobbies, and talents, while gently encouraging deeper explorations of what was already there. Our plans inevitably shifted with the passing of each month and each moment. The present moment is a slippery thing, fleeting, and everchanging.”

The work in this exhibition is the culmination of a year spent building relationships and resiliency.

“Over time spent meeting and making together, we have learned so much about and from one another. Through creative acts and explorations, we fostered, forged, and fortified relationships, bound by common experience.

“What you see in the gallery are the visual representations of these processes of care and community building; the artworks are accessories to the relationships fostered through their making. We hope that the network of support we have forged continues to thrive, well beyond the physical and temporal framework of this exhibition.” on

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From the outset of the project the exhibition was seen as one to amplify the voices of the artists in telling their stories associated with dementia.

Calling the initiative

“a community engaged art project,” Morton said it is hoped the effort will “reduce the stigma associated with dementia.”

It is hoped through the project the public will reflect on belonging where you find yourself, he added.

“We may not be able to change the course of any one person’s diagnosis,” said Morton. “What we can do is address the marginalizing effect.

Morton said now that the art is complete and on display it has become very much a legacy for the participants, their friends and family.

Belong Where You

Find Yourself is a community-engaged art project for people whose lives have been impacted by dementia. This project at the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery is part of a collaborative effort with organizations across the province. Working under the umbrella of Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan, we share a goal to increase public awareness and reduce stigma associated with dementia.

The exhibition, will hang at the GDAG until May 23, and in the future Morton said plans are being developed to take the works out into public locations and neighbouring communities in the coming months.

A documentary of the project is also being finalized.

A reception will take place Sunday, May 7, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.