Oral Histories of Lake Country’s Artists
The Lake Country Museum and Archives has created a documentary film of twelve local artists. Funded through the BC Arts Council and partnered with the Lake Country Art Gallery, UBC Okanagan, ARTSCO, and the Lake Country ArtWalk and Public Art committees, the Museum completed the first twelve interviews in 2014. Dr. Hussein Keshani of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBCO assisted with the project by developing a 4th year Art History course and Shea McMartin worked with the project as a researcher and primary interviewer.
The artists interviewed and featured in the film are Christian Reiner, Margaret Kyle, Shani Wendell (Lake Country School of Dance), Petrina McNeill, David Alexander1, Kate Gibson Oswald, Julie Elliot, Chris Malmkvist, Wendy Ord & Glen Samuel (Mountain Lake Films), Angela Hansen, Jennifer Boal, and John Revill2.
This project evolved from the Museum’s ongoing Community Memories program, in which long-time residents of Lake Country, local business owners, and public officials who were instrumental in specific aspects of Lake Country’s development are interviewed. The new series of interviews focus on the story of each artist and how their life experiences have translated into their artwork as well as directions they expect to explore in the future. The interviews also explore the events that have influenced the creation of specific pieces of art in each artist’s portfolio and the influence of the community of Lake Country on their work: geographic, social, aesthetic, cultural, and environmental. The complete raw footage of the interviews are available to researchers at the Museum Archives and a short clip of each artist can be viewed on the Museum’s YouTube channel.
Limited copies of the DVD and catalogue are available for sale at the Lake Country Museum and the Lake Country Art Gallery for $25/set. The Museum plans to continue the interviews through 2015.
Dr. Sharon McCoubrey, President, Lake Country Art Gallery, states, “The Oral Histories of Lake Country’s Artists” is an important project and I commend the Lake Country Museum for taking this on. Not only is it interesting to hear the artists’ stories, this project has compiled valuable information for our community’s archives.”
Funding for this project was generously provided by the BC Arts Council.
1 Video of David Alexander’s interview will be uploaded very soon.
2 Video of John Revill’s interview will be uploaded very soon.