Multi-disciplinary artist Marlene Creates and writer Don McKay have collaborated for many years. During this event, they will share 15 years of their history at the The Boreal Poetry Garden in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland.
Marlene Creates + Don McKay / The Boreal Poetry Garden
Artist Talk / Poetry Readings
Public / All Ages / In-Person at CVAG + Live-Streamed
All CVAG events are free — donations are always welcomed.
June 15 – September 10 2022: Solo Exhibition at CVAG
Marlene Creates studied visual arts at Queen’s University, then lived in Ottawa for twelve years, moving to Newfoundland in 1985. A major theme of her work is the relationship between human beings and the land; she often photographs subtle traces and marks of human presence in natural environments. Her work has been shown in over 300 exhibitions across the world. In 2001 Creates, was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and in 2013 she won CONTACT Photography Festival’s BMW Prize for her exhibition. Creates was a 2019 recipient of the Canadian Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.
Don McKay is a multi-award-winning author. Educated at the University of Western Ontario and the University of Wales, he earned his PhD in 1971, with a dissertation on the poetry of Dylan Thomas. He taught creative writing and English for 27 years in universities including the University of Western Ontario and the University of New Brunswick. McKay has lived in southwestern Ontario, New Brunswick, Vancouver Island and Newfoundland. In 2008, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He has been shortlisted twice for the Griffin Poetry Prize, first in 2001 for Another Gravity and in 2005 for Camber: Selected Poems, which was also named a Globe and Mail Notable Book of the Year. McKay’s 2006 collection, Strike/Slip, won the 2007 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize. He is the winner of two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Poetry for Night Field (1991) and Another Gravity (2000).
The Comox Valley Art Gallery is honoured and privileged to be present on the Unceded Territory of the K’ómoks First Nation. CVAG recognizes the enduring presence of First Nations people on this land.
CVAG is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with artists, guest curators, writers, cultural advisors, community partners, our volunteers, donors + members. CVAG’s convergent programming is made possible through the support of our funders: Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, Government of Canada, Province of BC, City of Courtenay, Town of Comox, Village of Cumberland, Comox Valley Regional District, BC Gaming, The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council / local support: ABC Printing, SD71 Print Shop, Sherwin-Williams Paint Store, Muir Engineering Ltd., Izco Technology Solutions, Shine-Eze, Cumberland Village Works, Sid Williams Theatre Society, School District 71 Indigenous Education, McLoughlin Gardens Society.
IMAGES:
1: Marlene Creates, photo: Bernard Fougères.
2: Don McKay, photo: Marlene Creates.