Marking the Valley: A Juried Exhibition

Shane Golby, "Elemental", mixed media, 26" x 29"

Marking the Valley is a juried art exhibition celebrating the beauty of the Capital Region river valley. It features 28 Alberta artists from Cold Lake, Athabasca, Calgary, and the Greater Edmonton Region. Presented by Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC and the River Valley Alliance, Marking the Valley promotes Alberta Art while showcasing the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

Golby says of his work: The mixed media wall relief works submitted for consideration for the exhibition Marking the Valley were inspired both by autobiographical events and by discoveries made along the edges of the North Saskatchewan River throughout the Capital Region. Both as a student of history and anthropology/archaeology and as a visual artist I have always been intrigued and inspired by the remnants of humanity. Throughout my life, no matter where I have lived, I have spent a great deal of time rooting in abandoned structures and stumbling through fields, forests, along the banks of waterways and, more recently, through back alleys, marveling over the relics I have found and attracted by the implied narratives and formal beauty of such ‘treasures’. The art works included in this submission are based on such finds literally marking the North Saskatchewan river valley.

Rivers have long served as metaphors for life’s journey. Having been born and raised in Edmonton, the North Saskatchewan River is my ‘metaphor’. The art works I have submitted for consideration for Marking the Valley are thus not only representations of the actual North Saskatchewan River/river bank but also symbolic depictions of personal life experiences.

Marking the Valley is at the Kaasa Gallery in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (11455 87 Ave NW in Edmonton) from August 28 to October 7, 2014 and at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium ( 1415 14 Ave NW in Calgary) from October 17 to November 30, 2014.