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Farewell and thank you, Jocelyn!
After 25 years as Director of the Union Gallery, Jocelyn Purdie will be retiring from her position in February. Jocelyn began her tenure at the gallery in August 1994 just months before it officially opened its doors in the fall of 1994. Her unwavering commitment and leadership have been the driving force behind the gallery’s many successes over the years. We thank her deeply and wish her well as she moves on to the next phase in her life.
In addition to overseeing gallery exhibitions, Jocelyn developed several notable programs, in particular, those that provided mentorship opportunities. The program of off-site art projects that began in 2006 brought student and emerging artists and curators together with established art professionals who provided support as they developed installations for presentation in public spaces on Queen’s campus and in the broader Kingston community. The mentorship program, Art Shift: an intergenerational project for creative exchange and professional development for emerging artists, provided a more comprehensive program for recent graduates and local emerging artists to work with professional artist mentors who provided guidance and support for their artistic production and the presentation of their work in a gallery venue.
Jocelyn completed a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s degree in art history at Queen’s University. Her thesis research focused on contemporary art in public spaces. An artist and curator, she remains active in the Kingston art scene. She has exhibited in solo and group shows locally and extra-regionally since the mid-1980s. She is the curator of the Swamp Ward Window Project, an alternative venue for contemporary art in the community that began in 2001 and she was a member of xcurated, a Kingston-based curatorial collective that presented a series of art installations by local and extra-regional artists in outdoor public places across the City of Kingston. She was one of the founding members of the Organisation of Kingston Artists and over the years she has been active on the Board of Directors of the Modern Fuel Artist Run Centre, the Agnes Etherington Acquisitions Committee and the Arts Advisory Committee and the Public Art Working Group of the City of Kingston.
“It has been a great pleasure to have served this organisation for the past 25 years. I have enjoyed working with and learning from the countless number of people who have been involved with the gallery over the years including students, faculty, staff, artists from the community and beyond, UG arts supporters and of course the general public who visit our shows and attend events. I believe there are many more exciting years ahead for the gallery. I welcome and look forward to watching this next phase unfold with its new director, Carina Magazenni.”
Welcoming Carina Magazzeni, Gallery
Director
Carina Magazzeni is a curator, designer and cultural worker whose practice is rooted in critical collaboration. She is a femme settler of Italian-Scottish descent, born and raised in Onguiaahra/Niagara, ON, on Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and Chippewa territory. She recently held positions as the Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and Co-Chair on Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre’s Board of Directors. Her work is driven by queer, feminist and decolonial politics and strategies within and beyond gallery spaces. Curatorial projects to date have emphasized curating as an act of care, valued relationships, and have been informed by methods of slowing down processes of witnessing. Her projects have received support through the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Marty Memorial Fellowship (Queen’s University), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, among others. She was selected as the Curator-in-Residence, Curatorial Residency in Paris-Programme Ville de Paris aux Récollets-Fonderie Darling, Centre Culturel Canadien (2018), and the Curator-in-Residence with La Panacée at l’ESBA Montpellier Contemporain MoCo (2018). Magazzeni holds an MA in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University, a Graduate Diploma in Event Management from Niagara College, and a BA Honours in History of Art and Visual Culture with a Concentration in Curatorial Studies from Brock University.
Cézanne's Closet 2020
Saturday, February 8, 2020 | 7:00pm
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: We are currently seeking submissions of donated artwork for Cézanne's Closet 2020. Submissions must be dropped off at the gallery by JANUARY 25, 2020.
TICKETS: Now on sale via Paypal or at the gallery.
Please visit our Cézanne's Closet page for more information.
