Sara Knelman is the new executive director of the Two Rivers Gallery.
Knelman comes to Prince George from Toronto and will move here permanently in the middle of November.
Knelman started the job at Two Rivers Gallery on Oct. 5 and will be traveling back and forth for the next few weeks.
Knelman will bring husband Mark Weeden and her three-year-old son with her as she takes on this new position.
Fortunately, Weeden works remotely in the insurance industry and as an independent filmmaker so moving to Prince George will not disrupt his careers.
The first time Knelman was in Prince George was as part of the recruitment process for the gallery position but she has visited the west on more than one occasion, she said.
Knelman was a curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. She held that position for four years.
"Hamilton is a very different city, of course, from Prince George," Knelman said. "It's bigger and also and is in the gravitational pull of Toronto but similarly Hamilton is a smaller community where the arts and cultural and education sectors were growing rapidly and finding their way. A community with a very industrial, working class history that really shaped its perspective."
Knelman said that was a frame of reference for her coming to Prince George, she added.
"I was bowled over by the immediate beauty of the natural surroundings and I had some time to drive around the city and see some of the more accessible parks in the immediate area and see the ring of forest that surround the city and especially in the fall, it's quite spectacular," Knelman said. "I got to experience all of the facets of the downtown core where the art gallery exists. Where you can see burgeoning independent businesses and restaurants and shops that are being lovingly, beautifully run and of course you can also see many of the urban challenges that are facing many cities, not only in this country, where people are experiencing homelessness and people are experiencing difficulties in relation to mental health and addiction challenges. I look forward at the gallery to finding ways to continue to be part of the conversation in the city about how to support, find resources and find ways of inclusion for everyone."
Knelman spent about 12 years in London, England getting her masters degree and PhD in art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Her three main career paths include curating modern art, writing for art magazines, books catalogues and as an educator where she has taught at post-secondary institutions in Toronto and in England.
For the last two years, Knelman worked as the director of the Corkin Gallery in Toronto.
"At this juncture of my career, I was looking to bring all these threads together to really have a challenge and opportunity to be in a leadership position in a public art institution as I began thinking about this and looking around a little bit this opportunity at the Two Rivers Gallery caught my attention and I have to say when I started to explore the gallery's history and programs I was so deeply moved by what this gallery has done and is doing and so that's where it started."
Knelman wants to remind Prince George residents the Two Rivers Gallery is open to the public with safety measures in place and everyone is welcome to attend.
The most recent exhibit is by Amanda Strong, a Michif interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker. The exhibit is called iskocîsa (little fires) and is showcased in the Canfor galleries until Jan 3, 2021.
