Thinking about your hometown is a natural thing for most people.
There are frequently art projects and exhibitions dedicated to examinations of the hometown. At Two Rivers Gallery, a new one is dedicated to hometowns, tailored especially for this hometown. One of the artists of its invention is from this hometown and it invites people from here and now to contribute their thoughts about the future of this hometown.
The Hometown Project exhibition by Jean Chisholm and Janine Merkl opened on Thursday in the combined spaces of the Rustad Galleria and the Make Art Make Sense conference room just inside the front doors of the gallery. Both artists are from small cities - Merkl from Medicine Hat and Chisholm from Prince George - and they know they are lucky to be plying their arts trade here and not their current hometown of Vancouver. This project is the closure to their Communications Design program at Emily Carr University. Instead of relegation to some low-grade showroom, if any, in the biggest city in B.C., they were able to get A-class exhibition space and professional curatorial help in Prince George.
"The idea behind this exhibition is how design has the power actually change your local society," said Elsie Wiebe Klingler, the gallery's retail and marketing co-ordinator. "Design is a process and a skill that can become a tool for solving problems or building something new, and it can also be a tool of expression that suggests what that space - our Prince George space - can one day be. It is especially fitting for us to show this exhibit now, during our city's centennial as we reflect as a community on where we've been, who we've become as a city, and where we could go in the future."
The gallery's acting assistant curator, Myriam Le Lan, said, "The exhibition will get you thinking about your hometown in different ways and the role you play in shaping its future (and) inspires people to be aware of the potential of their hometowns, invites them to share ideas of what would make their cities better, and facilitates collaboration to help these ideas become a reality from a grassroots level."
The exhibition is broken into four categories of thought: Awareness, Alignment, Engagement and Action. Under each of these themes is a different set of images and words that tell the story of Prince George, plus ways of adding audience input. It makes the installation into living art, growing towards the potential of Prince George.
"The Hometown Project tries to inspire a culture shift and behaviour shift through these four focus categories," said Chisholm, who said she learned a great deal through this project about the town she was raised in and thought she already knew. "I feel there is so much opportunity here. I feel it is a great place to try experiments."
For incoming visitor Merkl, her Medicine Hat eyes found much familiar ground around this city, but also a lot of things particular to this place. It was a revelation and one she hopes to replicate in her own hometown after Prince George goes through this two-month interactive display.
"We came here to do the research and I was shocked at how similar our two cities are - the atmosphere, the university culture, and the problems too like too much development going on on the outer edges of the city instead of focusing on the core," she said. "I was so impressed at the outpouring of support we got as we did the research and gathered our early materials. People were excited to help us on a project like this, so now I'm excited to see how people view it. The support has been far-reaching so I'm glad we can finally show people what we've been up to."
If they can do it in Prince George, if they can do it in Medicine Hat, the two artists also wonder if they will learn by then how to formulate the show into something every community could do, with some common elements and some elements unique to each individual place.
The inaugural process has certainly had its mental impact on Chisholm and Merkl, who are now trying to live what they've learned.
"What was ignited for us, and we are trying to ignite in the audience here in Prince George is 'you can do it.' You have the opportunity here in this city, more than most places, to make Prince George into what you want it to be. Individual people can bring their dreams to life here," said Merkl.
Chisholm said, "Growing up here, you sometimes thought there was nothing you could do here, but now I know you can actually do anything you ever wanted to in Prince George. You can accomplish whatever you envision."
"Not only will the show celebrate what people already love about their hometowns, it also hopes to get people excited about change, create projects that promote sustainability, support their local economies, and spark new and bigger ideas through collaboration," said Le Lan. "Creating this kind of atmosphere is so important in smaller cities like Prince George, and for people to realize that sustainability and innovation are things we can create right at home."
The Hometown Project is on until Oct. 25. Both artists were here for an opening night reception but have to return to their graphic and communication design jobs in Vancouver, Merkl to Educe Design and Chisholm to Free Agency Creative. They will return in September to be part of the gallery's MakerFaire event.
