New curator brings 'radical diversity' to Regina's MacKenzie Art Gallery
“When I curate Indigenous artists, I’m making that space within the gallery a sovereign place, where we have a voice and power.”
By Angela Amato | Saskatoon StarPhoenixGrowing up in Cumberland House Cree Nation, Felicia Gay (BA’04, MA’11) never ran out of ideas for her drawings.
“I wasn’t very talented, but I had a lot of great ideas,” said the new curator of the MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG) in an interview with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “It’s really aided me in my curating.”
Following a stint as a curatorial fellow that began in 2019, Gay was announced as the Regina-based gallery’s new curator in April, a role she takes on while finalizing her PhD work on Indigenous curatorial practice at the University of Regina.
Channeling her Indigenous heritage — she’s half Swampy Cree and half Scottish — Gay said she incorporates a lot of her own experience into the work she showcases at the MacKenzie.
“My world view is informed by my language and the way I grew up with my family,” Gay said in a recent interview. “When I curate Indigenous artists, I’m making that space within the gallery a sovereign place, where we have a voice and power.”
Gay said visual art is a huge part of her culture, and is very identifiable within that understanding of the world.
“Some Indigenous folks are disconnected because of colonialism, but they’re still connected to the land,” said Gay. “I like to tell folks who sometimes struggle with identity that, through art, your perspective is important. You belong here.”
Gay didn’t always set out to be a curator. She initially had her heart set on archeology while studying at the University of Saskatchewan. But after taking some art history classes as part of her course requirements, a new path began to reveal itself.
“It really piqued my interest,” said Gay, who added that learning about the U.S.-based Guerrilla Girls, a group of feminist female artists, and activism art were of particular intrigue.
“It was all about these people’s experiences and they were talking about that through their artwork.”
After taking an Indigenous art class with artist Ruth Cuthand, something clicked.
“That’s all it took. I just knew that was what I was supposed to be doing,” said Gay.
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