North Central Alberta

40 is the new 20!

Curated by Shane Golby from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts collection

Education Guide: www.youraga.ca

Featured Artwork:

Stan Phelps
Cold Night at the Yards, 1987
Colour etching on paper
Collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts

About the exhibition

It has been said that every picture tells a story. While true, the story told may not be a ‘story’ in the usual sense. Rather than presenting a complete narrative, most works of art tell their stories in a more opaque manner. Some, for example, might present just one event, character or setting from a larger narrative, leaving it to the viewer to ‘fill in the gaps’. Other artworks abandon this narrative altogether and direct attention to ‘stories’ about artistic styles, media and methods. Finally, there are many instances where art pieces, while complete in themselves, ‘work’ with other artworks in an exhibition to present larger ideas or more complex narratives. The TREX Region 2 exhibition 40 is the new 2O expresses each of these modes of visual story-telling; presenting art works with unique stories which, taken together, suggest a larger story of a place and visual art institutions and initiatives in that place.

The travelling exhibition 40 is the new 2O is a celebration. In 1972 the Alberta Art Foundation, now the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA), established a provincial art collection; a unique representation of the history, development and achievements of Alberta’s visual arts community. Over the past fifty years this collection has grown to over 9000 artworks; profiling the careers of hundreds of Alberta’s artists, reflecting the history and development of Alberta and becoming an important cultural legacy for all Albertans. The exhibition 40 is the new 2O celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the AFA’s art collection and offers insights into stories of Alberta and artists from this place.

While celebrating the establishment of the AFA’s art collection, this exhibition also celebrates an important initiative of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Since 1981 the AFA has supported a provincial travelling exhibition program (TREX). The mandate of the program is to provide every Albertan with the opportunity to enjoy visual art exhibitions in their community. While exhibitions for the TREX program are curated from a variety of sources, a major part of the program assists in making the AFA’s art collection available to Albertans. In 2021 the TREX program celebrated its’ 40th anniversary and the TREX exhibition 40 is the new 2O recognizes this anniversary as well.

The TREX exhibition 40 is the new 2O celebrates both the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts art collection and the recent 40th anniversary of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts TREX program. Since 1986 the Art Gallery of Alberta (formerly the Edmonton Art Gallery) has been affiliated with the TREX program and so this exhibition, presenting twenty works from the AFA collection, celebrates these anniversaries by re-visiting TREX exhibitions produced by the Art Gallery of Alberta over the past twenty years. Exploring an eclectic mix of themes, genre, art styles and media this exhibition expresses the vitality of the visual arts in Alberta and the roles of the AFA and Art Gallery of Alberta in supporting the arts in the province.

About the artist

Stan Phelps was born and raised in Calgary, attending the University of Calgary (B.F.A.) majoring in painting and printmaking. Since 1978, Stan has worked as a painter, muralist, printmaker, freelance designer and co-proprietor of The Heart Studio in Calgary. The Heart Studio is a multi-disciplined art facility featuring art exhibitions and art programs including classes for adults and children.

Mr. Phelps has been an instructor for the Artist in Residency Program, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, since its inception in 1986. He is presently the co-director of the Loreburn Cultural Centre in Loreburn, Saskatchewan.

Stan is well known for the murals he has painted throughout Western Canada, particularly in Southern Alberta. Most notable are four murals at the Calgary Stampede, and a mural at Calgary City Hall entitled “A View of Calgary Bay, Scotland.”

During his extensive travels, Mr. Phelps has had the opportunity to work as a visiting artist at several internationally renowned studios including: “St Michael’s Printshop,” Newfoundland; “Escuela Nationale des Bellas Artes,” Murcia, Spain; “Taller de Grabado Tarasco,” Uruapan, Mexico; and “Atelier de L’Ile,” Val David, Québec.

His work can be found in private and corporate collections both nationally and internationally including The Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Canada Council Art Bank in Ottawa.

Current location

Period 7, April 17 - May 15
Warburg School, 5412 50 St, Warburg, AB T0C 2T0

Next public locations

Period 9, June 26 - July 23
St. Albert Public Library, 5 St Anne St, St. Albert, AB T8N 2E8

Period 10, July 31 - August 27
Chuck MacLean Arts Centre, 5041 50 St, Camrose, AB T4V 1R3

About TREX

The AFA's Travelling Exhibition (TREX) program strives to ensure every Albertan is provided with an opportunity to enjoy fully developed exhibitions in schools, libraries, health care centres and smaller rural institutions and galleries throughout the province.

The TREX program assists in making both the AFA's extensive art collection and the work of contemporary Alberta artists available to Albertans.

Four regional organizations now coordinate the program for the Foundation:

• The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie - Northwest Alberta
• Art Gallery of Alberta - Northeast and North Central Alberta
• Alberta Society of Artists - Southwest Alberta
• Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre - Southeast Alberta

These partners offer a wide range of exhibitions to communities from High Level in the north, to Milk River in the south, and virtually everywhere in between.