Gallery #1
Words Seen from Gallery Vertigo’s Windows: A Community Mural
Jake Kennedy and kevin mcpherson eckhoff

The entire community is invited to visit often and paint much during the run of the following participatory exhibition installed by two local writers and visual artists, Jake Kennedy and kevin mcpherson eckhoff.
A giant and overlapping "paint by number" has been traced on to the walls in Gallery One. Come roll the dice and participate in creating a giant mosaic. Your chance to paint on the walls...
Instructions and materials have been provided. Be a part of the unfolding of a geometry of colour governed only by chance, dice and a Rubik`s cube!
All ages welcome. Classes invited too! bring your kids! Hell, bring Grandma!

If you have to ask what is a window is, then you’re stupid. If you tell someone what a window isn’t, that person will probably think you’re stupid. But in a community of art and wonder and joy and participation, no one thinks “stupid,” so ask and tell and do and be! Because, look—communities ARE windows! Glass, screen, dust, sills—Don’t throw that rock with a message tied to it! But words are also windows. Drawn curtains, open blinds, double paned—Tie a message to a window and throw it! Smash window against window, burn the drapes, do something, because participating in community is important because of democracy, food banks, thrift stores, bullying—light can shine through a window both ways! Remember, though, that communities are durable against the climate, but can be fragile in extreme weather.

Question: How many people can you fit inside a window?
Answer: How many people are in our community?

Anyone can open a window, but only an idiot closes one, unless it’s too hot or cold or smelly or loud or weird outside, or inside, in which case the idiot is really a hero. But who can BE a window? Anyone means everyone! And yet, remember: in order to open or close or look through a window, you have to DO something. Action means effect. Participate already because I admit I can only ever see from one small window, so we need more windows or dreams wherein the word “community” doesn’t exist because it’s so obviously the only way of doing and being. If only we—always the magnitude of “we”—could paint together a few big letters or the small parts of words—which are windows—all the time! The colours! The community! The joy!  (kevin mcpherson eckhoff and Jake Kennedy)

Gallery #2
Judy Wasyleshko - Just Bones

Judy Wasyleshko is a 4th year student in the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program at the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus. Her work focuses on finding beauty in the refuse of our disposable culture, re-presenting it in new ways that cause us to pause and take notice.

My interest in how western culture deals with the dead began with the recent passing of my father - he had expressed a desire that his remains be used for science or education. While making arrangements for cremation of his body, I was intrigued by the cremation process and what the full cremains of a real body consist of. The funeral home explained that some of the bones get crushed and are added to the ash remains. Any larger remaining bones or metal parts are sifted out and are disposed of  as medical waste or garbage; pacemakers and defibrillators are recycled. This practice of throwing away any remains larger than what can fit an urn, seems very disrespectful and reflects how disposable our culture has become. I wanted to create a body of work that honored all of the remains, that presented a beautiful alternative to sending the larger bones and metal parts that remain after the cremation process off to the dump.

This exploration has resulted in a body of work, which includes both photography and sculpture, that records what remains of a body after cremation and re-presents these remains in a way that challenges the traditions of how we present our dead, which is typically burial or cremation. (Judy Wasyleshko)

NOAA Members Wall Gallery: Drew Pastuck

Enjoy the lively colour palette and painterly brushwork of recent paintings by NOAA Member Drew Pastuck.

Artist Statement:

I arrived in the Shuswap two years ago from Winnipeg, Manitoba. As a youngster in the 1950's, I followed along with Jon Nagy and his "Learn to Draw" television show, and was amazed at my new found talent and aptitude for drawing. My interest in drawing came years later when I was engaged by a documentary on Geogia O'Keefe.

I was introduced to the launguage of art when I attended the Forum of Art Institute and studied under the direction of Nic Belijac. I was fortunate to work with Nic for many years and grow as a painter.

Since arriving in the Okanagan, I have enjoyed painting in different directions and hanging in local juried and non-juried art shows. I am inspired by the response I have been receiving from local artists and residents. (Drew Pastuck)

Recent work by Robin McDonald
(The current exhibition can be viewed during college hours from now until December 15th.)

Robin completed her early art studies in Victoria, BC. She worked as an airbrush fabric artist, fabric construction and painting as well as assemblage, for many years in Vancouver, BC, where she had a studio framing gallery on Commercial Street before moving to Vernon, BC in 2001.
Since moving to Vernon Robin has delved more into assemblage work. She has been accepted into many juried group shows and has had three solo exhibitions throughout BC. She has been on the board of the North Okanagan Artist Alternative since 2003 and served as the Powerhouse Theatre’s Costume Bank mistress for three years. She is currently working with the Vernon Community Art Centre staff team and is working toward more shows in the future.

I made my first assemblage in art school and have been hooked ever since. The possibilities seemed endless to me. The availability of an endless supply of material to work with from the remnants of the consumer society always provided new and changing ideas. Each piece would evolve and change over time. For me, assemblage is a long process as some pieces will not come together for quite some time or until the perfect element presents itself. Assemblage is a fun medium as it can take you back to childhood in some ways, and as in childhood, it reminds you not to edit yourself. Assemblage can provide an artist with a lot of freedom and playtime! (McDonald)

KALAMALKA VERTIGO
All are invited to view the works at Kalamalka Vertigo, located at Vernon's Kalamalka Campus of Okanagan College. The gallery is located just past the college lecture theatre in the main building adjacent to the college office.
"Kalamalka Vertigo" , located at the Kalamalka campus of Okanagan College, represents a joint venture between Gallery Vertigo and Okanagan College. This is the newest incarnation of the ongoing partnership between the two institutions. 

Exhibition Proposals: Please print a copy of our form and send it off to us with the information requested.
A selection committee reviews proposals once a year, usually in the spring.
Contact us for more information.
info@galleryvertigo.com
proposal form and information for exhibitions in gallery #1 and gallery #2
members wall application
window display

Previous Exhibitions:
2010:
10: NOAA Members - Oct. 19 to Nov. 10
Drew Makepeace and Dorian Kohl - Sept. 9 to Oct.8
Almost Famous Auction and Studio Artists - August 10 to 21
Amber Powell and Sylvia Vandekerkhove - June 22to July31
Katie Belcher and Joanne Pringle - May 26 to June 12
Still Here: NOAA juried exhibition - Apr.13 to May 16
Susan Bizecki and Kevin Michael Witzke - Mar.9 to Apr.1
UBC Okanagan Students: Architecture Digress - Feb. 9 to Mar.4
School District 22: Incognito - Jan.12 to Feb.5
2009:
Headshots, Wheeltown: Noel Bullock - Oct.15 to Nov.7
Philomena Caroll, Margarita Alejandre, Sookinshoot - Sep.10 to Oct.3
Almost Famous Auction - August 22
Microbial Tales - Arthur Desmarteax and Allison Moore - July 2 to July 25th
Pfannschmidt, Newell and Mace - May 26 to June 23
Heidi Thompson and Stephan Bircher - Apr.21 to May 15
Lucky Number 7: NOAA juried exhibition - Mar.17 to Apr. 9
Social Spectrum: A Group Exhibition by UBC Okanagan Photograpy Students - Feb.10 to Mar.7
Fusion: Fourth Annual High School Exhibition - Jan 13 to Feb 17
2008:
Picasso's Cupboard/ Book Fair - Nov.25 to Dec.13th
not with a Bang, but with and SUV - The 7th Annual NOAA Members Open Exhibition - Oct.7 to Nov.1
the coming night - Jorden and David Doody / Typoportraits - kevin mcpherson eckhoff
Almost Famous Auction - August 17
Ten - Studio Artists - Current Work - July 29 to August 9 / Joanne Sale-Hook:Introduced Species - July 29 to August 17
Katie Brennan - Stasis Strategy / Floribunda - June 23 to July 19
Space (re)Constructed - Miranda Aschenbrenner / Memory/Recall - Suzanne Phillips - May 27 to June 21
March to May - Faith Moosang/Candies - Sabrina Ovesen
Sixth Annual NOAA Members Juried Exhibition - March 18 to April 12
Drawing Conclusions - UBC Okanagan Student Exhibition - Feb.12 to March8
The Wheel: School District #22 High School Students - Jan.15 to Feb.2
2007:
Picasso's Cupboard and Even Dozen
Mellow Yellow - The 6th Annual NOAA Members Open Exhibition - Oct.16 to Nov.10
Look What we Have Done.. Carolina Sanchez de Bustamante / Mutation - Howard Brown - September 11 to October 5
Almost Famous - Ken Jeanotte - August 7 to August 24
Zotz Collective - Kurt Hutterli - July 3 to July 28
Flesh nor Meat - Ila Crawford /All our Ancestors - Tanya Dubick - May 29 to June 23
Spectacles of Intimacy - curated by Lora Carroll - April 24 to May 18
Green - The Fifth Annual NOAA members juried exhibition - March 20 to April 14
Pressing Engagements - UBC Okanagan Printmaking Students - Feb.13 to March 16
Bugs - School District #22 High School Students - Jan.16 to Feb.3
2006:
Picasso's Cupboard, Studio Artists - Nov.21 to Dec.9
Fall Forward - Oct.21 to Nov.10
Helm, Seward, Began - Sept.8 to Oct.6