The Mendel Gift
June 24 – September 11, 2011
Saskatoon would lack much of its verve without the contributions of one of its citizens: Frederick Salomon Mendel. In 1940, he came to this city with his wife, Clare, and their two daughters, Johanna and Eva. He was a prosperous, 52-year-old businessman fleeing from Nazi Germany, and within months of his arrival, he opened the enterprise that would become Intercontinental Packers Limited. Twenty years later, while managing the fourth largest meat processing plant in Canada and Saskatoon’s biggest industry, Fred Mendel approached Mayor Sidney Buckwold, to initiate the creation of a public art gallery. With Mr. Mendel’s philanthropy and funding from the province and city, the Mendel Art Gallery and Civic Conservatory opened to an enthusiastic public on October 16, 1964.
Works on Paper
April 16 to June 13, 2010
Museums are in the business of collecting, sorting, and classifying objects for preservation and display. Exhibitions are often organized according to technique, medium, or art historical period. Works on Paper is a term used by museums to classify a range of artifacts produced on paper and typically include drawing, painting and printmaking. Taking playful liberty with the designation, this exhibition presents work from the Permanent Collection that reconsiders the medium and its conceptual potential. It showcases the cheeky and inquisitive spirit of artists working in the past half century and is a light-hearted meditation on museum conventions. Curated by Troy Gronsdahl and Troy Mamer.
