Many Brains. One Heart.

Heath Fletcher 0:02
Hey there, welcome to the many brains one heart podcast. If you're looking for some feel good stories from people who are changing the world, you've come to the right place, we've got a collection of interviews with some amazing individuals who aren't afraid to share their ups and downs on their journey towards making a difference. Sure, it takes a lot more than one brain to make things happen. But when you've got a group of passionate people working together, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. So grab a seat, sit back, and let's get to the heart of the matter.

Okay, my guest today is Dauna Kennedy. She has been the Executive Director for the Vernon Public Art Gallery for the last 14 years. Welcome. This is episode number two. So I'm excited to have you here.

Dauna Kennedy 0:50
I am really excited to be here. I'm super excited that you're taking on this podcast world. And yeah, it's a great opportunity. I'm looking forward to chatting with you.

Heath Fletcher 1:00
Excellent. Me too. So let's talk about your role. And the gallery. For starters, let's talk about you've been there for 14 years. So let's take us back. And when you got started and and tell us about the gallery a little bit.

Dauna Kennedy 1:15
It has been a journey for sure. Yeah, I started in 2008, November of 2008, is when I started at the gallery. And at that time, the focus was on a new facility. And at that time, it was a pursuit of a standalone art gallery. So that's what I kind of flew into and learning about the history of it, and what came before me and all of the effort that had been put into that pursuit, I knew it was going to be, you know, a lot of getting out into the community and talking to the community and really educating them on the need, and why it's important for our community and stuff like that. So it's been a long journey since then. And I'm sure we'll talk more about it through there. But along the journey, I've had the pleasure of working with really creative people at the gallery who are artists in their own right, and have a passion for what they do. And, and, and really spreading visual literacy throughout the community and throughout the region. I love what I get to do and the people that I work with, it's just such a creative and innovative environment to be working in every day, that I that I feel super blessed to be able to work for the Vernon Public Art Gallery.

Heath Fletcher 2:30
Yeah, and you are, it's not like, it's always been easy to in to try and educate the public on art. Right. As you know, it's always been a bit of a challenge. But what's changed? Since you started? What has you have you seen has changed in your industry specifically, and the perception of the gallery to the community?

Dauna Kennedy 2:52
Yeah, I think I noticed early on that, you know, a lot of people were saying, Well, you know, the, you know, there's just not the public will there and that type of thing. And so I sought out to find out if that was true, and find out if the political will was there and, and that really led me to get involved with the Chamber of Commerce. And so I wound up being on their board of directors for seven years, my last year, I was president and, you know, I really took that time to delve into the the business community, educate them more on the benefits of having arts and culture in a community and how it benefits, you know, that that innovation and everything that we're looking for in modern day business. And so I think we're really successful in, in, you know, connecting up with the business community and, and I really feel that that a lot of them do recognize, you know, the value that arts and culture does bring to a community on an economic basis, as as well as just, you know, the really thinking outside the box, that people that that are exposed to lots of martial arts and culture, tend to think outside the box. And that's what our exhibitions and everything are about, is to challenge people to not just look at the surface, but to dig deeper in what was the artist trying to do with this, this piece of work? Or what are they trying to challenge you with? Specially you know, in this day and age where so much media comes in front of us through social media, and you know, you get those snippets, and they're definitely not deep dives, right. It's image image, you know, real here real there. And it's not diving deep into anything. So I think that's where the arts really brings you back to that point where you take the time, you you really embrace it, and you you do the deeper dive and I think that it's a good reminder for us with all of this, all of this noise that we have about us through social media and, and all of the other things that it brings you back to that point where okay, what is this in front of me and what are they really trying to tell us? because art is language, it's just a visual language. And it's just a different way of communicating messages. That's really what we try and do with the gallery is, is to provide that visual literacy out into the community, and show that there's different ways of communicating messages and the importance of, you know, digging below the surface, to find out what's really there.

Heath Fletcher 5:24
You're right, and the world is so noisy right now to like, you were touching on that it's just there. We are just bombarded with, with everything from constant feeds of our screens. And I think it's important for people to look a little bit deeper, like you say, take the time, and listen to go and see what is happening, particularly like, Is it unusual for a city of this size to have a public art gallery? Like, is that typical? Or is that kind of?

Dauna Kennedy 5:52
I mean, I would say that there's, there's different evolutionary periods of galleries, I think it's quite typical to have a gallery, you know, I mean, there's, there's some that are a lot smaller and are more about, you know, sharing local art. And then when you get to the professional level that we are, we are considered a museum, because we because we, you know, we have a collection, and the collection contains art that represents, you know, significant art practices that were happening at different points throughout our galleries operation. So because we are considered a museum, we're kind of at at that level, where we have a lot of different professional practices that we have to follow. But you know, we weren't always that level, right? I mean, we started out, we are the oldest art gallery in the interior. And yeah, that surprises a lot. Ya know, it surprises a lot of people, but, but it started out as a traveling picture show. And you know, and then it gradually evolved, and, and now we are a recognized professional public art gallery. And we're doing good award winning curatorial work, which we're very proud of.

Heath Fletcher 7:02
Yeah, absolutely. And that, I think it was smart of you to take that initiative and go into the business community, wearing wearing that hat at the, at the Chamber, but also wearing your hat as the executive director at the art gallery, because, you know, merging arts and culture with business, and helping people to understand the economic benefits of an art gallery, and having arts and culture in our city, as you know, because you've been working on a lot of different things over the years. But bringing that sort of awareness to the business community, I think that's how you manage to sort of fuse these really important business connections and sponsors and, and supporters from the business community of the art gallery, because that's how our gallery generates revenue is through fundraising.

Dauna Kennedy 7:51
I think a lot of people don't necessarily know what my background was before the gallery, they see me. They see me as the gallery girl, right. And, you know, before that time, I mean, the first half of my career, I would say I was involved with, you know, the social services, injury prevention industry, when I lived up North was very involved with that, before I went into business for myself, and I did a lot of work up there with the Chamber of Commerce. So I've done a lot of outreach, community outreach work. And so when I came into the gallery, I recognized that, that that's really what we were needing as an organization, we were doing a lot of good work, but the community was so unaware of what was happening there, and really what our purpose was so. So I really, you know, embrace the idea of doing community outreach, getting involved, not only with the chamber, but a lot of different, you know, different committees and stuff, the Tourism Commission, and lots of different things just to reach out and make sure that the gallery is relevant to our community. You know, if we're not participating in the, in the different the different activities that are going on, you know, partnering up with different organizations, then it's going to be a very insular type organization. And, and I think we've been quite successful with that we certainly, you know, have more visibility out there, we have a lot, lot more people that understand, you know, are gaining an understanding of the role that we play, you know, and there's different you know, we have different we also have Gallery Vertigo, which serves a purpose fit but a very different purpose from us. And, you know, and then we have more commercial gallery, like Head Bones Gallery, and so there's different types of Institute, you know, different types of organizations. And I'd say that we're an institution, because we are there for the public, that is our mandate. We are there to provide a service to the public. You know, there's different things obviously, commercial galleries are a for profit business and and they're there to buy and sell art. That's the purpose and people will sometimes come into the gallery and say, Well, how much is that art in it? And we tell them well, it's not for sale. The art is here, you know, as an education tool, as you know, an inspiration tool and as an opportunity for people to come in and explore. So so that is a nonstop ongoing piece of education that we are always doing is, you know, talking about what it is that public art galleries do, and the important role that they play in the community.

Heath Fletcher 10:23
That being a misconception sometimes about, well, it's an art gallery, and you're there, they're selling art, and but really, you're, you know, and maybe, let's talk about how you do that, how do you bring these exhibits in? Like, how do you still choose those and, and which ones come through, and maybe a little bit of clarity around how that happens? Because I mean, if you're an artist, and you're selling your art, well, you would approach a gallery, and they would represent you, and then they would hang your stuff, and then they would sell your stuff and get a commission and

Dauna Kennedy 10:54
that and that would be a commercial, commercial, good. And that's, that's a for profit, you know, business. And that's great, right, they have a great role to play. Yeah, the artists that exhibit at a public art gallery, tend to be looking at art, not for the commercial purpose, you know, in the commercial purpose tends to be, I'll paint what I think the public is going to purchase. Right? Right. And that's great, that viably commercial, right. And that's great, that serves a purpose. And, you know, coming at it from our perspective, so artists will put in a proposal to us about a body of work. So it's not, we're not just looking at an individual piece of art, we're looking at a body of work, where they were trying to communicate something. So whether that was they were experimenting with different methods of working with a particular medium, or if they are taking on a political message that they think we should look at from a different perspective, you know, so really, the sky is the limit. So they actually, they really have to put together their thought process, that deeper dive I was talking about, because that body of work is trying to tell a story through the visual arts through the visual lens. So that's how we approach that. So, you know, if someone was to approach us with, you know, a series of pretty pictures, well, well, what does this body of work? What is it trying to tell us? So it has to be beyond, you know, that that commercial intent, because we're not a commercial gallery, we're there for a different purpose. So. So there has to be a lot of thought as to what is going into those exhibitions, what is it that's trying to be portrayed, and then from that point from the proposals, and sometimes from from us being exposed artists that are out there, across Canada, we will seek out an artist to bring in their work because we feel it's important. And we you know, and it's an opportunity for members of our community, who can't travel to see that artists, we bring that art here, right, so that people have the opportunity to witness what's being done in other parts of Canada.

Heath Fletcher 12:53
That's a good point, too, because there'll be things happening and other centers, you know, their cities and other galleries where they've got you maybe we wouldn't have access to that, if we didn't have a public art gallery, but because you we we have the Vernon Public Art Gallery, we can access those kinds of things that you wouldn't actually see unless you went to Calgary or Edmonton or Toronto.

Dauna Kennedy 13:15
The exciting thing, the exciting thing with the new facility, is that opens us up even more, you know, I mean, right now, we are quite limited. I mean, we can still bring in artists from across Canada, but we can't necessarily tap into some of those really special exhibitions that our national gallery and our provincial galleries have, because we just don't have the building. And we can't, we can't guarantee that we'll keep the art safe, when we have stuff leaking from the parkade. And when they have floods happening, and things like that. So I can say we're a little bit excited to get into that new facility.

Heath Fletcher 13:53
Yeah, let's talk about that a little bit, because that's something you've been working on for a while, in fact, I did a stint on the board with the gallery early, early times when I first moved here. And there was talking about a new facility back then before the library.

Dauna Kennedy 14:10
Yes, it was 1986. Actually, I have first started, I have the letter in my office, where and that's before my time, but but I have the history binder. And in 1986, the gallery received a grant from the province, part of the expo Legacy Fund. That was the first, you know, back in the day, it was, you know, 1/3, provincial, 1/3 municipal 1/3 Federal to get capital projects going and so, you know, the gallery got $500,000 towards building a new gallery. But that was before the library, right. And so there was obviously communication that happened and I'm just kind of summarizing because I wasn't there. But you know, and discussion around well, the community feels that that we maybe need a library first. So can we transfer this money to the library? And then that was What the letter was, and within five years, we will have you in a purpose built gallery. Well, that was 1986.

Heath Fletcher 15:08
Fast forward a couple more decades.

Dauna Kennedy 15:12
So it's been a long, long haul.

Yeah, it's

it's an it's been, I have to say it's been an interesting journey. I've worked on a couple of capital projects and other communities. So it's been an interesting journey. You know, I think, again, it's that education piece. A lot of people assume that because the art galleries in Vernon, it falls under the city? Well, we don't, we fall under Greater Vernon Services, which is a subcommittee of the Regional District. So it adds to the layers of you know, and when I was first reaching out and working on the project, at that time, it wasn't really solidified who wanted to own culture, right? It was kind of at the Regional District. But when we would go to the Regional District and present it, they're like, oh, but you need to go and ask the city this. And so then we present to city council, and then we'd be bounced back there. And so it was a lot of bouncing around, you know, we got approved for a referendum once. And then it got pulled back and said, No, we've changed our minds. We want to go this route. And so then

Heath Fletcher 16:15
Let's go back to the referendum for a man because that was presented to you being the executive director at that time to say, Okay, let's do a yes campaign.

Dauna Kennedy 16:24
This was before that referendums. Before that was before there was another one. Oh, well, it didn't, it didn't go forward, it didn't actually go forward. So no, this this particular one we got it was funny, because I think this was the time that I went to present to GVACc after having been called into the gallery early at seven in the morning, because we had been completely flooded. And at that time, we had no furnace. So it was winter, it was December, we had no furnace, we're all working in there in gloves around space heaters. And then the whole place flooded because the water main went out front. And, and so then I got to go and present it to GVAC. Anyways, it was lots of entertaining things happen at the gallery, I always think that we should do it behind the scenes, you know, a little. So anyways, so they approved us to go to referendum for a standalone gallery. And that was when the flower shop had been purchased for the idea of putting the art gallery there. So then that was approved. Okay, you guys can go. And then at the next meeting, it was reversed and decided, no, we're going to take a different direction. And then from there, we dove into the arts and culture master plan. And and then that's where, from that the politicians decided no, we don't want to build any standalone, we all want to only build multipurpose. And so so that is why we're now going forward as the cultural center that will house you know, different purposes.

Heath Fletcher 17:53
That's great. And so that yes, campaign, that I think that was the first thing I worked on with you through spring, but that was when he was on again.

Dauna Kennedy 18:02
That was it 2018? Yeah, it was 2018.

Heath Fletcher 18:06
Yeah. So then that was you're presented with that challenge to convince this community to say, Yes.

Dauna Kennedy 18:13
You know, I didn't have a doubt that the community would say, Yes, I know. I knew we had done the work before that. Right. I knew that we had done the work. I knew we had done the outreach. We had been relentless at pushing this project at at really communicating with the public finding out where their concerns were. I was confident going into that, you know, we pulled in brilliant people like yourself, we pulled in the rock stars that that made it happen. It is because of the community that that happened. Did we surprise a few people? I think we did.

Heath Fletcher 18:48
I was surprised. I mean, I didn't want to be a doubter. But at the same time, I was like, I was really hoping this community was going to, you know, vote with their heart, you know, and think about it a bit at a big kind of from a higher level. And, wow, that was I mean, that was exciting that night, and it was it was, yes, came through. And it was almost like that was the most important thing from that election, was whether that was going to happen or not. So that was a big achievement. I mean, that was, and that was based on the work you had been doing all along up to leading up to that, exactly, and working with the business community.

Dauna Kennedy 19:25
I think that was maybe not recognized by certain partners, the amount of work that that the gallery had been doing on that deep level, to really reach out to, you know, reach out to all of those different facets of the community. And I think the successful recognition was a recognition of that work that we did. So I'm very proud of of everybody that that put in the put in the time and the effort. You know, there's so many people that came before me, right that that did you know a lot of the grassroot grassroots stuff as well, like there's just so many people to thank for making it a successful referendum. You know, I mean, years before me that, you know, I was just the latest one that that was throwing it through and, and I kind of have a motto that you know, I mean, it's never know you find ways around and you find solutions. And you, you continue on.

Heath Fletcher 20:18
The city is evolving, you know, the community's evolving, it's, you know, we've got a lot of new implants from other places who are expecting and would like more arts and culture here. And I think that has a lot to do with, I think there is a shifting in, who's here what the voters want to write. So no, for sure to see that too.

Dauna Kennedy 20:39
The interesting thing, and this is what I love about about the arts, and I say the deeper dive, you know, because at different times, it will, it will bring out those conversations, like quite often will have these community conversations in the gallery that, you know, if there's a particular exhibition that brings up, you know, a relevant topic to the community, like when cannabis was being being legalized and stuff like that, we had an exhibition on cannabis. And we had a community conversation, and the community came out in force to come in and have that conversation. And I was like, oh, you know, is there gonna be a lot of pushback is there and you know, what it was, it was so interesting, and so surprising of the, you know, the comments that came out, so we had a panel discussion with people from the university and, and so we'll do that on different topics, like food sovereignty or, you know, we had the latest one was on hard of hearing, but it really brings out different segments and opinions of our community. And so this definitely brings up behind the mask, right? Because did that bring out the conversation on our community? And did that, you know, really, really highlighted for me, and I hope for a lot of other people that yes, there are people on on both sides of, you know, pros, do we want to progress? Do we want to, you know, stay stay to our historical roots? Where do we want to be on that spectrum of things, and, and that particular project brought the voices out in force, although it was painful on my part. You know, I am I am still I and I will continue to be so proud of that project. And and what it brought to light for our community and the conversations that came out of that, you know, it's an end, you know, it hasn't stopped, you know, the project is not done yet. We're still doing things behind the scenes to, to bring closure to that project,

Heath Fletcher 22:46
Let's maybe explain what behind the mask is. Because there might be people listening who don't really know what we're talking about you and I know really well, we're talking about, but explain what behind the mask, go back to when you were bringing behind the mask here and what the goal was and what you saw, and then we'll maybe reveal what happened afterwards. I mean, some people already know. But so

Dauna Kennedy 23:02
I mean, we really noticed, you know, from a gallery perspective, we really noticed, we were seeing more and more mental health being recognized, you know, not only through the messages that were coming through, through different exhibitions, that, you know, we were receiving, receiving, as, you know, proposals, things like that, it seemed to be really heavily focused on mental health, we're seeing it on our streets, in our communities, we're seeing it around the world. And, you know, I mean, and that's, again, I say, we take on, you know, those social topics that are relevant to communities and, and it's, they're uncomfortable, as you know, especially especially because we provide that neutral place for conversation, we're not trying to pick a side for anything, we're just trying to present the opportunity opportunity to have the discussion. And, and that's part of that's part of our job, that's part of our mandate is to provide that platform for conversation. So so from that, we were aware of an artist that had done kind of this community, community based interaction in creating artwork and so it was working with with local members of the community, local artists, to create these masks, we so often present masks to the public that don't speak to who we are or what we're feeling behind the mask. And and it just was was such an interesting way to bring forward some of that conversation. And so with that, we partnered up with Social Planning Council, who then put us in touch with Turning Points Collaborative, and then we brought in this artist you know, who is an expert in doing this type type of work and she she brings in a mental health professional, you know, to work through any feelings that come up related to it and stuff like that. And so we held these workshops with with some of the people you know, from with lived experience, whether in mental health, homelessness, different things like that, and we had some some creative process and creating these, these characters that, who they wanted to portray themselves as to the public, it was a beautiful process to watch, and see these artists come together and be vulnerable, but see their excitement in being able to do something for the community, you know, knowing that the work that they were producing the story that they were creating was something that they were doing, and gifting to the community, the process was just, we were lucky enough to have you guys follow the journey, do a documentary of the project, which, which tells it so beautifully. And I encourage everybody to go on to our YouTube channel and take a look at the documentary because it really tells the story of this project. So from there, as you know, you know, not everybody was comfortable, either with either with the images, or some felt that they didn't want these stories representing who Vernon was. And that's how some people took it. So so it brought up some controversy. It brought up some the media took it and ran with it. And it really created a huge conversation, actually, not only in Vernon, but across Canada.

Heath Fletcher 26:13
A big discussion. Yeah.

Dauna Kennedy 26:16
It really did. And it was so interesting to, you know, to see the Canadian Museums Association over in Toronto, listing our stories as part of their content they were putting out and BC Museums Association and CBC debating it on, you know, when it was popping up everywhere, and you know, so it was obviously an important conversation. But what was the conversation? It wound up not only being on mental health, but it wound up being? To me, I think that, you know, the biggest thing for Vernon was the Vernon identity is who is Vernon now, you know, because there was so many that were wanting to embrace the progress that that these murals represented. But there was the others that didn't want to so. So I think this project meant different things to different people. And you know, in the end, we had different communities reaching out to us, wanting us to bring this to them. In the end, they saw it as Vernon rejecting this body of work, right? There's so many things that go into that, you know, whether that's a proper interpretation or not, we were leading into an election, it wound up being an election issue. There was just there was just a storm, it was a perfect storm. And you know, which, which, yeah.

Heath Fletcher 27:37
You're right, though, maybe it wouldn't have gotten the press and the exposure and the conversation may not have been as big right had not been timed to come out at that time. The unfortunate side was a you didn't get to put up all those barrels all over town, like as they did in Calgary with with which Katie had done in a previous project. And I was excited to see those. And that was the unfortunate side. That was the loss I thought but at the other hand, there was the gain was that it got such a reach as far a sthe conversation.

Dauna Kennedy 28:12
Yeah, it definitely did. You know, I'm very proud. You know, we're we're a small gallery in Vernon, and it's a huge conversation for for it to be recognized. You know, we receive Canada Council funding for that. And so even to receive Canada Council funding, our application was recognized as quality work quality exhibition that was worth investing in. I'm proud that that, you know, little Vernon Public Art Gallery was, was able to make a mark.

Heath Fletcher 28:43
I'm proud of that, too. Like I was really grateful to have been part of that. been, you know, the storytellers behind it in a way where we were brought in originally to just document this cool art project that was happening in in Vernon, and then we're going to have these murals, and we had no anticipation of what was going to happen. Yeah, but from even for me, you know, I hadn't heard anything about that artist or anything, but being behind the camera and being in the rooms with the participants and seeing them go through the experience. Like it was emotional to watch for me as as being behind the camera and seeing because we got to interview all the participants as well, before and during the disruption in the process. But, you know, and listening to what they had to say was really, yeah, it was very emotional. It was very how much and they were enjoying the process of creating and most of them talked about how in their youth, they had been creative people. They had done art, they had done music, and they were it was really helping them reach back to that time in their life when they were creative. And bringing it back to the now it was really it was great, but it was also heartbreaking to interview them. After the, you know, everything hit the fan and we they were some there was some pretty bad things said, you know, and they were heartbroken about that was hard to listen to.

Dauna Kennedy 28:51
It was it was hard, you know for, for me from that perspective that, you know, I don't think anybody in our community should have to experience, you know that that type of type of pushback so so that that was a hard thing for me to see, you know, we need, we need to do better, and hopefully, you know, hopefully, opportunities like that are learning opportunities for us as a community. And it gets back to that deeper dive again, right, you know, that spiraled? Again, because of the social media and because of the thin, scary messaging going out there. And the deep dive not happening. And so so that's why the documentary is great. And, and the other, you know, the website that was created from that, and that was always being presented as a portion of this project. But it speaks to the importance of people not taking stuff on certain surface value. But do that deeper dive, oh, well, what is this really about?

Heath Fletcher 31:22
Yeah, and you gave the public that opportunity through that public consultation, which, which really required people to come to the gallery see the display, because they were all on display in the gallery at in a small version for everyone to look at, and to come and ask questions.

Dauna Kennedy 31:37
And that was what I told everybody, you know, when people are saying, Oh, you just want the supporters there. And it's like, no, this is your gallery. This is a public art gallery. This is your gallery, too. And you have every right to come and say no. And we welcomed people. However, they saw the exhibition. I mean, it was certainly a challenging summer. It

Heath Fletcher 32:00
certainly didn't turn out the way we originally envisioned it. But yeah, you said it. It didn't it did its original job, which was to bring up the conversation of mental health, exactly how it affects everyone.

Dauna Kennedy 32:16
How do we see it in our community? You know, and and from a Vernon point of view? How do we see approaching that and making it better? Do we want to hide it? Or do we want to bring it front and center and move in a positive direction? So? So yeah, I think it certainly achieved having those conversations, for sure.

Heath Fletcher 32:37
Right. And people should go watch that documentary.

Dauna Kennedy 33:24
I would agree, it was well done.

Heath Fletcher 32:42
it's exciting to hear what's moving forward with our community. As far as arts and culture, though goes, there seems to be a larger movement to that we talked about earlier about some things about and I think this came up during Behind the Mask too. And it was about some stereotypes, because I think there were some comments made about, well, the gallery is the gallery is not, does it get sort of classified, and maybe this comes back to its purpose as a public gallery, as opposed to a commercial gallery is that it's, it's not, it's not approachable, or it's not a place where people feel comfortable about going, they think it's more it's gonna rich and famous or or, you know, a different economic status, or does it kind of get?

Dauna Kennedy 33:27
You know, I do think there's misconceptions, for sure. You know, I mean, maybe people think of the big national galleries and stuff. And, you know, for people that haven't typically gone to galleries, I think there is a bit of an intimidation factor there. And that's just from not knowing what to expect, I think, you know, and, and my background was not in the art. So it was, like I said, more in the social services, business recreation, but that's kind of the lens that I brought in was like, Okay, I am one of those public members. So So what do we need to do to make it a comfortable place for everybody, because we are a public art gallery, which means we are for everybody. It's by donation, we don't charge a fee is by donation when people come in. So we welcome everybody to come in whether you can make a donation or not, and it is accessible, it is totally accessible. And, and we have programming for all ages. And, you know, we're always looking for feedback. Yes, we have memberships, reasonable memberships, you know, all the way up to our philanthropy circle members who want to be able to contribute a bit more, you know, so our members get, you know, a few other perks and stuff if they want that, but you certainly don't have to be a member to come because it is for everybody. We change up our exhibitions. You know, we have about five turnovers every year, where there'll be new exhibitions coming in in the different spaces and there's always a little something for everybody. And it's not always you know, paintings on the wall. Sometimes it'll be you know, installation works. Video works. Sometimes it's things that you actually have to interact with, we had this one kind of musical piece that came through. So you became a part of the artwork as you wound your way through. So there's lots of really interesting exhibitions that that come in. So I do encourage people to come in. And if it's your first time, we have somebody at the front desk, who's happy to show you around, happy to give you an idea about what the different things are about, I'm just always trying to encourage people to come in, you know, with our busy, hectic life, it's such a peaceful place to come. And just just look at the artwork, and ponder, relax, you know, I encourage people to come and it's not a place to be intimidated of, it's not a place for any particular demographic, it is truly a public facility.

Heath Fletcher 35:50
You're good at tying in with schools, and bringing kids and students into the gallery where they get to show art. Yes, they make Yeah. And I think what's really cool about that is it not only brings the, you know, exposure to the gallery and the gallery experience to younger to a younger generation, but their parents then also come to see it. And it may be, you know, groups of people that don't would never walk into the gallery or think about going to the gallery, I think it's that's a great way to tap into other areas of the community. Because I know that's when you know, our kids went to school here and our kids, both our kids went and had their art hung on the gallery wall.

Dauna Kennedy 36:34
I think it's a really important step that that, you know, and that's maybe we're the Vernon public art gallery is a little bit different than you know, some of the larger galleries in the larger areas, we do keep, you know, one of our gallery spaces as more community based projects, which this would fit into, you know, we think is really important to be able to provide those young artists with the opportunity to see their work up in a professional art gallery, you know, and so we have it for the elementary school. And that's in there right now. And then we're transitioning to the high school, and then following that is then the university graduates. And the nice thing with that is, then they can see the evolution of, oh, from here, I go to here, and then from there, oh, this is where I get to go on, this is what I get to do, right. And it's, you know, I think of Cory Dixon, when I think of a young one that started out, you know how his work in the elementary school shows how his work in the high school shows, then he went on to university, and we hired him as a summer student. And he started Riot on the Roof. And then he graduated, and he got to exhibit his work again, as a graduate of UBCO. He is now in New York, just had a huge exhibition exhibition in Los Angeles, wow, it shows the evolution of a local boy, you know, so so it is important to have those moments in time, that that really inspire our young ones, to keep that creative muscle going. You know, we all start out being creative. And we tend to lose it as we get older. And if we don't practice it, you know. And that's why art galleries are super important. When we get focused with business focused with the goals focused with what we need to do, our brains kind of get stuck in, in those straight lines. And sometimes we need to come back to that gallery space to remind us to look beyond what we see. And let's open up our minds again. And let's think outside the box and think in this other way. That's why art galleries are important. And and some will continue in their creative pursuits and some won't, but then come back and remember where your creative roots are, and experience what we have to offer for you.

Heath Fletcher 38:56
I mean, so many so many kids will remember that experience moving forward if they're not a quarry. You know, that's a great story. Yeah. Love that. Oh, yeah. I don't know. I didn't know that about him. Yeah, that's really cool. And you're also infusing other things like live music? Cuz you guys we are all Art After Dark, right? Yes, brings another sort of experience in the art gallery, too. I think I think you are attracting a youth audience.

Dauna Kennedy 39:25
We're kind of looking at I mean, it's very targeted to you know, high school, you know, college university age, although it winds up being an event for all ages. But, but really, it started out as a way for us to kind of build an audience with that population of the community. And we wanted to provide that platform for young emerging people who aren't going to get the opportunity, you know, to do a live gig somewhere and and to do you know, an exhibition yet because they're not at that point, and some that were or outside mainstream art and doing very alternative type things. And so we thought, let's take over the parkade, let's provide this opportunity for young emerging artists to do their thing, the group that started out as Amistad had started out as one of the starting bands and left as the headliner, you know, by the time they evolved out, and whose Daysormay, right? So we really are excited about that event in, in providing that, that platform for them, we can't pay them a lot, but we want them to feel that bit of professional, you know, so we'll pay them each and an honorarium for being a part of creating that event for the community. Every year is a little bit different. Because it depends who the summer students are and what their background is, like, sometimes people are coming in with a background in creative writing and poetry and, you know, so there'll be a bit of that vibe coming in. Other ones have a background maybe and in doing some, some video work and things like that. And we just try and bring in different vibes let the young up and coming artists. Yeah, so it's a great event, you know, for the end of summer, it's a great summer wrap up event and, and just something that we can provide to, to that demographic that, you know, they're saying, there's not a lot for us around town. So it's a very affordable event. Yeah. For them to just come out and have a nice night.

Heath Fletcher 41:22
That's and it's on the roof of the parkade.

Dauna Kennedy 41:26
Which is, which is amazing. And you guys took some awesome drone footage last year eternal. And so So yeah, so we'll use that in a promotion this year. Because it really, but you know, I mean, always having to reach out because it's funny. Again, the number of people that don't know about that event, you know, we would assume that that demographic would because it's been going for 14 years now. But I talked to a girl the other day, and no, she never heard of it. So there's always work to do to get the word out there and let people know what's happening. And we have a new, it's called the CRIT Club now that we're doing and it's, you know, again, for the high club, CRIT Club, okay, so kind of critique club or whatever, yeah, it's for the high school age. And it's once a month, come out to the gallery have pizza, bring your art, and it's an opportunity to share with other artistic people, you know, and we have our education person there that that works with them. And they talk about their art and make suggestions, look at our exhibitions and get ideas and it's just kind of a nice social hangout for the kids called the crate club. So I encourage high school kids to check it out. Give us a call. Find out when it is.

Heath Fletcher 42:38
The gallery liberalize on fundraising. Yes, we do. COVID Somewhat blew that up.

Dauna Kennedy 42:45
That was painful.

Heath Fletcher 42:47
I mean, you pivoted right? And you went online and went live, you know, online with with art auction, so Midsummer's Eve of the Arts and is coming back?

Dauna Kennedy 42:59
Yes, it is back. It Midsummer's Eve it is back. And you know, it's back in its full full glory. Finally, yeah, you know, we had to, we had to do a few different just because we do you know, we need to fundraise about $90,000 a year to keep all of our programming going, keep all of our staff going and stuff like that. So not a lot of people realize that we have to raise that much each year. But but we do so Midsummer's Eve is a very, very important, very important event for the gallery. And we really appreciate the support that we got through COVID. We recognize that we had to bounce around with our event a bit but this year it is back. It is strong. And is it's at Mackey Lake House, so yay. Yes, yes. So it's, it's always for 35 years. Plus it has always been the third Wednesday in July. So mark that on your calendars. And we're really really looking forward to you know, our great garden party live art art auction it's a great event.

Heath Fletcher 44:05
There's dancing there's there's

Dauna Kennedy 44:07
It's just a wonderful Vernon signature event, you know, what could be more Vernon than being in the beautiful gardens overlooking the lake, enjoying art and having fun?

Heath Fletcher 44:18
That's a lot of art comes through there. That's Oh, yes, it is. Yeah, actually end up auctioning.

Dauna Kennedy 44:23
You know, I mean, it's a combination of artwork and packages that we get from different businesses and stuff. But usually we have about 100 lot items that, that go through the two different auctions there. So it is so much fun. And it is you know, I mean, we get so many great people that support it year after year. So I just encourage everybody to come out and, and have fun with us and celebrate art.

Heath Fletcher 44:49
Good for you for taking on the live version of that during COVID. I mean, it was fun, too. And yeah, I mean, it's still a learning curve.

Dauna Kennedy 44:58
So I'm glad we prepped you to go on for the chamber one after that, but yeah, but but that's what we do. That's what we do. We're all about experimenting takes me back to the the big steel box pop up gallery we did.

Heath Fletcher 45:14
Yeah, that's because that's where the flower shop was.

Dauna Kennedy 45:18
That was where the standalone gallery was supposed to be. And, you know, we brought the Okanagan print triennial calm. It was the first time it was an international competition. And it was a big deal. And it was coming to Vernon and it was supposed to be in the new facility. And that wasn't happening. And so six weeks before that exhibition was opening, somebody had the bright idea of let's do a pop up gallery on the site of where the gallery is supposed to be. And so and nobody thought it would be done. Nobody thought it could be done, right? And in six weeks, we got it done. I got I got a hold a big steel box and said, Will you give us six boxes that we can put on this lot. And at the opening reception, he said, I only said yes to her, because I didn't think she'd be able to make it happen. And and we did everybody I asked just jumped on board the city. The city said you need a surveyor and then you need an engineer and then you need and everybody just kept saying yes, yes, yes. Armstrong Crane came on board and craned them all into place, you know, and then an outfit out of Calgary came in, created these slide in walls to hang the art on. It was it was an amazing, cramped process of seeing what can happen when people work together for a common end result. It was amazing. You know, working with Cleo Corbett, at the time with the city, we actually wound up going to Creative City Summit. I think it is that's where the municipal employees go to. And we actually did a presentation on that project, because of the short timeline and what we were able to accomplish, you know, with zero budget.

Heath Fletcher 47:03
Brought it to the community. Yeah. But is that something you could do more of like those kind of pop up things? Or no, maybe not to that scale? But maybe is it something that you could do as a gallery is do though, do pop up things like that?

Dauna Kennedy 47:17
You know, I mean, you know, there's there's always, you know, opportunities to try different things. I mean, it comes down to to capacity and, and budget for sure. I think once we're settled in the new facility, you know, and we get operations solidified there and everything like that, then that will open the doors to, to some creativity like that will have the advantage of having some outdoor space that we'll be able to use as well. And so I see all sorts of exciting things coming is really will, it really will.

Heath Fletcher 47:49
It's gonna be right downtown.

Dauna Kennedy 47:51
Right on, right on the rail trail that's passing through there, that greenway that's connecting up to the Rail Trail. Yeah. So I mean, it's just going to be an amazing hub. Yes. For everybody in the community. Like I said, the the cyclists, the people out walking the, and the community as a whole. So it's an amazing time.

Heath Fletcher 48:09
What stage is it at the moment, actually.

Dauna Kennedy 48:12
So we have architects hired and super excited if you haven't checked out their website, it's Reverie Architects, they have done iconic cultural buildings all over the world. Just amazing. So it's really exciting to see that caliber of architect coming to Vernon. Yeah, I mean, I guess we're just lucky because of COVID in that because they were looking for projects closer to home. So yeah, so that that was a name that we had.

Heath Fletcher 48:42
A few Silver Linings coming out of COVID For sure, for sure.

Dauna Kennedy 48:46
So they've been working hard and they're working on some some documents and stuff for us right now. So we should be getting that any day. So I'm really excited to see the first real output from them.

Heath Fletcher 49:01
You've had some sort of renderings and some concepts. Yeah, really nothing solid. Nothing sort of concrete. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Dauna Kennedy 49:10
So yeah, we are so this will be the first ones from these guys. And then from there, we'll be doing a deeper dive into the detail design and, and really digging in and so things from here only are going to gain speed as we go. So yeah, yeah.

Heath Fletcher 49:24
That's exciting. Yeah, it's exciting for all of us. We talked a little bit about you your past but how did you end up in Vernon? Anyways?

Dauna Kennedy 49:32
I ended up in Vernon. Wow. And where did you come from? I actually graduated from Salmon Arm. I'm a lover of the lakes but I lived most of my my adult life before coming here up in Fort St. John and Grand Prairie. Yeah, it was it was an opportunity. My husband went to work overseas. It was an opportunity to get back here. I always knew that I needed to get back to the lakes I needed to get back to the mountains and stuff like that. I kind of did some research. We looked at Kamloops, Kelowna, here, Salmon arm And you know, my boys were involved with competitive sports, competitive swimming up north. We're also in French immersion. So those were the two big things I was looking for and Vernon had the best mix so we settled here in Vernon and absolutely love it. It is our home. It feels like we were coming back home coming here. I mean, I remember playing basketball and volleyball in Seaton gym. When I was part of the Salmon Arm team.

Heath Fletcher 50:27
French immersion school so yeah, yeah.

Dauna Kennedy 50:29
it so it was really interesting, you know, resettling in this area? Yeah, it's been really good. That's a bit of my past. I mean, I grew up in a dairy farm in Salmon Arm. Some people don't know i'm a dairy farmer.

Heath Fletcher 50:44
So you know your way around a cow. I know my way around a cow. Now, you've been here. So share with us some of your favorite things, favorite places or activities that you like to do around here?

Dauna Kennedy 50:59
Yeah, you know, there's so many hey? I just I just, we are so lucky no matter where we turn. I mean, we're so blessed to be where we are. But summertime Kal Lake, anywhere on are on or around Kal Lake just makes it's my happy place. In the wintertime, the tranquility of going up to Sovereign Lake. Whether you're snowshoeing or whether you're you know, taking the ski trails, my girlfriend and I love to go nighttime snowshoeing, oh, it's just so peaceful. You know, in terms of outdoor pursuits, it's never ending. You know, we're we're just so lucky to have so many opportunities that way. And then in terms of arts and culture and stuff like that. I mean, we're getting somewhere, we're getting some investment, we're getting some traction. But in spite of that, we have always had such a strong grassroots, artistic community that we live in. I mean, there's just so many interesting opportunities to try different things, you know, from Lorna's dance lessons on her deck through COVID, or the Jazz Club or the different, you know, there's just so many fun little opportunities to engage with, with with Vernon's unique community.

Heath Fletcher 50:59
Yeah, it's yeah. Thanks for sharing. I think we covered pretty much everything. I guess. Maybe we maybe if we go back to a little bit around, you know, the gallery is a public gallery, but it is also a not for profit.

Dauna Kennedy 52:34
Yes we are a registered charity.

Heath Fletcher 52:36
So you know, all nonprofits have their challenges. What are some of the challenges you are experiencing from you all of your 14 years being there?

Dauna Kennedy 52:46
I mean, I think the big challenges, and I've had this debate with different different politicians that come to town and stuff like that, I always seem to get pushed into the political side of things. Because, you know, I just think it's, I think it's so important to advocate for, for different things to make our community better, right. I always feel a healthy community is a well balanced, well rounded community. And that means that there's investment in all areas of that community. Yeah, you know, you don't sacrifice one area for another area. And when I was challenged by one of the finance, provincial finance ministers once, when he was here, talking about their pillars of investment, and I said, Okay, now I need to hear about arts and culture. And he's like, Well, where do you want me to get that money from? He says, do you want me to take it from the hospitals? Do you want me to take it from here? Do you want me to take it from there? And I said, as a matter of fact, yes, I do. I said, I want everybody. That's exactly what I said, I want you to take a little sliver from all of these, in recognition that arts and culture helps with crime prevention, it helps with mental health, it helps with physical health, it helps with all of those things. So by investing in arts and culture, you are saving money in those areas. And we need to recognize that that's what creating a healthy economy and a healthy community is about. Absolutely. I tend to get a little bit, I go after those things. And really, really, you know, it's not about sacrificing. You know, everybody's always trying to play the arts against the sports. It's not either or we need both. So I will advocate for the pool as much as I will advocate for the Cultural Center. My boys were swimmers, right? I recognize that pool does not work for doing swim meets, you know, and that's only one user group for in there. There's so many more right? There's always a bigger story to every facility and what it provides to the community.

Heath Fletcher 54:42
I'm glad you said that about arts and culture because it is it it does tend to be sort of a side column or you know, a line item but really it isn't, you know, it's an economic driver on its own. And like you said it provides something for everyone at some level, at some point in their life, it has done something positive for everybody.

Dauna Kennedy 55:06
And I think people forget what is arts and culture, they immediately think, oh, a gallery and things like that. But but if you think of the arts, what is your business? If somebody has a logol, where does that come from? That's artistic, that comes from Arts, any signs that are out there, any video, any TV shows any, any of that stuff that green we're watching, that is the arts. That is what the art gallery is about is, is making sure that those artistic people that are out working in the business world and out doing that have that connection place to come back to and reconnect with that creativity, to then go out there and innovate in their roles within the community. It's an important institution. It is a needed institution. It is the heart of the community. Yeah. And yeah, anyways, that's my passionate soapbox.

Heath Fletcher 56:00
Thank you for being that advocate for our community in that arena. Because we need people to be speaking out and reminding like you say, you're really you're just reminding them all having, you know, didn't Haven't you experience arts and culture and enjoyed it, and and felt something felt something from it. We we do need it and we need that investment.

Dauna Kennedy 56:23
Exactly. No, it just has to be a standard part of what we invest in to make our community the best it can be.

Heath Fletcher 56:31
This has been awesome.

Dauna Kennedy 56:33
I have so enjoyed it.

Heath Fletcher 56:34
Thank you, me too. I hope we've covered a lot of things and maybe sort of revealed some unknowns for people and maybe they'll get to know the gallery and you a little bit more.

Dauna Kennedy 56:47
I always encourage people to come in and talk to me. I'm always around. Come in chat with me. I'm always up for a debate or are up for clarification if people have questions.

Heath Fletcher 56:58
Well, we'll make sure they have the website so they can go check it out and get in contact with the gallery and Thanks,

Dauna Kennedy 57:05
Dauna. Awesome. Thanks so much.

Heath Fletcher 57:07
All right. That's it for this show. Thanks for listening. We'll talk soon.