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<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For Immediate Release
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Artists provide ‘Geography Lessons’ for gallery-goers<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><a name="_Hlk104972193"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Geography Lessons: Nellie Duke and Sophie Atkinson<o:p></o:p></span></i></a></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk104972193"></span>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">May 13 to August 20, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">May 10, 2023 – Kelowna, BC:
</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The landscapes and locations of the Okanagan and Columbia Basin form the inspiration for a presentation of watercolour paintings at the Kelowna Art Gallery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Guest curator and art historian Carolyn MacHardy has chosen to feature two British-born artists who were active in the area in the 20th century —
<b>Nellie Duke</b> (1889-1980) and <b>Sophie Atkinson</b> (1876-1972). MacHardy has titled the exhibition
<i>Geography Lessons</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Visitors will have the opportunity to view over forty watercolour paintings by the two artists, on loan from private collections and from public art galleries and museums
across British Columbia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Looking at the geography of this region through the eyes of Nellie Duke and Sophie Atkinson, we see a land where the Illecillewaet Glacier had not yet almost completely
receded; where a view to the west from the east side of Kalamalka Lake did not reveal the slash of a four-lane highway; and where the tops of hills had not been shaved off for development,” explains
<b>Carolyn MacHardy</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In 1926, Nellie Duke and Sophie Atkinson arrived in British Columbia and became active in the local arts community. Their separate, but similar, life paths overlapped
in their explorations of the Okanagan Valley and Interior BC, which became the primary subject matter for their plein air watercolour paintings. Despite the challenges of making a living as an artist during this period, both Duke and Atkinson made artwork
that was greatly valued by the people in their respective communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">An opening reception to celebrate the exhibition is planned for Friday, May 12, 2023, from 6 to 8 pm. It is free and open to the public to attend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Geography Lessons</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> runs from May 13 to August 20, 2023.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Carolyn MacHardy is Associate Professor Emerita of Art History at UBC Okanagan, where she taught courses in Contemporary, Canadian, and Outsider Art History. She has
written numerous exhibition catalogue essays on Okanagan artists and published articles on Lady Aberdeen’s Guisachan Album and Tom Thomson’s The West Wind, among many others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in downtown Kelowna, B.C.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">- 30 –<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Images<o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Carolyn MacHardy examines a framed watercolour by Sophie Atkinson in the Kelowna Art Gallery's collection holding room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Nellie Duke (Helen M. Duke),
<i>Kalamalka Lake, B.C.</i>, not dated., watercolour on paper. Collection of the Kelowna Art Gallery.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sophie Atkinson,
<i>S. M. Simpson Ltd. Manhattan Beach</i>, circa late 1940s, watercolour on paper. Collection of the Kelowna Art Gallery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Nellie Duke,
<i>Revelstoke (hay in foreground)</i>, not dated, watercolour on paper. Collection of The Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Photograph of Nelly Duke sketching her view from Dixcot in East Kelowna, autumn 1945.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Photograph of Sophie Atkinson painting outdoors near Revelstoke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Resources</span></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Webpage:
<a href="https://kelownaartgallery.com/geography-lessons/">https://kelownaartgallery.com/geography-lessons/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">IG:
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kelownaartgallery/">https://www.instagram.com/kelownaartgallery/</a><span style="color:#666666"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To arrange for an interview, or for additional high-res images, please contact:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joshua Desnoyers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Marketing and Events Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Kelowna Art Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">1315 Water Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9R3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">250-762-2226 ext. 305<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="mailto:josh@kelownaartgallery.com">josh@kelownaartgallery.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="http://www.kelownaartgallery.com">www.kelownaartgallery.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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