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<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For Immediate Release
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<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Triumphant return to hometown for artist Sandeep Johal<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Sandeep Johal: To Be Something More<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">August 23, 2025, to February 1, 2026<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><i><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 20, 2025 – Kelowna, BC:</span></b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
<i>To Be Something More</i> marks the latest chapter in Kelowna-born artist <b>Sandeep Johal</b>’s ongoing exploration of women’s resilience. This body of work celebrates the strength, endurance, and indomitable spirit that rises in the face of adversity. It
opens this weekend at the Kelowna Art Gallery. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For the artist it is a triumphant return to her hometown of Kelowna for her first major solo exhibition in the city. “I grew up in Kelowna not thinking a career in the
arts was possible,” says <b>Sandeep Johal</b>. “I always dreamt of pursuing this avenue, but artists’ careers simply weren’t mirrored back to me. It wasn’t until I turned 30 that I went to art school and my career as an artist didn’t take flight until I was
41, as a new mom. I’m thrilled and very proud to be presenting this new body of work at the Kelowna Art Gallery.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><i><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To Be Something More
</span></i><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">offers audiences a reimagining of the folktale of
<b>Sohni Mahiwal</b>, an enduring romance from Punjab that remains firmly embedded in the region’s cultural fabric. According to the folktale, Sohni falls in love with a traveller named Mahiwal but is married to someone else against her will. Sohni pursues
this forbidden love and the tale ends in betrayal and tragedy for her (with an underlying tone of justification). In revisiting this story,
<b>Sandeep Johal</b> visually creates an alternate storyline for Sohni, one where she triumphs over the people and forces that work to confine her, and ultimately, she is rewritten as the hero of her own story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Through painting, collage, textiles, and a large mural, Sandeep Johal uses her signature Indo-folk feminine aesthetic to confront the harsh realities of the female experience,”
says <b>Christine May</b>, Curator at the Gallery. “She accomplishes this while infusing her work with vibrant colour, delight, and a triumphant or hopeful tone.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Visitors will encounter the raw energy of Johal’s works that combine her bold and graphic aesthetic with the tactile charm of textiles within the gallery space. To Be
Something More offers audiences both beauty and thoughtful consideration to experience during their exploration.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sandeep Johal</span></b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> is a Vancouver-based artist with a Fine Arts diploma from Langara College
and a B Ed. from UBC. She has many notable commissions including projects with the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver Mural Festival, Cadillac Fairview, and Downtown Vancouver BIA. Johal has been an artist-in-residence at Burrard Arts Foundation and Indian Summer
Festival, and received the 2019 Darpan Magazine Artistic Visionary Award.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">An
<b>Opening Reception</b> with the artist will be held on <b>Friday, August 22, 2025</b>, from 6 to 8 pm at the Kelowna Art Gallery. It is free and open to attend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><i><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To Be Something More</span></i><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> runs from August 23 to February 1, 2026. It is presented with support
from British Columbia Arts Council and Scenic Road Cider Co.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in the heart of Kelowna’s Culture District. For more information visit kelownaartgallery.com or call 250-762-2226.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">- 30 –<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">ARTIST ACCESS: Sandeep Johal will be in Kelowna working on the installation and available for interviews from August 20-22.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Image Credits</span></u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sandeep Johal in her studio, August 2025.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sandeep Johal,
<i>Betrayal wears a familiar face </i>(digital study), 2025, acrylic on canvas, textiles, embroidery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Resources</span></u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> Exhibition Webpage:
<span style="color:#666666"><a href="https://kelownaartgallery.com/to-be-something-more/">https://kelownaartgallery.com/to-be-something-more/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sandeep Johal’s Website:
<a href="https://www.sandeepjohal.com/">https://www.sandeepjohal.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">KAG IG:
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kelownaartgallery/">https://www.instagram.com/kelownaartgallery/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sandeep Johal’s IG:
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/sandeepjohalart/">https://www.instagram.com/sandeepjohalart/</a><span style="color:#666666"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">About the Kelowna Art Gallery <o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Kelowna Art Gallery engages, inspires, and enriches the community it serves through the exhibition, collection, and interpretation of visual art. Work by Canadian
artists, both historical and contemporary, are presented in five distinct exhibition spaces. The Kelowna Art Gallery is invested in the idea that art helps to bring people together; and that life is simply better with art in it. Programs for people of all
ages and backgrounds help to instill confidence in ones’ creativity and to foster meaningful dialogue on matters important to Canadians.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For additional high-res images, or to arrange an interview with the artist, please contact:<o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joshua Desnoyers (he/him)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Marketing and Events Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Kelowna Art Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;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:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">250-762-2226 ext. 305<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;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:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="http://www.kelownaartgallery.com">www.kelownaartgallery.com</a>
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