Select Curatorial Projects

Salt: the distillation of matter
Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History
Nelson, BC
2008-09
This curatorial project and exhibition explores the nature of impermanence through the work of three artists: Julie Castonguay, Nicole Dextras and Haruko Okano.

“For Deborah Thompson the show’s curator, the exhibition is all about dealing with the theme of impermance: life and death and renewal with a lense on matter in its transformative ways. The show’s title comes from the process of mummification in ancient Egypt where in sea salt was used to preserve the body for the afterlife. This relationship between matter and renewal is at the heart of the exhibition and the works showcased by the three selected artists.”
Nelson Star
ROW: Reflections on Water
Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History
Nelson, BC
2009

A group exhibition that explored the symbolic associations of water through the juxtaposition of selected artifacts from Touchstones Nelson’s archives with the work of nine contemporary artists. Selected artists include, Chris Welsby, Julie Castonguay, Boukje Elzinga, Patrick Field, Marilyn James, Tanya Pixie Johnson, Destanne Norris, Karen Rice and Nancy Rosenblum.

THIRST: Thinking with our senses

Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History
Columbia River Treaty Conference
Spokane, WA

Off site exhibition
2014

This group show was created to bring an another voice into the discussion on the future of the Columbia River Watershed. The exhibition was staged over a three day period during the run of the Columbia River Basin Transboundary Conference in Spokane, WA. In this sense is was a pop – up exhibition with the installation of the work created by 9 artists in the conference centre lobby. Canadian and American artists were selected for the exhibition and to present at the conference. The artists included were Heather MacAskill, Vaughn Bell, Mary Babcock, Toma Villa, Betty Fahlman, Jan Kabatoff and members of Ananta (Alison Girvan, Kathleen Neudorf, Noemi Kiss).

The exhibition was granted an award for “innovation in exhibitions” through the Canadian Museum Association in 2015.