It is a bittersweet moment for Oxygen Art Centre as we announce that Genevieve Robertson will be leaving her post as Executive Director at the end of the summer. Since arriving in early 2018 Genevieve has been dividing her attention between a burgeoning art practice and the management of Oxygen. Knowing it was only a matter of time before the art practice won her complete attention, we were very happy to bring her into the Oxygen fold and have benefited immensely from her vision, leadership, and passion for the Centre.
During her time serving Oxygen as Executive Director, Genevieve’s drawing practice saw exhibiting at the Nanaimo Art Gallery, The Walter Philips Gallery at Banff Centre for Art and Creativity and Access Gallery in Vancouver, where she was artist-in-residence followed by a solo exhibition this January 2019. In 2018 Genevieve was awarded a Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance Major Project grant for her project Carbon Study: Walking in the Dark which she has been working on throughout her time at Oxygen.
Genevieve’s future is full, with a forthcoming group exhibition at Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery in Vancouver titled Spill opening in September, and a solo exhibition at the Burnaby Art Gallery opening in February 2020, as well as several exhibitions in the Kootenay region. She will be an artist in residence at Nonesuch in Parsborro Nova Scotia this summer and is also currently working on several publication projects.
We are indebted to Genevieve for jumping into the fire during the peak of grant writing season in 2018, and for working with the board to continue creating a strong operational foundation, which has included a new financial system and strategic plan. She successfully provided young emerging artists the professional development opportunity of a curated show, titled Wayfinding: Identity in the Kootenays, and has worked to put together an inspiring and diverse Exhibition and Residency program going into the future. Her ability to learn the internal complexities of this dynamic organization while serving as a strong and graceful advocate in the public realm was admired and appreciated by all folks that have crossed her path this past year and a half.
She leaves behind a fresh and exciting direction for Oxygen Art Centre as we move further into serving the needs of our community, both locally and beyond. We know that when she devotes her caring attention to her own art practice, she will flourish just as she has done at Oxygen.
