Conclusion
The exhibition, A Prairie Vernacular, provides engaging and delightful insights into vernacular art of the Canadian Prairies. Vernacular art includes folk art and contemporary works which address Prairie experience. Various themes emerged throughout the huge volume of work in all media that were researched for the exhibition. The exhibition was laid out in terms of relationships and shared themes between historic and contemporary works. This approach allowed the works to dialogue, weaving complex stories of Prairie history and experience that extends through time, through generations of artists and across the three Prairie Provinces. The generations of artists represented in the exhibition, both untrained and trained, offer their own adaptations of a Prairie vernacular that speaks to its realities, histories, memories, cultural myths, tragedies, visions and sense of place.
For further information on the work of these artists and more, check out some of the resources for the touring exhibition!
A Prairie Vernacular: The Art of Prairie Folk