Welcome 2021 Board of Directors

BlackFlash is thrilled to welcome four newly elected members to our Board of Directors.

Rhiannon Vogl

Rhiannon is a third-year Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto in the Art History Department. Her doctoral research examines a history of art writing in Canada and traces its trajectory through the postmodern period, concentrating on the years between 1967-1989. Rhiannon has an active independent writing practice and has published catalogue essays, reviews, and exhibition texts; she is a member of the Canadian section of the International Association of Art Critics; and sits on the Advisory Board of the Art Museum, University of Toronto. 

For the decade previous to her doctoral studies, she was a Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa where she worked closely with a team to research and build the Contemporary Canadian Art and International Contemporary Art collections. During her time at the National Gallery of Canada, she curated nearly twenty diverse and dynamic exhibitions. 

Informed by her experience working in the arts,  Rhiannon affirms that “art writing is vital to the ecology of culture in the country. I am committed to seeing the publishing industry here remain strong and evolve.” 

gan 

gan is an interdisciplinary artist born, raised, and living on Treaty 6 in Saskatoon. Under the artist name respectfulchild, gan works primarily with their violin, as both a composer and performer, to make ambient instrumental soundscapes. Their debut album 在找::searching:: was released in the summer of 2017 on Coax Records and they have toured across Canada and Europe with artists such as Rae Spoon, A Tribe Called Red, and Jeremy Dutcher. respectfulchild created the original soundtrack for Amalie Atkins film The Diamond Eye Assembly (2019) and Anne Koizumi’s film In The Shodow Of The Pines (2020). Recently, gan has expanded their practice to include drag and sculptural installation. “respectfulchild is a space for me to explore questions and feelings I have with whichever medium feels most fitting.” 

“I feel really attached to Saskatoon and the Prairies as my home, and I’m interested in the work BlackFlash is doing in cultivating and highlighting the artistic community we have here. I’m especially interested in connecting with other queer artists of colour on the Prairies because it can sometimes feel quite isolating in a very straight and white world.”

Kaeten Bonli

Kaeten is an interdisciplinary visual artist, curator, and designer, currently based in Saskatoon. He recently graduated from the MFA Fine Art Program at Parsons School of Design in New York City, where he specialized in abstract painting, digital media and queer theory. Kaeten is keen to connect with the local art community through BlackFlash and use his position on the board to celebrate and advocate for creatives working across Canada’s art scene. 

Kaeten has a dynamic roster of professional experiences, much of which is centred in community organizing, experimental arts programming, and anti-oppression facilitation. He completed a two-year term (2015-2017) as the vice president of the board of directors of articule in Montreal, where he gained extensive experience in facilitating accessible, socially accountable, non-hierarchical arts administration, as well as co-organized numerous community-based initiatives at the centre. 

Keaten’s interests in socially engaged art programming and curation extend into his art practice. Much of his art addresses the role that queer culture plays in today’s political climate, and he strives to develop a practice that is challenging, critical, and constantly engaged in a constructive dialogue with his extended creative community. “What particularly excites me about Canada’s contemporary art scene is the direction I see young creatives taking towards interdisciplinarity: merging design, online media, literature, fashion, social practice, and visual art as fluid and mutually engaged components of a diverse, sustainable cultural sphere.” 

Breanne Bandur

Breanne is originally from Montreal and recently moved to Saskatoon to pursue her MFA in Studio Art at the University of Saskatchewan. She completed a BFA at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University with a Major in Fine Art and a Minor in Art History. Her artistic practice is primarily situated in drawing, following the narrative and gestures of abstract expressionism. She considers the act of mark-making as it relates to notions of being and ways of knowing.

Breanne is invested in the intersection of art and community. She is continually seeking community-based involvement within the arts and is keen to acquire a wide range of skills and experiences by both contributing to and learning from the Saskatoon art community. Her current teaching role at the University of Saskatchewan has given her the opportunity to better understand emerging practices as well as relay her experiences to the next generation of working artists. 

Thank you to our out-going members Leah Taylor and Colin Skrapek

On behalf of BlackFlash, I would like to I would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Leah Taylor and Colin Skrapek, two amazing board members who recently stepped down from their roles. Leah spent nearly a decade dedicated to BlackFlash, from pouring drinks at Vampire Beat to strategic planning at our annual board retreat. Although Leah will maintain a position on our Editorial Committee, we will miss her energy, insight, and humour at our monthly meetings. Colin generously donated his time to revamping our website in late 2018—a huge job that we are incredibly grateful for.

The 2021 Board of Directors

Tak Pham (Chair)

Andy Sargent (Secretary) 

Troy Gronsdahl (Director)

Carey Shaw (Director)

Cole Thompson (Director)

Rhiannon Vogl (Director)

gan (Director) 

Kaeten Bonli (Director)

Breanne Bandur (Director)