MISSION + MANDATE

Arts Assembly is a not for profit, community-centric arts organization that emphasizes artistic collaboration. Arts Assembly is committed to working with social practice and research-based interdisciplinary artists, who are similarly working to expand the notion of what art can be and do. We are committed to working within an anti-oppression framework and have mandated that no less than 50% of our Board of Directors are BIPOC, and we echo this mandate with our employees. All organizations we partner with must be clear on their commitments to anti-oppression.

Through programming and organizational staff and structure, we work to honour and contribute to leadership in the creative community of women, trans, 2spirit and non-binary folk. We pay CARFAC fees.

Arts Assembly is a registered not-for-profit organization in British Columbia with primary operations in Vancouver on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations . Arts Assembly is also a member of Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres (PAARC).

CO-DIRECTOR

Whitney Brennan is a curator and artist whose work focuses on environmental connections and influences from sound, textiles, and relational practices. She holds a Master of Arts in Art History: Critical & Curatorial Studies from the University of British Columbia. In Vancouver, she has curated exhibitions at The FALL, Access Gallery, Gam Gallery, Capture Photography Festival, in partnership with Decoy Magazine, and as the current co-director of Arts Assembly. Her writing has been published in Luna Luna Magazine, C Magazine, and SAD Magazine. She was an artist in residence at Lobe InSpace Spatial Sound Studio. Recent exhibitions include Dynamo Arts Association and YACTAC, Vancouver; Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George; The Alternator Centre, Kelowna; and broadcasts through CiTR.FM (Vancouver) and framework radio (EU).

CO-FOUNDER AND CO-DIRECTOR

Meichen Waxer is an interdisciplinary queer artist who culturally inherited structures of value and their relation to different modes of representation; often looking to architecture, ornamentation, and objects that hold generational, cultural and nostalgic value. Meichen holds a Master of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design University. Meichen was recently an artist in residence at Treignac Projet, France; Anvil Centre, New Westminster and halka sanat projesi, Istanbul, Turkey as well as Turkish Cultural Foundation. Recent exhibitions include CSA Space Vancouver; #3 Gallery, Vancouver Canada; Charles H. Scott, Vancouver, Canada; halka sanat projesi, Istanbul, Turkey; and Open Studio, Toronto.

CO-FOUNDER

Brynn McNab is a writer, facilitator, and curator who specializes in event-based and social practices, publishing, and co-authorship. She holds a Masters in Philosophy, Art & Critical Thought from European Graduate School. Her most recent projects include Co-Writing Criticism (Vancouver, and Montreal), a co-authorship workshop, and An Exact Vertigo (Vancouver), an iterative contemporary dance series. She is currently a Student of the European Graduate School in Philosophy, Art, and Critical Thought. She was the gallery manager at Franc Gallery (Vancouver), managed Unit/Pitt Projects (Vancouver) from 2013-2015, and revived and became editor-in-chief of ISSUE Magazine (Vancouver) during that time. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have been published across Canada and internationally. She attended Nova Scotia College of Art and Design for filmmaking and photography, and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University in Critical and Cultural Practices.

History

Arts Assembly was founded in 2016 by Brynn McNab and Meichen Waxer. Catalyzed by the availability of Saint Monica’s Parish in Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver, Brynn and Meichen began programming a series of socially engaged artist lead workshops. As well during this four-month period, Arts Assembly developed and produced a publication in collaboration with arts centre Treignac Projet, of Limousin, France, held a week-long public forum project with artist and urban planning collective Crazy Dames and a pop-up exhibition space during Harmony Arts Festival with Jacob Gleeson’s Tent Shop, and a mobile dance and lecture series Orchestra in collaboration with local performance collective BoomBox.

Arts Assembly has continued to grow and evolve to program as a mobile entity in partnership with fellow arts spaces ranging from independent organizations and non-profit galleries to educational institutions. Through partnerships and other forms of community support, we have undertaken significant and meaningful projects. Our programming prioritizes women and queer artists and works to be inclusive, low-barrier and accessible. Our current annual artist residency project, Remote Research Residency (RRR) has been running since 2021 and has hosted artists from across Canada.