Red Deer MAG presents The Boultbee Project

Red Deer multi-disciplinary artist Paul Boultbee is showcasing a collection of 2-dimensional works in a hallway exhibit entitled The Boultbee Project in the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery’s (MAG) lobby. The Boultbee Project is an opportunity for one artist to reflect on and respond to selected works from a number of his ancestral artisans and artists, including a 14th /15th century basket maker, an 18th century sporting painter, 19th century shoemakers/glovemakers and ceramic painters, and 20th/21st century painters. The exhibition is on display at the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery (MAG) from September 2 to December 3, 2022.

The 15 paintings in this series will be exhibited in two installments: September/October and November/December.

The Boultbee Project is a study I undertook in partial fulfillment for my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Thompson Rivers University. Family legend has it that an ancestor came from the village of Boltby in North Yorkshire in troubled times and was obliged to assume a disguise and work as a basket maker. This oral tradition in my father’s family has been handed down from generation to generation and seems not to have been written down until the late 19th century,” says Paul Boltbee.

“The troubled times could refer to the Peasants’ Revolt (1381) or the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536 and 1537. Although the cause of the move is unknown, the family did establish itself 200 kilometres south of Boltby in the village of Griffydam, Northwest Leicestershire, where an ancestor did live for some time as a basket maker. This ancestor would be the first (that we know of) in a long line of artisans and artists. They include shoemakers and glovemakers, painters and drawers, photographers and architects, printmakers and sculptors. For more information on the project visit: www.theboultbeeproject.art/