SK Arts

08/31/2026

SK Arts is saddened to hear of the passing of David Thauberger. A special friend to the agency, David worked as a visual arts assistant in 1973 under Consultant Lea Collins, cataloguing nearly 800 artworks in SK Arts’ Permanent Collection. He travelled with the collection, which was being circulated to small centres across the province for the 5 years he held the position – solidifying his appreciation of folk and regional art. SK Arts has 45 artworks by David in the collection, 11 of which were donated by the artist.

David Thauberger was born in 1948 in Holdfast, Saskatchewan and studied ceramics at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus. He earned a BFA and an MA from California State University, Sacramento, then studied at the University of Montana, where he earned his MFA.

Thauberger is known for his paintings of Saskatchewan architecture and cultural icons, as well as other areas of Canada. In 2015 the MacKenzie Art Gallery exhibited the retrospective David Thauberger: Road Trips and Other Diversions featuring paintings, prints and ceramic works produced between 1971 and 2009 drawn from more than 30 public and private collections across Canada.

David was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2012 and again in 2017 when he received a Canada 150 Award. He was invested as a member of the Order of Canada (2008), is a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Medal (2012), the Lieutenant Governor's Saskatchewan Artist Award from SK Arts (2009) and was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. His work can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Art Gallery of Ontario, Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Canada Council Art Bank.

Listen to SK Arts' Senior Consultant: Permanent Collecton, Belinda Harrow, remember David on CBC 's Saskatchewan Weekend with the Shauna Powers.

Listen to the interview, Remembering Celebrated Saskatchewan Artist David-Thauberger, on the CBC Radio website.

Photo: David Thauberger in his studio with Captains of Industry, 1996, which he donated to the collection.
Photo Credit: SK Arts
Edited · 45m

08/31/2026

07/30/2026

Office Closure Notice.

07/24/2026

07/23/2026

2027 HYPE Applications are Now Open 💙

HYPE is MPMG’s annual grant program to help support emerging Canadian artists in the presentation of a new work, across all performing artistic disciplines.

This year, eligibility has expanded. Organizations that have been in operation for eight years or less at the time of application can apply to receive $12,000 in marketing and consulting services from MPMG to support a winter or spring presentation.

Ready to amplify your next production? Apply now or learn more at mpmgarts.com/HYPE

07/08/2026

As part of the Riversdale Art Walk, SK Arts proudly joined artists, cultural organizations, businesses and community members in celebrating the creativity that makes Saskatoon’s Riversdale neighbourhood a vibrant cultural hub.

Streets, galleries, studios and storefronts welcomed visitors into spaces for artistic discovery. The experience created opportunities for residents and visitors to connect with local artists and their work and to experience the breadth of creative talent in our community.

Throughout the afternoon, visitors were treated to works from the Permanent Collection in the SK Arts office, information about funding opportunities, and stories about the impact of the arts on cultural vitality, economic development and community well-being.

We are grateful to the organizers and participants who continue to make the Riversdale Art Walk an accessible and inspiring showcase of local creativity. If you stopped in, thank you for joining us!

06/29/2026

June is National Indigenous History Month, and SK Arts is honoured to share works from the diverse communities represented in its Permanent Collection.

John Brady McDonald is a Nēhiyawak-Métis writer, artist, historian, musician, playwright, actor and activist born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He is from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and the Mistawasis Nēhiyawak. McDonald is the great-great-great grandson of Chief Mistawasis of the Plains Cree, as well as the grandson of famed Métis leader Jim Brady. McDonald’s writings and artwork have been displayed in various publications, private and permanent collections, and galleries. He is the author of several books, and his written works have been published and presented around the globe. Carrying It Forward: Essays from Kistahpinânihk was named the winner of both the Indigenous Peoples’ Writing Award and the Non-Fiction Award at the 2024 Saskatchewan Book Awards.

John Brady McDonald was a recipient of SK Arts' Indigenous Peoples Art and Artists (IPAA) grant. Since 2019, the IPAA program has awarded over $1.2 million to nearly 150 applicants. SK Arts' Share and Connect: Indigenous Community Arts program has awarded over $640,000 to 66 applicants since 2022. Together, these programs have reached 50 communities through direct funding.

To learn more about grant opportunities for Indigenous artists and communities, visit https://sk-arts.ca/.

John Brady McDonald
TWO SPIRITS BEING - Honouring the LGBTQ2S Community (named by Dr. Evan Adams, MD), 2019
Photo credit: Kymber Rae Photography

06/24/2026

SK Arts will be part of the Riversdale Art Walk this Saturday, June 27, from 12 to 5 p.m. in Saskatoon. Stop in to see and learn about some of the great artworks from the Permanent Collection, as well as SK Arts programs, services and stories.

See you there!

06/23/2026

In celebration of Pride Month and 2SLGBTQIA+ artists and arts leaders, SK Arts is proud to share works from the diverse communities represented in its Permanent Collection.

Turner Prize* was a Regina, Saskatchewan based artist collective that operated between 2008-2012. This work is one of 12 donated to SK Arts' Permanent Collection by Turner Prize*.

As the entity Turner Prize*, artists Jason Cawood, Blair Fornwald and John G. Hampton explored the mysterious, social and translative properties of the "creative act." Their work explored the intangibility of dreams, ideas and histories through their origin (dreamers, artists and events) and their destination (images, writings and other representations). It is the interstices, the shifts and intangible spaces between ideas and representations, which motivated their practice. Their investigations into this liminal space utilized the language of dream analysis and interpretation, ritual and magick, and appropriated the aesthetics of mid-century pop psychology and psychedelia.

Mike's Dream (2009) is part of a body of work titled Other People's Dreams. From the artists' statement:
"Unlike psychoanalytic methods, Turner Prize* does not aim to decode dream imagery or ascribe it any real world referent. Rather, they recognize the impossibility of representing objectively what is wholly subjective. It is the disjuncture between the dream and its representation – or more generally, the disjuncture between experience and representation – that motivated this project ... Like stills from a film that cannot be seen, or a text that cannot be adequately read, each dream image is a translation of a translation of a translation."

Turner Prize*
Mike's Dream, 2009
Photo courtesy of Turner Prize*

06/19/2026

June is National Indigenous History Month, and SK Arts is honoured to share works from the diverse communities represented in its Permanent Collection.

Cree Elder Sally Milne was born and raised on the trap line in Northern Saskatchewan in 1943. Milne was 12 years old when she was sent to the Prince Albert All Saints Residential School. She attributes formative years with her parents and family giving her the traditional knowledge and understanding as essential to her resilience during the hardships of her residential school experience.

In the early 1990s, Milne began working with the traditional Woodland Creek birchbark biting method. Using only her teeth, she transforms carefully harvested birch bark into distinctive pieces of art. Milne believes her path was set out by the Seven Grandfathers traditional Indigenous principles of love, respect, honesty, peace, patience, courage and wisdom. Sally Milne shares her artwork and her vast knowledge through conversation and community engagement.

From the artist's statement on Four Directions:
"This work is about the oneness of life and how the spirit is connected to everything else."

Sally Milne
Four Directions, 2019
Photo credit: Don Hall