In your time at St. Thomas University, you may or may not have heard of the Yellow Box Gallery.
Located on the top floor of the Dr. Daniel O’Brien study hall the Yellow Box Gallery is little more than an alcove with some free wall space, but it’s new curator is hopeful it can become much more than that.
Kim Vose Jones, a fine arts lecturer at STU, accepted the position of director and curator of the Yellow Box over the summer. Her goal for the gallery is to make it a space for the students who call STU home.
“One of the things I wanted to do this year was change the gallery focus to a more student-centric space, and to engage with what they are learning in other classes beyond fine arts,” said Jones.
“When I was first hired over the summer I immediately wanted to know what students were interested in art-wise,” said Jones. “I contacted the student’s union and met with the president, and we had a great conversation about thematics that students were interested in and ideas they were thinking about.”
Jones’ other major change to the gallery was to open it up for students to display their work, instead of focusing on established Fredericton artists.
“I just feel that it is important for a gallery on a university campus to engage the population of students,” said Jones. “Some of our students are producing some really incredible, thought-provoking work and it would be really great to show it in our gallery.”
Jones is hoping to accomplish this goal with an open call to students for submissions relating to mental health.
“[Mental health] was one of the themes that the student president and I discussed as a major concern that they see in their office for students on campus,” said Jones.
Jones says there are many challenges in being the curator of the Yellow Box, one of which is raising awareness of the gallery, which Jones acknowledges is low.
“I was aware that was a problem when I took on the position,” said Jones. “[I’m] trying to publicize it, and [show] that this is a great place to come and sit and read a book and look at the art. “
The other problem that Jones is faced curating a gallery in such a small space.
“It’s a box, it’s a very small space, and that is part of the challenge of developing a gallery there,” said Jones. “We aren’t the size of Memorial Hall, or the Beaverbrook, or any of the other galleries in Fredericton. So, I’m hoping that it will engage and fill a gap in the community. Not just on campus but in the community at large.”
