Artropolis 2001 sous-fonds

Sous-fonds consists of records relating to the administrative, exhibition, promotional, documentary, special events, and fundraising activities of the A.T. Eight Artropolis Society for the Artropolis 2001 exhibition.

Sous-fonds is arranged into the following series:

1. General administration series (6.5-1)
2. Exhibition series (6-5.2)
3. Printed matter series (6-5.3)
4. Fundraising series (6-5.4)
5. Special events series (6-5.5)
6. Publicity series (6-5.6)

Artropolis 2001: Celebrating Contemporary B.C. Art was held from April 7th to 9th, 2001 at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Broadcast Centre, 700 Hamilton Street in Vancouver. Over 22 days, 15, 245 people visited the exhibition.

The exhibition celebrated new works by British Columbia artists that were conceived within the contexts of identity and environment. Half of the exhibited artworks were chosen by curators, the other half was selected by jurors. The former was itself divided into three thematic areas: "Consolidation, Contact and Conflict: the Artist in Bucolic Paradise and Poverty" exhibited 45 artists whose work explored the nature of life away from the province's urban centres; 32 artists exhibited in "Erosion," which asked them to submit works that resonated with the theme of identity, cultural, and personal loss; "Supernatural British Columbia" featured works by 31 artists whose artworks represented, recreated, and redefined their physical environments. The juried component of the exhibition avoided a narrow thematic context in favour of a broad survey of British Columbia's contemporary arts in both traditional and new media.

An adjunct exhibition was held concurrently with the larger show. This portion sought to recapture the inclusive and egalitarian spirit of the "salons des refuses," which characterized the initial 1984 and 1987 exhibitions by allowing all willing British Columbia artists the opportunity to participate in the province's largest non-institutional show. Artists were asked to submit works in a common format based on a common theme of self-representation through self portrait. 505 artists submitted their works on the 8 ½" x 11" archival paper supplied to them by the adjunct exhibition's curator.

The A.T. Eight Artropolis Society personnel consisted of a board of directors, an advisory board, an exhibition steering committee, an education committee, a design team, a site team, a five-member staff, five curators, and three jurors.