This exhibition is presented in collaboration with Biinaagami and Swim Drink Fish reflects each artist’s lifelong connection to the Great Lakes. Through photography, video, and sculpture, they explore the lakes as both physical and symbolic landscapes.
Water has long served as a powerful metaphor across mythology, religion, art, and environmental thought. At a time when humanity is renegotiating its relationship with the natural world—amid climate crisis, technological upheaval, geopolitical shifts, and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples— The Great Lakes invites viewers to reconsider their own ties to these inland seas.
The lakes represent one of the largest sources of freshwater on Earth, but they are more than a natural resource. They are spaces of labor, memory, mortality, and recreation—evoking awe, wonder, fear, melancholy, joy, and reverence. This exhibition is a tribute to the Great Lakes’ enduring presence, ecological richness, and cultural complexity.
Curated by Penelope Smart, Curator, Thunder Bay Art Gallery
The Great Lakes is organized and circulated by the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in partnership with Biinaagami
Made possible with support from:
