Artist proud of multimedia exhibit at Olympics 2010.

VANCOUVER

She will not be skiing, snowboarding, playing hockey or vying for a medal in any sport.

But Saskatchewan native Dana Claxton will have an opportunity to showcase her skills at next year's Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which will both be held in Vancouver.

Claxton, a multi-media artist, recently found out that a video she made five years ago has been added to the Cultural Olympiad 2010, which is the cultural component of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Claxton's five-minute video titled Anwolek Regatta City will be shown outdoors on a massive LED screen, outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Her video will be part of an exhibition called Cue: Artists' Videos.

The exhibition will be on display day and night from January 23 until March 21, a stretch that covers both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Anybody walking outside the Vancouver Art Gallery will easily notice the exhibition, as it will be projected onto a screen measuring 20 feet by 15 feet. "That's what I'm most excited about--that it's going to be outside of the four white walls (of the building)," said Claxton, whose mother Ellen was Lakota Sioux from the Wood Mountain First Nation in southern Saskatchewan. According to Claxton's website, www.danaclaxton.com, her family traces its roots to the migration of Sitting Bull and the resulting Lakota and Sioux settlements in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

In her excitement of having one of her pieces selected for the exhibition, Claxton said she never even found out whether she would be compensated financially.

"Artists live on coffee and passion and justice," she joked. "But for me there may be a small screening fee."

It's impossible to speculate how many athletes, coaches, team officials and spectators will walk by and see the exhibition, located in downtown Vancouver.

But Claxton, who has been exhibiting various forms of art for the past 20 years, is also thrilled for another reason. "My work is with a group of leading video artists," said Claxton, adding besides sports, her Anwolek Regatta City video also includes themes of pageantry and land. Claxton made the video in 2004. Anwolek is simply the city Kelowna spelled backwards.

The video includes archival footage of the Kelowna Regatta from the 1950s. Claxton said she re-edited the video and added some of her own postproduction magic to it.

During the past few years it has received its share of positive reviews.

"It's been shown at different festivals as well as museum screenings," she said. "But I never thought it would be shown for such a large public viewership."

Claxton, who was born in Yorkton but spent the first 11 years of her life in Moose Jaw, is anxiously anticipating the first time she will see Anwolek Regatta City on the massive outdoor screen.

"I'll probably just say, 'Oh my goodness, it's beautiful,'" she said.

But it is unlikely that Claxton--who is in her first year of teaching at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University (SFU)--will be hanging around outside the Vancouver Art Gallery every single day of the exhibition.

Though she does enjoy skiing, she is uncertain whether she will actually attend any of the events at the Olympics or Paralympics. "I might go see something if it's local," she said. "Either that or I might just go to Mexico."

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Claxton added though it will be an exciting time for Vancouver, she also realizes it will be a rather congested place with the influx of athletes, officials and tourists from around the world.

That's why she's considering taking a trip, even a brief one, out of town. Besides, she won't have any work responsibilities as SFU is shutting down for a week during the Olympics.

Prior to joining the SFU faculty, Claxton was an adjunct professor at Vancouver's Emily Carr University of Art and Design for eight years.

Besides videos and films, Claxton's artistic endeavours include photography and performance arts.

Her work has been screened internationally, including in New York at the Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, the Sundance Festival in Utah and at the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival in Hong Dana Claxton Kong.

Also, besides the Vancouver Art Gallery, her work has been displayed at the National Gallery of Canada, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Moose Jaw Art Museum and Art Gallery and at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

BY SAM LASKARIS

Sage Writer