Summer 2007�s compelling exhibit line-up highlight�s The Rooms� ability to showcase local and national artists, as well as break ground with regards to experiential and conventional museum display. Featured exhibits include a comprehensive exhibition of local artist Anne Meredith Barry�s work; sculptural work from The National Gallery of Canada by British Columbian artist Brian Jungen; collaborative exhibits with peer institutions Memorial University and The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; as well as an observational boat-building exhibit featuring local craftsman Jerome Canning. From The Rooms Provincial Archives comes the striking exhibit, The Holloways: Newfoundland's First Family of Photography, an exquisite collection of photographs from the turn of the 19th century that beautifully detail the rich visual history of our province.

An additional highlight to The Rooms� summer line-up includes the exhibit, Finest Kind: Objects of Identity, a joint effort from The Rooms Provincial Archives, Art Gallery and Museum. Finest Kind features a sampling from The Rooms permanent collections and is comprised of artifacts, artwork, images and documents that speak to the richness of our province�s culture, heritage and artistic endeavors. This exhibit has allowed The Rooms to go into the vaults and bring forth an exciting variety of treasured objects that provide a retrospective of some of this province�s exceptional stories, while also providing a preview of future exhibit and programming possibilities.

Another addition this summer includes a generous donation of 330 original botanical watercolours from artist Dorothy Black. This collection includes 140 of the watercolours that served as the basis for Peter J. Scott�s book Wildflowers of Newfoundland and Labrador, published in 2006. Ms. Black�s donation furthers The Rooms Provincial Museum�s mandate to accurately and precisely document specimens and has now become a part of the nearly 20,000 botanical specimens that comprise the Museum�s natural history collection. Works from the 2006 publication are currently on display and will remain on display throughout summer 2007.

"The Rooms� ability to draw from our own collections, while remaining focused on the archival, historic and contemporary allow us to attract world-class exhibits and maintain strong relationships with our peer-institutions," commented Dean Brinton, CEO of The Rooms Corporation. "With every new exhibit, with every new opportunity, and with every new partnership we forge ahead, making sure that we not only preserve and protect our provincial treasures, but that we�re able to bring these treasures, and in fact the treasures of the world, to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador."

Media contact:
Chrysta Collins
Communications Officer
The Rooms
709-757-8091
chrystacollins@therooms.ca

Compelling stories of our own nationhood, World War I, and life on the land and sea come to life through our artifacts, artwork, images and documents as The Rooms presents a sampling of our Finest Kind. This exhibition speaks to the richness and diversity of the many stories that have helped to shape the identities of the people of this province.

This exhibition will be on view until September 16, 2007

This exhibition represents the work of Robert E. Holloway, educator, scientist and amateur photographer; son Bert Holloway, WWI solider and professional photographer; and daughter Elsie Holloway, Newfoundland's first professional female photographer.

This exhibition demonstrates that through their photography, the Holloways contributed priceless images to the rich visual history of Newfoundland and Labrador, drawing together an exquisite collection of photographs from the turn of the 19th century.

This exhibition will be on view throughout 2007.

Natural Energies, organized by The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, is the first comprehensive exhibition of Anne Meredith Barry's work and is a major retrospective consisting of 90 works created since 1982.

Natural Energies consists of large-scale canvases, paintings, prints, artist's books and sculptural objects that reflect major bodies of Ms. Barry's work and provide a sense of the artist's creative process. Anne Meredith Barry: Natural Energies is guest curated by Patricia Grattan.

This exhibition will be on view until September 30, 2007

Organized by The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery and curated by Shauna McCabe, this exhibition entails a giant sculpture in the form of a pristine whale skeleton suspended from the gallery�s cathedral ceiling.

Composed of deconstructed plastic lawn chairs and suggesting conventional museum display, the work thrives on tensions between contrasting elements: historical and contemporary, traditional and urban, scientific and artistic, precious and mundane, sacred and profane.

This exhibition will be on view until September 16, 2007

Organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia along with The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, Two Artists Time Forgot highlights the achievements of two women who established prolific artistic careers in the late 19th century � Margaret Campbell Macpherson from Newfoundland and Labrador, and Frances Jones Bannerman from Nova Scotia.

This exhibition re-introduces these artists to a wider audience and provides an opportunity to experience a range of their original works; Two Artists Time Forgot is co-curated by Dr. Dianne O'Neill and Caroline Stone.

This exhibition will be on view until September 3, 2007

Boat-builder Jerome Canning will be at The Rooms this summer to construct a Rodney from start to finish. This experiential exhibit, a first of its kind for The Rooms, allows visitors to learn about the tools and techniques involved with boat-building and share in stories of this workhorse of wooden boats. Visit The Rooms Web site, www.therooms.ca for a complete schedule of viewing times.

This exhibition will be on view until September 3, 2007

This exhibit examines the socioeconomic and cultural changes that affect, and continue to affect The Battery as an outport. Including personal stories, public history, current issues and works from The Rooms permanent collections, this exhibit breaks new ground in conventional museum display.

This exhibition will be on view until September 3, 2007

Comprised of exquisite works by Dorothy Black, and now a part of The Rooms permanent collection, works from this exhibit were first used to illustrate Peter Scott's comprehensive and gorgeous guide, Wildflowers of Newfoundland and Labrador.

This exhibition will be on view throughout summer 2007

2007 07 20                                                    11:40 a.m.