Additional exhibitions include March 5, 1819, a new media commission from artist Rebecca Belmore, the exhibition Trauma Sutra, the third exhibit in a Collections Focus Series of exhibitions that examine important figures in provincial art. As well as, the ongoing exhibition Wonderful Hard Work, a joint effort from The Rooms Provincial Archives, Art Gallery and Museum highlighting the work of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and the tools of their trades.

During fall 2008, The Rooms will also welcome visitors through an exceptional line-up of programming and exhibit based events and activities, including educational and creative-art programs for both adults and children. Building on the popularity of past programs, The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery will continue to host Animation Camps for youth, in addition to drop-in art sessions for adults on Wednesday evenings throughout the fall.

Other additions to The Rooms programming schedule include further school programming based on The "Rocket" Richard exhibition; a symposium on unique, hand-crafted Newfoundland furniture; as well as a series of exhibition openings celebrating the new and vibrant exhibitions on display at The Rooms.

"We�re looking forward to another tremendously successful fall season at The Rooms" commented Dean Brinton, CEO of The Rooms Corporation. "With each passing year we strive for greater innovation in our exhibit development; a stronger sense of inclusiveness within the community; as well as a collaborative spirit amongst our peer institutions: all of this in order to reach greater heights and achieve even greater goals. I believe this is a testament to The Rooms continued commitment to the devoted development of meaningful exhibits and programs that reflect the diversity of our historical, yet changing province."

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

Ongoing
Wish You Were Here
This exhibit of unique, colourful vintage post cards from the early decades of the 20^th century features images on a variety of subjects as well as various communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. These postcards pre-date the common glossy photo card and include examples produced by photo-mechanical printing processes as well as actual photographic cards. Some of these can be considered small gems of �mail-able� art. Wish You Were Here also introduces the newly acquired Ruth Schultz Collection of postcards to the public.

Ongoing
Wonderful Hard Work
A joint effort from The Rooms Provincial Archives, Art Gallery and Museum, Wonderful Hard Work highlights the work of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and the tools of their trades, past and present. This exhibition examines how in Newfoundland and Labrador, we worked to live and lived to work in a physical, social and economic environment, often harsh and overwhelming. Through the exhibition of artifacts, artwork, images and documents from The Rooms� collections, this exhibit examines how despite life�s daily toil, peoples living here over the centuries have demonstrated fortitude and ingenuity in adaptation.

This exhibition will be on view at The Rooms throughout the remainder of 2008.

Ongoing
Invention, Exuberance and Art: The Country Furniture of the Island of Newfoundland
This exhibit from the collections of Walter and Sally Peddle and The Rooms Provincial Museum, showcases the art and the science of some of the very best works of country furniture. The roots of the designs were in Ireland and England, however, local craftspeople here made them their own, creating one of the most highly distinctive and innovative bodies of regional furniture in North America.

This exhibition will be on view at The Rooms until January 18, 2009.

Friday, September 26, 2008
Raymond Roddick: Trauma Sutra
Public reception, Friday September 26, 7:30 pm
The third of The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery�s ongoing Space-Based exhibition series, in Trauma Sutra, wall-mounted steel sculptures reveal patterns of raised marks; these polished, metal �welts� are the signs of impact, created by bullets from a .357 handgun, precisely targeted. Accompanying these sculptures is a series of subtle, process paintings that blur boundaries between representation and minimal abstraction. An essay by guest writer, Dr. Peter Trnka also accompanies the show.

This exhibition will be on display at The Rooms until January 25, 2009.

Friday, September 26, 2008
Newtopia
Public reception, Friday, September 26, 7:30 pm
Newtopia explores key developments in modern Newfoundland, considering the �new� province�s early decades as a series of Utopian experiments. The exhibition focuses specifically on the post-Confederation period, when nascent industrialization spawned a series of major, idealistic development projects. The show assembles artists whose investigations tackle visionary Modernist design, the Cold-War American presence, Smallwood-era industrialization and the current lure of big oil. Curated by Bruce Johnson, Newtopia features installations by John Haney, Janaki Lennie, Scott Walden and Peter Wilkins.

This exhibition will be on view at The Rooms until January 25, 2009.

Friday, October 3, 2008
Public Works: Recent Acquisitions of The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery
This exhibition highlights selected additions to the collection since The Rooms opened in 2005, including gifts from artists and collectors such as artist Christopher Pratt, as well as the work of Gerald Squires, donated by private collectors. Contemporary purchases have included Graeme Patterson�s sculpture The Church (2004), Alison Norlen�s drawing Stages (2006) and Shary Boyle�s lace-draped porcelain figures (2003 and 2004).

This exhibition will be on view at The Rooms until November 23, 2008

Friday, October 10, 2008
Rebecca Belmore: March 5, 1819
Public reception, Friday October 10, 7:30 pm
This new media commission by Rebecca Belmore takes on various narratives of the capture of Demasduit, the young Beothuk woman captured by British settlers at Red Indian Lake in Newfoundland and Labrador and renamed Mary March. Belmore�s installation is paralleled by an engagement with the archival and museological record of Beothuk history by historian and CBC documentarian Paul Kennedy.

This exhibit is curated by Glenn Alteen and Shauna McCabe and made possible with the support of the Media Arts Commissioning Program of the Canada Council for the Arts, and will be on display at The Rooms until January 4, 2009.

Thursday, October 16, 2008
Gary Kennedy:  A Realist from Port de Grave
Public reception, Thursday, October 16, 7:30 pm
Gary Kennedy�s sense of realism comes from a desire to depict the landscape and people of Eastern Newfoundland through a lens that is direct and celebrative. He was influenced at a young age by the tutorship of American realist painter George Noseworthy, who conducted classes in Hibb�s Hole on the Port de Grave peninsula. This exhibition presents a selection of Kennedy�s larger works � meticulously rendered landscapes and portraits that blending documentation with elements of commemoration and nostalgia.

This exhibition will be on view at The Rooms until December 7, 2008

Thursday, October 16, 2008
Michele Karch-Ackerman: The Lost Boys
Public reception, Thursday October 16, 2008, 7:30 pm
In The Lost Boys, Karch-Ackerman explores a generation�s transition from childhood to adulthood, during the harrowing events of World War 1, when conscription or a sense of duty led many young people to the battlefields of Europe and to the abrupt end of childhood innocence. Weaving together fictional tales with biographical stories of so many lives lost in the First World War, the artist honours and pays tribute to these "Lost Boys," referencing found photographs, and incorporating hand-knitted sweaters and other domestic materials.

This exhibition will be on view at The Rooms until January 9, 2009

Friday, December 2, 2008
RBC Canadian Painting Competition
Established in 1999, the RBC Canadian Painting Competition highlights artistic contributions to the cultural fabric of our communities, demonstrating appreciation and support for emerging artists in Canada. Each year the winning paintings become part of RBC�s Canadian art collection comprised of over 4,000 works of distinguished art collected over the past hundred years.

This exhibition will be on view at The Rooms until January 4, 2009

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