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Alberta Foundation of the Arts adds MHC instructor work to permanent collection

The work of a Medicine Hat College (MHC) faculty member has been purchased for the Alberta Foundation of the Arts’ (AFA) permanent collection. Art and design instructor, Jessica Plattner, can now find her work displayed within the AFA’s virtual museum, among other Alberta artists, through a competitive program called Acquisition by Applications.

Plattner says getting the support from a government body, such as the AFA, is unique to our province and hopes that having her work purchased will provide greater opportunity to other artists living in smaller communities.

“I think it's so great that we live in a province that supports the arts,” says Plattner. “It's really important for artists in smaller cities to be recognized provincially and for the AFA to be aware that there are thriving art communities all across the province.”

The acquired work is a self-portrait of Plattner, which was created during the COVID-19 pandemic and inspired by a 1920’s surrealist drawing game, called Exquisite Corpse. Traditionally, the game is collaborative, with several artists drawing on a folded piece of paper, without seeing the work from others, resulting in a disjointed final piece.

“I like the idea of a body that's holding together, but it's broken apart, so it doesn't quite make sense, but somehow, it's still functioning,” says Plattner of her final work. “I think especially through the pandemic, so many people felt that way, like they were barely holding it together.”

The self-portrait is just one piece from a large collection, which is currently installed in a public art gallery in Sherwood Park, Edmonton. The show, called On the Surface: Jessica Plattner & Jen Pankratz, is at Gallery@501 and is open to the public until Aug. 12.

As an instructor, Plattner believes consistently working on her craft is a benefit not only to herself, but also to her students.

“All of the instructors in the art and design program are professional working artists and it’s a benefit to the students because it means that we are able to walk the walk,” explains Plattner. “If we're telling students to use material in a certain way or to experiment in a certain way, we have the experience to support that.”

Prior to working at MHC, Plattner was a professor at Eastern Oregon University, where she recently returned by invitation for an exhibition. Featured as a solo artist, the exhibition, called The Other Life, was a mini-retrospective of 18 paintings from the past decade on display at the Main Gallery of Art Center East between May 5 - July 1, 2023.

Plattner is grateful for the support she received as a faculty member in MHC’s School of Arts, Science & Education that made it possible for her to share her work in Oregon and continue to work on her craft.

To view Plattner’s work, please visit www.jessicaplattnerart.com.