It was a low-key opening night, but Tuktu Prayers impresario Marianne Garrah said it was “gratifying” to see the exhibition before the public for the first time last week at Banff’s Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum. 

After 18 months spent soliciting and collecting art work from all across the country, Garrah and partner David Baker spent a few frantic hours last Wednesday (August 1) setting up the exhibition in one corner of the historic museum building next to the Bow River. A small but interested crowd passed through during the official opening that evening; the art will remain in the museum until the end of August.

Originally conceived in late 2005, Tuktu Prayers is an exhibition of art about caribou intended to raise awareness about the plight of the species in and around Jasper National Park. Forty-four pieces from 32 artists are currently on display in Banff and will be coming to Jasper in time for the official Centennial celebrations for JNP on September 14. The Jasper exhibition will be taking place at the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives.

With artists from as far away as Ontario and the Yukon contributing work to Tuktu Prayers, Garrah said she was hoping to have the show travel to additional locations later in the year. Although she has no firm commitments as yet, she is working on getting the exhibition into Edmonton’s Royal Alberta Museum, a gallery in Whitehorse, Yukon and perhaps a location in or around Montreal.

Several artists were in attendance at the opening reception, including Mary Abma, of Bright’s Grove Ontario, who contributed four paintings.

“It’s wonderful,” she said of seeing her contribution on the museum wall as part of the larger exhibition. “It’s so nice to see them again after shipping them to Marianne almost a year ago.”

Almost all of the artwork included in the show is available for sale, including the contributions of Jasper-based artists such as Sally Tatlow, Alan Butler, Marie Bainville, Leona Amann, and Jane Shepherd. Seventy-five per cent of the listed price goes to the artist, while the remaining money is put towards the operational costs of the exhibition, Garrah said. One prominent exception to this is the piece contributed by famed Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman. The proceeds from the auction of Bateman’s painting will be donated in support of caribou preservation.