A frequent nominator for the Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame is the fourth member of the induction class of 2026.
Mann Art Gallery Artistic Director Jesse Campbell has been part of the Prince Albert Arts community since coming to Prince Albert to work at the Mann as an assistant curator in 2012.
Campbell said that she has contradictory emotions after being nominated by
2016 Arts Hall of Famer and current Saskatchewan Poet Laureate Lynda Monahan.
“To be honest, I had mixed feelings. I was absolutely honoured to be nominated and to be thought of by Lynda Monahan as a worthy recipient of an award, I have so much respect for Lynda,” Campbell said.
“And at the same time, and I’m sure other inductees have had similar mixed feelings, I’m aware that there are many deserving artists and arts administrators,” she explained.
Campbell has previously nominated 2024 Arts Hall of Famer and Mann Art Gallery Manager for Education Programs Lana Wilson and 2018 Inductee Margreet Van Walsem and said she is familiar with the process.
Campbell is originally from Saskatoon and came to Prince Albert in fall 2012 to do a six-month internship as the assistant curator at the Mann Art Gallery. She said that being fresh off her Master’s in Art History she saw a posting for the assistant curator position and was interested in curatorial work.
She said that she had done some work in education and wanted some experience and spent the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013 in Prince Albert. She said that
“And that was a very important introduction to the visual arts community here.
Artists, other curators, Diane and Roger Mann, who I learned very quickly were integral to not only this organization but to the visual arts ecosystem in our city,” Campbell said.
She explained it was an intense but worthwhile time. During her internship she was also teaching an introductory Art History course at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
“I was very busy and you know that way of working has carried through this very moment,” Campbell said.
She said it was very interesting to consider art history but then work with contemporary artists and to work with a collection. Campbell said that she was grateful for the time as it was her introduction to Prince Albert.
Campbell then returned to the Mann as director and curator from 2014 until 2019. She then returned as Interim Artistic Director in 2024.
Campbell explained that her art history and contemporary art side work in tandem in her work as a curator and administrator.
She explained that the history side informs the contemporary work. The history side informs the work and tells you about the social, political and art historical context.
The art history background also informs her curatorial work in projects that are showing works from the Mann archive, or in the case of a project with George Glenn the personal archives of artists.
“I’m thinking of again the story that’s being told, I’m very aware of the connections that exist amongst different artists or maybe the histories that they are pulling from in their work or the specific traditions that they are working within or coming from,” she explained.
Campbell said the two sides are part of the same conversation. She said that the art history side involves research and detective work, an aspect she loves.
“Working in a community, in a gallery setting, it’s very rewarding for me to be able to apply some of those research components to public engagement, Campbell said.
She explained that one aspect of coming from art history and working part time in a gallery like the Mann is that she has found it is important to have a collection.
Campbell said that the Prince Albert arts community has helped her learn about art and who has access to art and where it takes place.
“And so, I feel that I am constantly learning about the histories of this place and I’ve benefited enormously from artists and non-artists who share with me specific histories of this place. And there are constantly people who are thinking of different ways of interpreting this place and exploring it. And I find it most rewarding to be working with these artists and to support them in their ideas,” Campbell said.
She said that through events like the Prince Albert Winter Festival Arts Show and Sale she can have access to all these new artists.
“It’s also when I’m interacting with artists who are not connected to an institution, that’s just as important. Not everyone has a relationship with an institution. I’m aware that there’s a lot of people and a lot of work being made that I don’t know about either,” Campbell said.
She said that an interesting aspect of being the curator of a gallery is that they can have the power over what is displayed or not or get attention.
“I think about what voices are out there and what voices we do not hear right now,” Campbell said.
She explained that she sees this through the premise of the show ‘Remix’ which was beginning installation at the time of the interview and the selection of the curator for the Prince Albert Winter Festival Art Show and Sale.
“It’s all done with that intention to be attentive to the characteristics of our local community. Everything is intentional. It has to be done,” Campbell said.
Campbell said that she thought one of the drivers of Monahan’s nomination was a project she undertook five or six years ago. She explained that she was contacted by Judy MacLeod Campbell the Arts and Cultural Manager for the City of Prince Albert. MacLeod Campbell asked Campbell to do some research on the need for arts programming in the City of Prince Albert. This included all artistic disciplines and non-traditional art spaces in the community.
“I looked into that and unsurprisingly there was an overwhelming interest in having arts programming and the belief in the importance of the arts for everyone regardless of your life situation,” Campbell said.
Since that time, a group of 10 artists, along with Campbell and MacLeod Campbell, have been working to increase access to all forms of art, Campbell said that importantly this included people who may not have been born into situations with access to art.
“And that has shown me a tremendous amount that we need to work really hard at supporting the arts because quite simply, arts are the most powerful thing to affect a person’s life,” Campbell said.
She said this lesson came from artists but also mostly Sheryl Kimbley and Elder Liz Settee.
“Those are two folks who come to mind in conversations I’ve had with them over the years. They’ve really imparted that to me, and that’s a motivation in work that I do that is afoot outside of the institution,” Campbell said.
Campbell continues to work independently on a variety of creative projects with artists, organizations, and municipalities across Saskatchewan. Guided by her belief that art has the power to create meaningful communities and shared spaces, she remains a respected leader and champion for the arts.
“I feel very fortunate in Prince Albert to have unknowingly developed a path where I feel that I’m in a constellation of artists, of organizations, of arts administrators, of institutions, of non-profits to just day by day try and increase the integrity and the access to arts,” Campbell said.
The Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame induction ceremony is on Sept. 25 at the EA Rawlinson Centre.
