A Community of Collaboration: Artist Kathleen Finlay and ARTERIAL

Written by Sophie Sobol

Montreal-based Artist Kathleen Finlay calls herself a humanist. Inspired by the values of the literary salons of Paris in the 1920s as hives of creativity and community, Finlay strives to create community in everything she does.

“Most artists focus on themselves, which is fine, because that’s super important... but I’m also very interested in other people.”

Finlay is a long time collaborator with ARTERIAL. Created in association with her artist collective The Soulfood, she curated the first-ever pop-up exhibition in the space in 2021. An intimate interdisciplinary show, it showcased 7 Canadian artists working with painting, sculpture, digital prints, photography and more. Artists featured were Maciek Balmas, Elmyna Bouchard, Hans Fonk, Aline Setton, Verona Sorensen, Theo Willemse as well as Finlay herself. The idea for that exhibition was to create an engaging and interactive event that defies the traditional and often static gallery experience.

“We need to think beyond the gallery model... I really think that because of the way the world is changing, the internet, online, it’s not about just having a brick and mortar place anymore, it’s really about creating a vibe, an event, a brand...”

The union between ARTERIAL’s unique exhibition space and The Soulfood’s dynamic artist collective fostered a strong and dynamic community that led to other engaging collaborations, including a collaboration with Smokestack Studio for the exhibition Paper Art also named The Affordable Art Fair at ARTERIAL of 2022 which featured paper art and collectable reproductions in either framed or unframed formats. Artists featured were: Louis Au, Kathleen Finlay, Sonia Haberstich, A. Hernandes, Kat Herden, Sandra Lambert, Kate Maura, The RGB Collective, Christo Saba, Aline Setton, and Verona Sorensen.

As part of Finlay’s artist statement she says, “Being creative is a life source.” Her art practice is diverse and expansive. She worked as a commercial photographer for 30 years alongside exhibiting her fine art photography before transitioning full-time to the world of fine arts where she continues to explore painting and curation. Some years back, she even photographed a children’s book, collaborating with author Diana Kolpak to create their book entitled Starfall. Today, she also works as director of a Montreal gallery.

“This is my first job ever... This is really funny. I have worked all my life but this is my first job. I had summer jobs, I had part-time jobs when I was young and then I became a commercial photographer so this is my first job where I actually have to go to work every day. Very interesting. At 53. What a novelty.”

While it may be Finlay’s first ‘real’ job as an artist, her years of collaborative arts-based work is certainly real to the people in her communities. Finlay looks forward to all collaborations in the future, including an upcoming exhibition with ARTERIAL in the fall of 2023.