Marion Nicoll Gallery

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Marion Nicoll Gallery

The Marion Nicoll Gallery (MNG) is a student-run gallery with two exhibition spaces at AUArts.

Established by the Alberta University of the Arts Students’ Association (AUArts SA) – formerly Alberta College of Art + Design Students’ Association (ACADSA) – the MNG is a unique forum for showcasing student work, inspiring experimentation and stimulating critical dialogue. This unique gallery is modeled after a non-profit artist-run-centre and encourages conceptual freedom and diversity. Directe

d by students, the MNG provides emerging artists and designers with an opportunity to develop experience in curation, arts administration, jurying and exhibition. The MNG gratefully acknowledges its home on the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region, including the Blackfoot Confederacy (Kainai, Piikani and Siksika), Métis Nation of Alberta Region III, Stoney Nakoda First Nation (Chiniki, Bearspaw and Wesley) and Tsuu T’ina First Nation. The MNG would also like to acknowledge the many other First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have crossed this land for generations.

04/14/2026

Introducing Matthew Gil, debuting his solo exhibition “Wingbeat” in the LRT Gallery. 🖼️

Wingbeat is an eclectic collection of winged vases, drawing from Matthew’s painterly visual language and the ornate forms of chalices and decorative vessels.

In this feature, Matthew shares a closer look at his technical process and the artistic influences behind this striking body of work. 🎨The show is on view from March 30 – April 20, 2026; so there's still time to catch it!

Interested in exhibiting with the MNG or joining the selection committee? 👀
Visit the link to learn how to get involved ➡️ https://www.marionnicollgallery.ca/submissions

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03/19/2026

Meet Kailyn Humphreys, the solo artist behind “I Love Being Transgender”, featured in our LRT Gallery space. 👋🖼️
This powerful exhibition explores q***r resilience, narrative reclamation, and community visibility. In this feature, Kailyn shares their intentions, artistic influences, and the process behind bringing the work to life.
Did you catch the show while it was on view February 20 – March 16, 2026? 🗓️
Let us know what you think below. 💬

03/06/2026

Say hello to Christina Ryan, exhibiting artist and lead curator of the Immersive Stitch group exhibition. 👋🖼️
In this feature, Christina shares how she brought her sculptural textile work to life through experimentation, community engagement, and a critical exploration of the history of women’s autonomy.

Immersive Stitch is on view in the MNG Main Space Gallery from February 20 – March 16, 2026. 🗓️ Be sure to stop by before the show closes.

Interested in exhibiting your own work in one of our galleries? 👀
🔗 Visit https://www.marionnicollgallery.ca/submissions to learn about our programming and the application process!

03/04/2026

Today on MNG Meets 🎥✨ we’re spotlighting Madds, one of the featured artists in Immersive Stitch — a group exhibition presented by the Fibre 200 class.

On view February 20 – March 16, 2026, this show transforms thread and textile into powerful 3D works. 🧵

Madds shares their creative process, sources of inspiration, and the challenges and breakthroughs that brought their piece from initial concept to sculptural masterpiece.

Catch Immersive Stitch in the MNG Main Space Gallery before it closes. 🎨

02/19/2026

Marion Nicoll Gallery Presents:

I LOVE BEING TRANSGENDER
Kailyn Humphreys
MNG LRT Space
02.20.2026 - 03.16.2026

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LOVE BEING TRANSGENDER is a blatant rejection to the recent mistreatment and anti-trans legislation that has come into effect. Portraying transgender people in the most shamelessly pro-trans light is a small effort to bring awareness and to reach out a hand to my community. To let them know they are loved and seen for who they are. A reminder that we will not be erased no matter how hard they try.

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Kailyn Humphreys is a trans Winnipeg-born artist residing in Mohkintsis. His work delves into personal struggles about identity, sexuality, relationships, and change through the use of bright and cute illustrations to create a fantasy world of appreciation for the hard conversations.

Find Kailyn at

02/17/2026

Marion Nicoll Gallery Presents:

Interfaces
MNG Main Space
02.20.2026 - 03.16.2026
Fibre 2D Group Exhibition

Reception: 02.20.2026

Christina Ryan - Meagan Olson - Winnie Five - Izzie Lutinca
Jessica Waddell - Adrienne Tuer - Bella Braun - Yezi Qiu
Tayla Marie Van Beeten - Jenna Soltys - Madds Chennells

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This exhibition comes from an open project in a Fibre 2D class, with no set theme. For many of the artists, it was their first-time using hand stitching to communicate an emotion or experience.

Eleven artists came together to use embroidery to share their personal history through the power of the stitch. Through thread, fabric, and handwork, each artist shares personal memories, cultural roots, and lived experiences in tactile, stitched forms. Embroidery, often associated with care, labor, and intimacy, becomes a contemporary way of expressing connection. Each stitch carries time, emotion, and presence, allowing individual stories to come together into a shared rhythm.

Embroidery has a long-standing history as art, expression, and storytelling. It has been used to give a voice to those who have otherwise been denied one, as a form of self-expression through patience and diligence, and as a key element of larger textile arts. Immersive Stitch joins that long and colourful history and we invite you to immerse yourself in the messages of the show.

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Read full artists bios at www.marionnicollgallery.ca.

Christina Ryan
Meagan Olson
Winnie Five
Izzie Lutinca
Jessica Waddell
Adrienne Tuer
Bella Braun
Yezi Qiu
Tayla Marie Van Beeten
Jenna Soltys
Madds Chennells

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02/13/2026

In this episode of MNG Meets! We introduce you to AUArts alumna Lailey Newton, who walks us through her exhibition Interfaces, which was on view in the MNG Main Space from Jan 19–Feb 2, 2026.

Lailey shares the inspirations, creative processes, and thematic ideas that shaped the exhibition, offering insight into how the work came together from concept to installation.

Did you get a chance to see Interfaces before it closed? Let us know what stood out to you 👀

Interested in exhibiting at MNG? Learn more about our exhibition programming, calls for submission, and application process by visiting https://www.marionnicollgallery.ca/submissions

02/06/2026

🎥 Introducing our new video series: MNG Meets

For our first feature, meet Nelson Penner, a fifth-year painting student and exhibiting artist in our LRT space from Jan 19–Feb 2, 2026.

In this episode, Nelson takes us inside his exhibition, Landscape Sigilism, sharing the personal and artistic influences behind the work, as well as the technical processes that shape his practice. The result? An intimate glimpse into the inner world of the artist.

Hear what it means to Nelson to exhibit at MNG, and discover how our exhibition programs support and elevate student artists like you!

01/19/2026

Marion Nicoll Gallery Presents:

Landscape Sigilism
Nelson Penner
MNG LRT Space
01.19.2026 - 02.02.2026

Reception: 01.22.2026

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Landscape Sigilism is an exhibition that highlights nostalgia and isolation through painting and iconography. Art processes and personal history are key elements in executing this narrative. this grouping of work intends to make viewers feel contemplative and reminiscent. Conceptually the exhibition talks about the artists connection to the creative endeavours, specifically film photography, from their grandfather.

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Nelson Penner is a current painting student focusing on oil paint as a medium to express feelings of nostalgia, familial connection and ethereal locations. Using photography and other personal sources of inspiration Nelson creates dreamworlds that feel completely foreign yet familiar at the same time. Recycled materials lend to the environmental themes within the artists work, hoping to leave a mark on viewers and not the planet.

Find Nelson at

01/16/2026

Marion Nicoll Gallery Presents:

Interfaces
Lailey Newton
MNG Main Space
01.19.2026 - 02.02.2026

Reception: 01.22.2026

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Interfaces dictate your interaction with a complex system. When these displays fail, the power of the user is lost. These digital interfaces are similar to institutional spaces. Symbols and signage act as barriers/guides, dictating our behaviours.

With tech favouring restriction and profitability, and with institutional spaces being designed with conformity in mind, a literacy of one's environment is needed to regain the user's power. We must interact with these spaces in a transformative manner.

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Lailey’s practice explores the absurd relationship between illogical architecture and digital realities as a method of understanding the disordered spaces we exist within. She examines the connection between the aesthetics of archaic 3D digital graphics and the anxious nature of institutional and industrial infrastructure. She turns the attention of the audience towards this blind spot and considers these spaces; Reconfiguring using digital means and painting the overlooked, so these spaces can be better understood.

Find Lailey at laileynewton.wixsite.com/work and

12/01/2025

Marion Nicoll Gallery Presents:

Near or Far
Christina Yao
MNG LRT Space
11-28-2025 - 12-18-2025

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Near or Far is an ongoing series of photographic portraits that explore the continuous negotiation of power, trust, and communication within intimate relationships.

Christina Yao is a China-born, Calgary-based artist working primarily in photography, video, and installation. Drawing from her experiences living and working across the U.S., Colombia, and Canada, she explores themes of relationship, identity, and place through a cross-cultural lens. She was selected as a 2025 Critical Mass Top 200 finalist and was a finalist in the 2024 LensCulture Portrait Awards, and was featured in the Emerging Photographers Showcase at the 2024 Exposure Alberta Photo Festival.

Find Christina at www.christina-yao.com and

Address

1407-14 Avenue NW
Calgary, AB
T2N4R3

Website

https://www.marionnicollgallery.ca/exhibitions

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