Curator and artist Thomas Canavan has a hope for the future of art. “I hope everyone working within the arts is working toward creating more opportunities for the community to enjoy art and making art programming more accessible for everyone. The elitist art world is over and will take us down with it if we don’t change,” he attests.
This Saturday, at Castelli Art Space in mid-city, along with his co-curator Isabel Rojas-Williams, Canavan is presenting the pop-up launch of his new digital gallery, Sanguine. Patssi Valdez exhibition Vases, a collection of Valdez’s ceramics accompanied by gouache paintings will be on display as will Chicago-based artist Jefferson Pinder’s exhibition Ghost Light, created for Iowa’s Figge Art Museum through a series of essays that Sanguine commissioned.
Asked what inspires his work, Canavan asserts “I’m inspired most by the effect a community of people can have by creating exhibitions together. Opening night for me is like sitting on a museum bench staring at a Rembrandt; looking at all of the pieces that have come together and knowing the journey from idea to reality, and then to watch people interacting within that space and with the artwork itself. Ultimately, it’s the impact that exhibition will have on our community and the journey of creating it.”
He says that mastering minutiae is how excellent exhibitions are created. “I attempt to treat those details with respect and elevate each component within an exhibition to the same status as the artwork.”
He’s been curating since his days at the University of Maryland and completing a masters in arts admin from Boston University, some 15 years. “I haven’t made artwork in some time, but I would say philosophically they’re (curating art and creating it) similar in that both are focused on communicating the beauty and intricacies of our communities while highlighting craftsmanship through exceptional art making.”
Currently Canavan is jurying Apocrypha at LAAA, and planning the Alt 66 exhibit at the Millard Sheets Art Center, which is the fine art exhibition at the LA County Fair, his regular place of employment for the last four years. “Alt 66 is an immersive, installation-based exhibition that brings attention to the counter/sub/alt-culture within America’s Route 66, which is this year’s LA County Fair theme,” he relates. “Topics include everything from commercialism, consumption, racism, discrimination, urbanism, migration, isolation…it’s all there. The exhibition includes 19 artists who were provided with stipends to create fourteen separate installations. We have been working toward reestablishing the Millard Sheets Art Center at Fairplex as a resource for artists and art education in Southern California and this exhibition will play a big role in this realignment.” Alt 66 will hold an opening reception on August 25th from 6-8:30 p.m.
Last but not least, Sanguine Gallery is on his mind. 
Working with artists Isabel Rojas-Williams, Patssi Valdez, and Judithe Hernández, he explains their goal “Sanguine is an internet-based gallery that features Women Artists and Artists of Color. To celebrate the launch of the gallery, we’re hosting an exhibition and party at the Castelli Art Space on July 21st . He adds “The aim of the event is to introduce everyone to our programming that includes our exhibitions, podcasts, essays, and artist and gallery merchandise.”
Of each of his exhibitions, Canavan attests “I simply try to provide a perfect environment for the artwork and viewer to meet and figure one another out.”
Castelli Art Space is located at 5428 W. Washington in mid-city. The Sanguine pop-up event is Saturday, 6-10 p.m.
- Genie Davis; Photos courtesy of Thomas Canavan