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Main Floor

Reception: Thursday September 25, 7-9 p.m. | View the PDF e-vite

About the show:

This vibrant collection of 100 individual plein air paintings captures the raw and breathtaking beauty of Alberta’s natural landscapes, rendered through the dynamic brushwork and intuitive vision of Samantha Williams-Chapelsky. Known for her expressive technique and emotional expressionism of the environment, Williams-Chapelsky brings to life the diverse geography of the province—from expansive prairie skies and shimmering lakes to rugged mountain ranges and boreal forests.

Created entirely on location, each painting reflects a moment in time, shaped by shifting weather, changing light, and the artist’s personal response to her surroundings. With every canvas, Williams-Chapelsky invites viewers to slow down and witness the subtle transitions of season and atmosphere that define Alberta’s unique ecology.

This exhibition marks a homecoming for the artist, as it is held at her alma mater, the º£½ÇÉçÇø. It offers not only a visual chronicle of place but also a heartfelt reconnection to where her artistic journey began. Through this body of work, Williams-Chapelsky honors the land that has inspired her for decades and reaffirms her lifelong commitment to painting directly from life.

Together, these 100 plein air pieces form a meditative and immersive tribute to Alberta’s natural world—both vast and intimate, fleeting and eternal.

About the artist:

Samantha Williams-Chapelsky is an accomplished visual artist who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the º£½ÇÉçÇø in 2009, graduating with distinction. Specializing in painting and art history, she is widely recognized for her abstracted landscape paintings that explore the interplay of textured acrylics and oils. Samantha’s work is exhibited in both public and commercial galleries throughout Canada and the United States, earning acclaim for her unique artistic approach.

In addition to her studio practice, Samantha is a dedicated educator and mentor. She leads workshops in plein air painting, studio techniques, and business practices for artists, helping students hone their creative and professional skills. Samantha also hosts an annual European retreat focused on acrylic techniques and plein air painting, offering artists an immersive experience in the scenic outdoors. Through various studio workshops across Canada, she fosters a tactile, expressionistic approach to painting, while also providing valuable guidance on social media, crafting artist statements, and navigating the modern art world for emerging and contemporary artists.

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This show is sponsored in part by: 

Second Floor

September 2-27, 2025

Reception: Thursday September 25, 7-9 p.m. | View the PDF e-vite

About the show:

Robert Shannon has invested time sketching en plein air or in situ in Paris. As an educator trained in theatre design, Shannon’s drawing practice might at first seem like a nonessential activity; but spending time looking closely—whether in Paris museums or on its bustling city streets—helps him visually communicate complex ideas in three dimensions. The Paris Sketchbooks showcases drawings from April 26 to May 20, 2017 alongside plaster busts and archival slides of paintings and sculptures from the Louvre, visually linking Shannon’s drawing and design practices. By keeping his eye in tune with his hand, he flexes an important ‘muscle’, so to speak, one that connects what we see to what we do.

The sketches are hung so that visitors can trace Shannon’s progress, from days when drawing comes easy to those where he produces only a few sketches, or none at all. Including the gaps where his production slows or comes to a complete halt creates a kind of rhythmic, visual language that illustrates the importance of exploratory gestures and slow, embodied looking. In a world that sometimes feels like it moves at a break-neck pace, taking time to see objects or places from multiple angles can feel like a luxury. However, paying close attention to the world around us is essential to any creative endeavour, as it fosters curiosity and helps us move beyond what we habitually notice or believe to be possible.

When he is in Paris, Shannon does not feel out of place sketching in museums or the street; in fact, the way Paris is designed encourages artists to become deeply entangled with their urban environments. The Paris Sketchbooks therefore invites visitors to participate in this kind of sustained looking, and to contribute their own sketches to the gallery space using the drawing materials provided. What might you notice about the objects on display, FAB Gallery’s architecture, the world beyond its walls, or yourself in the process?

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2025-2026 Exhibitions

September 2-27, 2025

• Main Floor: Sky, Stone, and Prairie: Plein Air Perspectives of Alberta | Samantha Williams-Chapelsky
• Second Floor: The Paris Sketchbooks | Robert Shannon

October 14 - November 8, 2025

• Main Floor: Eunna Oh, MFA Thesis Painting
• Second Floor: ART MONSTERS: Unruly Bodies | a curated group exhibition by Marilène Oliver

November 25-December 18, 2025

• Main Floor: Olivia Arau McSweeny, MFA Thesis Printmaking
• Second Floor: Precarious Work and Mental Health: Exploring Uncertainty through Research-Creation | Lisa Wood, Dr. Breanna Lawrence and Dr. Rebecca Hudson Breen, and Dr. Rachel Herron. With Artist-research assistants—Renata Truelove, Michael Vachon, and Dhairya Vaidya

January 13 - February 7, 2026

• Main Floor: Help! I Need Somebody. Help! Not Just Anybody | An exhibition of artwork and creative research by Technical Demonstrators in Art & Design.
• Second Floor: Alcuin Society Awards for Book Design in Canada

February 24 - March 21, 2026

• Main Floor: X-Painting | Jesse Thomas
• Second Floor: Sheryl Spencer, MFA Thesis Printmaking

March 31 - April 11, 2026

• 2026 Bachelor of Design Graduation Exhibition

April 21 - May 2, 2026

• 2026 Bachelor of Fine Art Graduation Exhibition

May 26 - June 20, 2026

• Aynaz Raoufian, MFA Thesis Intermedia
• Mona Sahi, MFA Thesis Intermedia