The Art of Storytelling, Mentorship, and Collaboration: Timothy Long BFA’86, BAHons’86

By Sabrina Cataldo, BA’97, BJ’99, Cert. PR ’04, MA’23

Timothy Long BFA’86, BAHons’86, retiring head curator of the MacKenzie Art Gallery inspires the next generation of curators and brings art and people together in meaningful ways.

When you walk into the MacKenzie Art Gallery exhibition, Whispers from the Vault, you’re greeted by three ceramic sculptures by Joe Fafard: a Ted Godwin bust, a Jack Sures bust, and a full-length portrait of art historian Maija Bismanis. “I call that section, ‘Meet My Professors’. It sums up concisely my schooling at the University of Regina and what I received from my professors there,” says Timothy Long, head curator at the MacKenzie. Whispers is the final exhibition Long curated before his retirement in fall 2024. The show, which runs until June 16, 2025, is drawn solely from the gallery’s Permanent Collection, on which Long has become the definitive expert over the 35 years he’s worked there. “People kept asking me if [the works in the show] are my favourite works from the vault. I said, ‘No. These are my favourite stories connected to works from the vault,’” he remarks. Those three U of R professors had a profound impact on Long’s extensive career as a curator, and he has stories about all of them.

In the eight years he spent doing his undergraduate studies at the University—"I went through at a leisurely pace”—Long took numerous classes in the art department. He recalls, “Ted Godwin was an imposing personality at the time. But more than making art, I think I learned from him about storytelling in relation to art.” Godwin, a member of the Regina Five, would reference interactions with artists like Clement Greenberg and Barnett Newman, who led the influential Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops in 1959 and 1962, respectively. “There was a pleasure in listening to the stories,” Long remembers, going on to note the contrast in Godwin’s personality: “If you confronted him with other things or challenged him, you could get in a good argument with him. He could be loud. But I appreciated his kind of storytelling.”

Long took one class from internationally acclaimed ceramist Sures—in drawing. “I was too afraid to take ceramics from him. You had to work too hard,” he laughs. When Long took a ceramics class from another professor, he got the worst mark of his academic career, which is ironic, given how well known he is for his ceramic exhibitions. “I feel like I’ve atoned for my sins by doing so many exhibitions about ceramics over the years,” he says.

Timothy Long in repose next to a sculpture of Maija Bismanis by Joe Fafard.
Timothy Long in repose next to a sculpture of Maija Bismanis by Joe Fafard.

His most influential professor, however, was Bismanis. In Whispers from the Vault, her portrait is installed in an unorthodox way, “which is fitting, because she was an unorthodox professor,” Long explains. She provided one-on-one instruction and mentorship, always thrusting books at him on a wide range of topics, including Frankfurt School aesthetic theory. “My mind was always trying to absorb what she was teaching,” he says. In the exhibition, the 50 per cent-sized sculpture of Bismanis is displayed in a crate on the ground, with a mirror hung above it at an angle, “so you can see her standing, floating in the mirror as you go into the gallery.” While this approach was a practical one—the sculpture is damaged and couldn’t be displayed upright—it was also metaphorical. “I always saw Maija as my Athena. Whenever Odysseus is in need of direction, Athena appears out of the mist and shows the way,” he explains. After all, it was Bismanis who advised Long “in the nicest way” that he was not an artist and his abilities were more suited to art history. After earning two undergraduate degrees in visual art and a Bachelor of Arts honours in art history at the U of R, Long applied to one graduate school—Stony Brook University in New York—because that’s where Bismanis told him to go. Once he acquired a master’s degree in art history and criticism from there, Long returned home to another recommendation from Bismanis that would shape his entire career: to apply for a curatorial assistant opening at the MacKenzie Art Gallery. “And here I am 35 years later. Now she’s saying, ‘Tim it’s time to retire.’”

During his time at the MacKenzie, Long’s sense of who he is and where he comes from as a settler curator on Treaty Four Territory was profoundly shaped by his experience of working under Lee-Ann Martin, the first Indigenous head curator of a mainstream art gallery in Canada, and then serving as the supervisor of gallery curators Patricia Deadman, Michelle LaVallee, and Felicia Gay. “I learned from them the importance of building trust, making space for voices that haven’t been heard, and working together as an act of reconciliation,” Long says. “Seeing Michelle move from a junior curator at the MacKenzie to a senior position at the National Gallery of Canada has been particularly gratifying.”

In fact, throughout his career, Long took the lead from his mentors and worked to inspire the next generation of curators, himself. Independent curator and researcher Julia Krueger met Long when she was doing her master’s degree at Carleton University and working at the Canada Council Art Bank. Long was curating the Regina Clay: Worlds in the Making exhibition and went to the Art Bank to view some artwork. “He was open, and talked to me, this lowly student,” Krueger says. She later called him up and asked to interview him for her master’s thesis. Although he was incredibly busy preparing for the exhibition, “he gave me a great interview; he was generous with his time,” she says. To Krueger’s surprise, he then asked her to write an essay for the Regina Clay exhibition catalogue, kickstarting her own career. “There are three people in this world I consider my mentors, and Timothy’s one of them. These are people in the field who were so generous with their time when I was first starting out and have taught me over the years the equivalent or more to what I learned in university. When I work with Timothy on projects like exhibitions, it’s like taking a grad course,” she says.

Long and Krueger have since collaborated on two major exhibitions at the MacKenzie: Victor Cicansky: The Gardener’s Universe, a retrospective of more than 100 ceramic and bronze works by that artist, and Prairie Interlace: Weaving, Modernisms, and the Expanded Frame, a groundbreaking touring exhibition co-organized with Nickle Galleries in Calgary that looks back to the explosion of innovative textile-based art on the Canadian Prairies from 1960 to 2000. Long credits the latter show as one of the high points of his career. “It was like going into a country you’ve never visited. I’d seen weaving in the past, but I didn’t realize it was so fantastic and there were so many wild and wonderful things going on here in Saskatchewan and the other Prairie provinces. It was an absolute revelation to me,” he says.

Prairie Interlace, curated by Long, Krueger, and Michele Hardy, explores the interwoven histories of feminism, craft, Indigenous art, and life on the Prairies in the last half of the 20th century. At the exhibition opening in Calgary, the curators had the opportunity to meet some of the women weavers from the 1960s and ‘70s whose work is featured in the show. Long talked with Alberta weaver Brenda Campbell about her piece, Woodlands Undercover, an abstracted foothills landscape. He rhapsodized about how she worked with the edges to reflect the rise of the land; how the piece was like looking in a rearview mirror in the ways it plays with silhouettes and reflections; how she broke the landscape into panels, adding coils between them to represent the power of the land embodied in the weave of vegetation and the fold of the rock. “I concluded by saying this weaving makes shaped canvasses of the 1970s look awkward and inept by comparison. She was crying. Somebody was looking at her work and seeing it,” Long remembers.

Many other artists and curators have appreciated the opportunity to work with Long over the years. “Timothy loves his work. From my perspective, the exhibition, Wilf Perreault: In the Alley/dans la ruelle was a labour of love by Timothy. It was a collaborative team effort, and his leadership was amazing. His attention to detail and leadership were extraordinary, from his selection of artwork being well researched, to creating the book, working with a variety of writers, and making the film,” says Regina painter Wilf Perreault.

Individual looks at ceramic artworks on display.
Timothy Long with artworks by ceramic artist Jeannie Mah BEd'76, BA'93.

In 2003, Long invited Regina artists to critically re-examine the city for Regina’s Centenary in the exhibition, That’s My Wonderful Town. Ceramic artist Jeannie Mah BEd'76, BA'93 was one of them. “I find the trust that Timothy bestows on artists to be admirable,” she says. “Leading from behind, Timothy’s sensitive understanding of time, place, and the artistic process developed an exhibition that spoke visually about Regina at 100 years.”

Christine Sowiak of the University of Calgary is another curator mentored by Long who also collaborated with him. “He is a ferocious researcher with an encyclopedic knowledge of art history and contemporary artists, yet his work moves beyond the academic. His ability to ‘read’ works of art enables him to understand an artist, the ideas captured in his or her work, and what those ideas connect with in society—sharing with audiences exhibitions that connect us to the work and to this province,” she says.

In an obscure essay, acclaimed author Carol Shields conjures a metaphor of the writer as a tree, their work as leaves, and the critic as “an eager young fresh-faced yard worker, intent on raking up the leaves as they fell from the tree, trying to make sense of them, hoping to arrange them in comprehensible piles.”[1] Long sees the role of the curator much like that of Shields’ critic/yardworker. “We’re not the creators—we’re not the ones breaking new ground. The artists are. I’ve learned profound respect for artists and the thinking they do,” he says.

Long goes out of his way to connect with artists as part of his practice. “A curatorial approach that includes the artist is something Timothy has taught me,” Krueger says. “Rather than, ‘I’m doing a show about you’, it’s done together.” In fact, when asked what advice he would give to up-and-coming curators, Long imparts, “listen to the artists.” He also underlines the value of collaboration: “Don’t be afraid to give up some control over a project if it means getting more creative input either from the artist or from your co-curators. There’s a real value in an approach that doesn’t put yourself at the centre, but brings in other voices and perspectives. You get the best results when you work as a team.”

Individual in art gallery walking with guitar case.
Timothy Long performing as part of MAGDANCE at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2023. Photo courtesy of New Dance Horizons.

A collaboration that Long considers a significant highlight of his career is one he and Robin Poitras, artistic director of New Dance Horizons, cultivated in 2011. MAGDANCE is a groundbreaking series of dance residencies/exhibitions that have broken barriers by bringing the black box of contemporary dance into the white cube of the art gallery. “We had a gap in the schedule, and Robin asked, ‘Can I dance in the gallery in between shows?’ I looked at her and said, ‘Why don’t we make your performances the show and bring the dance floor into the gallery?’ When you make these decisions, you don’t realize what the consequences are going to be. Sometimes you have to trust your gut. In this case, my intuition paid off,” Long says. Collaborations between contemporary dance companies and art galleries are done in other parts of Canada, but not to the extent of MAGDANCE. “Dancers in Montréal say, ‘Why can’t we have that in Montréal?’” Long remarks. “How many things do Montréalers envy Regina for?”

Poitras points to the national and international impact of Long’s commitment to dance. “Dance hasn’t been documented in the same way as art because it’s non-verbal. Timothy was really instrumental in building a following and helping to create a legacy and archive about dance in Canada,” she says. “I was recently on a conference call with some people in Europe. One of them asked, ‘Who is that curator at the MacKenzie Art Gallery who did all that dance work?’ He’s revered by many.”

In retirement, what Long wants to do most is write. “It’s a challenge when you’re a working curator to find time for writing, because you’re always consumed by the logistics of arranging an exhibition,” he explains. “Writing is a thing you do on own time, on evenings or weekends. I’m looking forward to spending more concentrated time writing, reading, and pursuing ideas.”

His legacy also continues, not only through the MacKenzie’s rich permanent collection that he helped build and interpret, the many exhibition catalogues he has spearheaded, and MAGDANCE (including a website documenting the history of the project), but also through the work of the many curators he has mentored. Krueger says, “Timothy recently told me it’s time for me to start mentoring others. I’ve taken that to heart. I’m trying to give support and help younger researchers and curators like he did for me and continues to do. I admire that he has this generous approach to supporting curators and researchers like myself and reminding me that it’s my job to continue that approach.”

At their final MAGDANCE collaboration together in 2023, Poitras asked Long if he would create and perform a dance piece. “He looked at me like I was crazy. I told him, ‘I’m serious. You have such clear and insightful questions about dance.’”

Long took her up on her suggestion. “What he did blew us all away. It was a side of Timothy that people aren’t familiar with, and it really speaks to his creativity, his integrity, his curiosity, and his commitment. He rehearsed diligently every night. He was so brave to take that on, and it was a really strong performance,” says Poitras.

Long’s dance was a simple one. He walked backwards from one side of the gallery to the other while carrying a guitar. At the end, he ran into the wall and looked at the T-bar support above him. “That ‘T’ became for me all the decision points in my life, where you make a choice, you commit to something and you don’t know where it goes,” he says. Then he walked back across the room—again backwards—swinging his guitar case like a pendulum, “like passing through life. You go forward through life, but you learn backwards. You have the experiences and you only understand them at the end, when you’re looking back. That’s what it meant to me. Also, carrying the guitar—you carry something with you through that journey.”

[1] "Arriving Late: Starting Over" in How Stories Mean, ed. John Metcalf and J.E. Struthers (Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 1993), 247.

Top: Timothy Long BFA’86, BAHons’86 at the exhibiton 'Whispers from the Vault', MacKenzie Art Gallery, September 2024.
All photography: Trevor Hopkin, U of R Photography, unless otherwise noted.

About the Author

Sabrina Cataldo BA’97, BJ’99, MA’23 is an award-winning writer and communicator who lives in Regina.

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This past September, Saskatchewanian - and U of R alum - Tracy Muggli BSW'88 was sworn in to the Senate. Over her impressive career, Senator Muggli has dedicated herself to improving health and wellness outcomes in Saskatchewan. In addition to her years of service as a social worker, Senator Muggli served as Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services for Saskatoon Health Region, and more recently as Executive Director of St. Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon. Her commitment to volunteerism includes work with Saskatoon Open Door Society, Saskatoon Community Foundation, Saskatchewan Intercultural Association, the University of Regina Alumni Association Board, and others. In recognition of her dedicated service to community, Senator Muggli has received a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, and the Premier's Award for Excellence in Public Service. Senator Muggli took time from her busy schedule as a newly minted senator to chat with Degrees about her earliest influences, how the field of social work is changing, and what she hopes to achieve while serving on the Senate of Canada.

You've dedicated your working life to public service: through your work in helping to provide public healthcare, advocating for the wellbeing of children, and active volunteerism on many boards and committees. What drew you to a life in service to community?

I grew up in a small community - Muenster, Saskatchewan - and in small towns, you have to take part as a volunteer in your community in order to thrive as a community. It was an expectation growing up that everyone needs to do their part and pull their weight. My parents were my primary role models and they volunteered a lot. They gave a lot to the community, most notably in the curling community, and their three children (myself, my sister and brother), were given the same expectations.

What do you think has changed in the way we try to serve community since you graduated from the U of R? How do you think the challenges faced by social workers have changed?

I think one of the biggest changes has been the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's work, where, as social workers, we are challenged to understand the truth. To really understand is to  listen and recognize the traumatic experiences of colonization. I think this is one of the biggest pieces for social workers. There are a number of people in our profession that are embracing that challenge,  and taking action to do the right thing. One critical aspect is the movement towards First Nations child welfare management, where we're seeing arrangements  for First Nations to manage their own child welfare. And the other is to understand what it means to be trauma-informed in service delivery - recognizing root causes, which in so many cases are about racism and poverty - and how we can do better in bringing forward solutions to address poverty and racism. I really think there's been a lot of growth in that area.

How do you think your time at the University of Regina helped to lay a foundation for your career and the life that you've built for yourself?

The profession of social work is very much founded within a code of ethics and its core values, and one of the key tenets of that is the promotion of social justice, so my time at the University of Regina Faculty of Social Work really helped me to be able to appreciate the social, economic and socio-political context in which people live in our world. It promoted critical thinking, and it gave me the opportunity to see outside of the insulated world in which I lived. So, I'd say that my U of R degree really set the stage for where I am now because it helped me in my understanding that policy is such a big driver in terms of  how our society functions - and how people thrive or don't thrive. Everything that happens in our daily lives is because some politician or group of politicians have made policy decisions, ranging from  how we receive health services, to whether or not we have paved roads, to who has rights and who doesn't have rights. The U of R is where I began my learning that  the personal is political.

What do you hope to achieve as you take on the role of Senator?

Once I get my feet under me and develop a more thorough understanding of the procedures and processes of Senate, I certainly hope to utilize my social work values, particularly that of social justice - using that lens of equity and human rights to ensure that laws passed in Senate do not harm the people of our country. I'm looking forward working collaboratively with my fellow Senators from Saskatchewan to bringing forward policy that's good for Saskatchewan people. We have the opportunity to be mindful of what our province needs to thrive and to find a common ground that serves everyone, and that we create policy and laws that do not discriminate, but rather enhance opportunities and resources for people to thrive in our country. I hope to amplify my voice on behalf of those who don't always have a voice.

Top: Senator Tracy Muggli BSW'88. Photo © Senate of Canada / © Sénat du Canada

[post_title] => Degrees Interview: Senator Tracy Muggli BSW'88 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => degrees-interview-senator-tracy-muggli [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-10-19 13:48:24 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-10-19 19:48:24 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.degreesmagazine.ca/?p=8592 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8644 [post_author] => 20 [post_date] => 2024-10-17 12:19:15 [post_date_gmt] => 2024-10-17 18:19:15 [post_content] =>

The 70s

Of all the things that Linda Vail Dodd learned at the University of Regina, one of the most valuable was how to turn archrivals into teammates. Fifty years later, those same teammates have become lifelong friends she still meets with at least once a year. "We came from fairly diverse backgrounds and there we all were, playing together," she says from her home in Regina. "It took a long time to get to know one another."

Read more Similing individual poses on basketball court. Linda Vail Dodd BEd'74 Smiling individual. Chris Biegler BA'93, BASc'96. Photo: Leah Lawrence BASc'94

The 80s

Chris Biegler BA'89, BASc'96

There was a time when Chris Biegler BA'93, BASc'96 wasn't sure he would continue playing basketball. A conversation with University of Regina Cougars basketball coach Ken Murray changed that - and likely altered the rest of his life. Since joining the team in 1985, Biegler still hasn't left the basketball court - nor the connections and life experience basketball taught him.

Read more

The 90s

Hockey brought Darrin McKechnie BA(Adv)'93 to the University of Regina Cougars, but he left with more than just success on the ice - he gained valuable preparation for the future.

"I owe the program a ton," says McKechnie, looking back at the past few decades, which began with five years playing with the Cougars between 1988 and 1993. "I would never have guessed that this is the path that would present itself. I'm just a very, very lucky person."

Read more Smiling individual at hockey rink. Darrin McKechnie BA(Adv)'93 Individual with arms folded Meagan Cormier Hamilton BKin'16. Photo: Michael Hamilton

The 00s

When Meagan Cormier Hamilton joined the University of Regina Cougar women's soccer team in 2009, she had one goal - to play somewhere she knew she would continue to enjoy the game. She found that and so much more.

"They were the best years of my playing career," she says of her five seasons, which she finished in 2013 as the all-time leading career scorer, a record she still holds with 21 career goals and 12 assists. "Playing soccer created a work ethic and commitment for me, but playing with the U of R really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and challenged me to be better … it taught me to elevate every characteristic, every quality that I could, which now applies to running a business or being a wife or a mom or a friend."

Read more

The 10s

Seven years in the NFL, a Grey Cup ring, and multiple Canadian Interuniversity Sport  awards are just a few unexpected turns on Brett Jones' road to medical school.

Jones attributes his success to the University of Regina and the Regina Rams, with whom he played from 2009 to 2012. There, despite adversity, he learned resilience and how to rely on his support system to continue achieving his goals.

Read more Smiling individual on football field. Brett Jones BASc'19

All photos: Trevor Hopkin, U of R Photography unless otherwise noted.

[post_title] => Five Over Fifty [post_excerpt] => A lot can happen in 50 years — between completing degrees, embarking on fulfilling careers, starting families, and creating and contributing to communities here at home and around the world, our alumni have fascinating stories to tell. With this in mind, Degrees caught up with five athletic greats over the past five decades of varsity sport at the University of Regina. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => five-decades-five-athletes-copy [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-10-22 09:00:07 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-10-22 15:00:07 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.degreesmagazine.ca/?p=8644 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw )