The MSVU Art Gallery has two standout exhibitions this summer for the community to drop in and experience before August 9, 2026.
“Although visually and conceptually quite different, both of our summer exhibitions – George Bernard Jr.’s Light & Legacy and Allyson Mitchell’s Brain Child – address how important it is to be seen, and to feel truly understood. And both address the power of community organizing and collective action, the idea that we are stronger together,” said Blair Fornwald, MSVU Art Gallery Director.
“George Bernard Jr. was the first professional photographer in the African Nova Scotian community, who started working when it was rare for Black people to see themselves accurately reflected in popular media. His images attest to his deep commitment to his community, and to the trusting rapport he built with his subjects. And Allyson Mitchell, a queer feminist artist, reflects on the ways that gendered stereotypes seek to limit children’s imaginations of what constitutes girlhood and femininity. Reglazing and recontextualizing over a hundred ceramic figurines of girls in old-fashioned dress, she imagines a mysterious gathering of genius women whose oversized bonnets protect oversized brains.”
George Bernard Jr.: Light & Legacy
Light & Legacy celebrates the works and legacy of African Nova Scotian photographer, designer, and artist the late George Bernard Jr. . This exhibition brings together photographs, artworks, and ephemera that highlight Bernard’s curiosity, generosity, and commitment to uplifting others through creative expression.
Bernard’s portraits emphasize dignity, warmth, and self-representation while his broader photographic practice was spent documenting protests, legislative gatherings, church events, and visits by prominent figures such as Minniejean Brown-Trickey, Desmond Tutu, and Tina Turner, creating an archive rooted in strength of community, faith, and dialogue.
As a graphic designer and illustrator, Bernard supported the professional and cultural ambitions of Black Nova Scotians. His projects included work for the Nova Scotia Association of Black Social Workers, the 1982 Black Business Directory, album photography for Four the Moment’s We’re Still Standing, and commemorative portraits for the Victoria Road Baptist Church. He also produced detailed pen-and-ink drawings, watercolours, and acrylic paintings depicting historic churches, coastal landscapes, and intimate community scenes.
The late George Bernard Jr. Is the husband of Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard, CM, ONS, an alumna of MSVU and honorary degree recipient.
Allyson Mitchell: Brain Child
Allyson Mitchell’s Brain Child assembles more than one hundred ceramic figurines of little girls in bonnets, pinafores, and long skirts. It features nostalgic characters that were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, like Holly Hobbie, Strawberry Shortcake, and the doe-eyed Precious Moments kids. These figures once promoted a narrow vision of femininity through sweetness, politeness, quietness, and cuteness above all.
In Mitchell’s installation, however, they are transformed into miniature femme intellectuals with their oversized bonnets protecting their big, beautiful brains. Arranged in two long, winding lines, they face a large, suspended brain made of repurposed pink afghans with each figurine altered to emphasize individuality.
A professor at York University and a graphic memoirist, Mitchell’s broader practice spans sculpture, performance, and installation, using humour and excess to explore feminist and queer politics. Her work includes collaborative and community-based projects such as Killjoy’s Kastle with Deirdre Logue, with whom she also co-runs the FAR Feminist Artist Residency.
Visit the Art Gallery’s website for information about these exhibitions, additional MSVU Art Gallery programs, hours of operation, access, and more.