Exhibitions.

Rose Museum, 1974

Photograph of a portion of the original Rose Museum installation at the Glenbow Museum in 1974.

Ron Moppett and John Hall were classmates at the Alberta College of Art in the mid 60s and they both attended the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in 1968; they have collaborated on several occasions since.  In the mid-1970s, Hall and Moppett discovered they shared a common interest in how roses were depicted in art – from medieval paintings to sculpture and architectural decoration, to contemporary advertising, clothing and even tattoos. Hall and Moppett formed the International Society of Rose Painters, based in Calgary, and organized an exhibition that explored the use of the rose motif in art and everyday life. It became a uniquely collaborative project:  after the exhibition opened, people (including other artists) continued to contribute rose-themed material.   (From Made in Calgary: An Exploration of Art from the 1960s to the 2000s, photo caption, page 80, Copyright Glenbow Museum, 2016).