The Nova Scotia Talent Trust was founded in 1944 and has been awarding scholarships to visual artists since 1949. To celebrate the NSTT 75th Anniversary, First You Dream developed out of a call for entries to all scholarship recipients, inviting submissions of recent work. The final exhibition selection resulted in a broad range of media, including drawing, ceramics, fibre, jewellery, mixed-media, painting, printmaking, sculpture and video. The generational mix of the artists (indicated by the dates of their Talent Trust scholarships) ranges from 1979 to 2016—a span of 37 years. The exhibition includes work by Jordan Broadworth, Sandra Brownlee, Lux Habrich, Sara Hartland-Rowe, Dan O’Neill, Lucy Pullen, Pamela Ritchie, Despo Sophocleous, Emily Vey Duke, and Charley Young.
Organized by MSVU Art Gallery in partnership with Cape Breton University Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Talent Trust and partner galleries recognize the support of the Province of Nova Scotia through the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage.