More than 2,000 pieces of art make up the permanent collection at the Art Gallery of Sudbury.
The average gallery-goer wouldn’t know that though — every year, only about 10 per cent of the collection makes it to the gallery walls, during a once-per-year exhibit called Sudbury Selections.
Community members are invited to pick a piece from a reduced collection of about 200 pieces, pay a fee, and have the piece exhibited.
When Karen Tait-Peacock became director of the AGS in January 2009, she put together a three-year strategic plan. The first objective was meant to address the space problem by funding, developing and building a new home for the gallery.
More space would alleviate several of the biggest issues challenging the gallery. It would make it better able to showcase local works, attract travelling exhibits, offer educational programming and studio space, and continue to be a Class A distinction gallery, which means it is able to give out tax receipts for donated works.
“Bell Mansion is a great heritage site, but it does have limited (space),” Tait-Peacock said. Currently, it offers up about 2,200 square feet — the new gallery, which will be designed with architects Moriyama and Teshima, will offer closer to 14,000 square feet, and it will be more than just a gallery.
“The new gallery is meant to be a community hub for the arts,” she said.
A home for the gallery has yet to be selected, but Tait-Peacock said “we have committed to (the) new gallery being in the downtown.”
The transformation of the gallery began in October 2010, when the gallery announced it would change its name to The Franklin Carmichael Art Gallery, named after one of the founding members of the Group of Seven.
“This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add a landmark cultural tourism attraction to northeastern Ontario,” she said.
No opening dates for the new gallery have been set, but Tait-Peacock was “optimistic” it would be in the fall of 2014.
In the meantime, art is being stored with community partners who offer safe, secure facilities that are sensitive to the needs of the work, taking into consideration factors like the humidity and temperature of the rooms in which the pieces are stored.
It’s a short-to-mid-term solution, Tait-Peacock said.
Sudbury Arts Council president and community activist John Lindsay responded to the Gallery’s concerns by suggesting an interim home for the studio.
“The building, a former school renovated as the Sudbury Kingdom Hall Centre located on Lonsdale Avenue in the Minnow Lake area, contains three large main halls and three secondary halls on the main level plus a large main hall and secondary hall and conference hall on the second level,” he wrote in a proposal. “There are no windows in any of the meeting halls, which means they could all serve as gallery or storage space, plus all rooms are individually climate controlled.”
Lindsay wrote that if the AGS was interested in the space, it would still be suitable for other arts-related or community uses.
Tait-Peacock said she appreciates the community’s desire to see the Gallery grow and prosper. “I think it’s really wonderful we have such a groundswell of community support,” she said. While the staff and AGS board appreciate the community support, Tait-Peacock said the gallery is focusing on creating a new gallery space.
Posted by Jenny Jelen
