Why one of the oldest artist-run centres in Canada may be leaving Fredericton.

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Matt Carter

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For 24 years, Fredericton's Gallery Connexion has existed in a tiny, rented studio space behind the Justice Building in the city's downtown, its doorway looking directly towards the St. John River. Over the years, the gallery has served as a home for several of the country's top emerging artists, hosting a mixed bag of creative mediums; everything from oils on canvas to jewelry, sculpture, and projected multi-media works. It's also served as a home for working artists, providing much needed studio space with.

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photo by Carol Collicutt

Gallery Connextion

By the time rising floodwaters along the St. John River Valley became national news last spring, homes and businesses along the floodplain had already begun feeling the devastating effects of the spring thaw. Despite endless precautions and the efforts of countless volunteers, nothing could prevent the inevitable.

"We prepared for it, but there was obviously loss," said Meredith Snider, executive director for Gallery Connexion.

The gallery's longtime location is owned by the province and was rented through the New Brunswick Department of Supply and Services, a branch of the provincial government that manages properties and land.

When flooding became unavoidable, the plan was to simply move their belongings to higher ground, getting things off the floor to limit the damage. That all changed when word came from NBDSS to clear all belongings from the premises. In an effort to accommodate their tenants, the province provided two large storage containers as temporary housing for furniture, studio gear, and other items belonging to the gallery.

"We were told that we had two, maybe three days to move everything into these storage units," said Snider. "We had volunteers come in and work three long days to help us clear the gallery. As we were taking stuff out, they were literally in there starting to gut the place around us, tearing out floors and walls, which made sense to us. There was a lot of wood that had been soaked with contaminated floodwater."

An unfortunate turn in events came by word of mouth as the clean up process was underway.

"We started to hear from employees of Supply and Services that we weren't going to get back in," said Snider. "We thought we were just moving out so that they could renovate."

Gallery President Carol Collicutt grew suspicious of the department's intentions when she began to hear rumours from the most unlikely sources.

"Everyone was talking. Even the parking lot attendant told us he heard that we were never getting back in there," she said. "This was before we had any official notice besides the notice to get out. Everybody knew were weren't getting back in there accept us, and we found out through the backdoor."

Without any discussion with their longtime tenants, NBDSS closed the space off, leaving the gallery homeless. The manner in which the province handled the situation has been a sore spot for the gallery and its members ever since.

"The official word took a long time to come and we were not part of any discussion. The media was able to get more information from Supply and Services than we were," said Snider.

A number of friends, volunteers, and even other divisions of the provincial government stepped in to lend a helping hand. The Art Bank, a division of the Department of Wellness, Culture, and Sport that manages a large collection of works by New Brunswick artists, offered temporary storage for several artists' works. Despite their efforts to help the gallery during this unfolding crisis, the bottom line was unavoidable "" there'd be no returning home for this mainstay in the city's art community.

Official word on the future of the gallery's 24-year home was a long time coming. A letter from NBDSS was received on May 22 outlining the damage done by the largest flood the city has seen in over 30 years. In the letter describing the damage sustained by the property, again no indication was made that the gallery was to officially leave the space for good. According to both Snider and Collicutt, it was only suggested they start looking for a new home.

"We were left wondering if we were supposed to be looking for a new space or not," said Snider. "We still had hope."

Rick Miles, MLA for Fredericton-Silverwood and member of Parliament Andy Scott, a longtime supporter of arts and culture in the city, both rallied behind the gallery's cause and have been working on their behalf since their problems began.

Unreturned phone calls and letters to NBDSS from the gallery and its supporters prompted Andy Scott to make contact on their behalf. Thanks to Scott's efforts, an official letter from the department was received on August 20 estimating the cost of repairing the space at $2 million and adding, "To be clear, a major investment in this space will only be made such that first consideration will only be given to government needs before any other tenants."

Although this news was a shock to everyone involved in the gallery and its cause, the property remains owned and managed by the province and therefore, they can do with it what they see fit.

"We began searching for new buildings once we had the word, and thus began the list of 30 buildings we looked at," said Snider.

"We've been looking all summer knowing we had to find at least an interim space," added Collicutt. "There have been three of working on this all summer long and we've just been up and down with it. It's been like an emotional roller coaster for us because we'd find a space that would be really perfect but would end up being very expensive."

Gallery Connexion is a not-for-profit, artist-run centre with charitable status. Since their beginnings, the rental of studio space by individual artists has always covered the monthly rent. Their annual operating budget of $48,000 a year has always been focused on bringing in artists and exhibits along with the day-to-day operation of the gallery. Snider is the only paid employee at the gallery. With the prices of today's real estate, finding a suitable location at a price affordable to the gallery has proven to be more than just a small hurdle.

"There's no infrastructure here for artists," added Collicutt. "If artists can't find studio space to do their work, they go elsewhere and we lose a lot of our artists that way. Not only do they go away to study, but they don't come back."

Finding suitable studio space is a challenge for any artist. In Fredericton, there are currently artist studios in Memorial Hall on the University of New Brunswick campus as well as in the Charlotte Street Arts Centre. However, as a city with one of the highest artist-per-capita ratios in the country, needs more available space. This is something Gallery Connexion hopes to offer again in the near future.

"The bigger our space is, the more studios we can provide to people and the more rent we can pay," said Collicutt. "Our idea was to kill two birds with one stone. If we could have 10 or 12 studios, we could help 10 or 12 artists, keep them in the city, and also pay a higher rent to whoever was renting to us. However, we're finding that owners would rather let their buildings lie empty than to rent to us," she said.

Part of what the gallery has been requesting from building owners is partially subsidized rent. Although they feel it isn't too much to ask in the case of an artist centre, it may be a deterrent to building and land owners.

"Most artist-run centres in the Atlantic provinces have some sort of subsidized rent whether it's in a CBC building, a university building, or a government building," said Snider. "We simply don't have the operating funds to be paying retail rent and that's why you often find artist-run centres in strange spaces."

The few buildings that were found to be affordable and adequate for the gallery's needs were either sold during negotiations or before contact could be made with the owners, something Collicutt has somehow been able to find humour in.

"We're like the Good Fairy for Real Estate," she said. "We look at a building that's been vacant forever and then suddenly, after we look at it, it will sell.

"We've been thrown into the commercial real estate market and are finding so many things take place behind the scenes like all those buildings we missed by days," she said. "We're not in the business of navigating our way through the real estate market."

With nearly two years of future exhibits already planned and with funding secured for these projects, things are definitely coming down to the wire for the folks at the gallery. Thankfully, a number of other galleries and art supporters in the area have offered what they can to help out. Gallery 78, the City Hall Gallery, the Charlotte Glencross Gallery, Memorial Hall, the Playhouse, Old Government House, and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery have all offered space to house coming exhibits.

Terry Graff, curator and deputy director of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery feels it's important for everyone to aid the gallery in their current plight.

"Gallery Connexion has been around for a long time and is a fixture in the city and an important dimension in the cultural landscape of Fredericton as well as the province," he said. "I think it's important that different arts organizations help each other out. We're in a position where we can provide exhibition space and are currently looking at hosting three of the gallery's coming shows."

Graff was involved with Gallery Connexion in the '80s when they hosted a show of his own work. He feels the service they provide to other artists in the city is a very important one.

"Artist-run centres are very, very important for encouraging artists, for experimentation, and for creating dialogue on the arts," he said. "I think a lot of people don't realize the important role that artists play within a community. It's very important that the community support Gallery Connexion."

The gallery has managed to make it through the summer and after exhausting over 30 possible leads; it appears their quest has come down to two foreseeable possibilities. One is to pursue the city about its plans for York House, the property recently saved by city council after years of debate. The other involves a more drastic and devastating possibility for the local art community, leaving the city all together.

"York House would be ideal," said Snider, "but when I spoke to Mayor Woodside, he said the issues pertaining to the future use of the building haven't even come up in council yet, thinking that it may take a few years to figure things out."

A formal proposal for the use of the York House property is currently in the works by the gallery. There's a lot of space there, which would greatly benefit not only Gallery Connexion, but also the city in serving as a home for working artists.

"If we had 10 studios in York House and people knew it, they'd know where to find the city's artists," said Collicutt. "Right now there's very little profile for artists in the city and if someone comes in looking, good luck to them. They're scattered all over in their houses and basements and garages making their work."

Over the years, Collicutt has operated an open studio with the gallery, allowing students and visitors the chance to stop in and learn about the creation process. She's welcomed students from as far away as the Miramichi and Maine into her space to teach them about what it's like to be a working artist in today's world.

"They get a lot out of those visits," she said. "I talked with hundreds and hundreds of kids over the years. I've had students from both city high schools; many elementary schools from Fredericton and the surrounding area visit me to learn about what I do. I think that's a big part of what an artist-run centre is all about."

The other option currently in the works involves relocating to Oromocto. There's a suitable building there and Andrew Goodridge of Oromocto Properties Management has expressed interest in the gallery.

"He had vision when we talked about things," said Collicutt. "He said 'look at all the things you could do here'. He's of the opinion that if you build it, they will come."

The town of Oromocto is expected to produce a budget involving the project next week and this has both Collicutt and Snider excited, not about leaving the city but about finding a home for the gallery.

"If they give it [an operating grant] to us, we will go," said Collicutt, "and there is no escaping that."

2009 is a going to be a big year for the city's art community. It will not only mark the 25th Anniversary of Gallery Connexion and the 50th Anniversary of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, but will also see Fredericton carry the designation of Cultural Capital of Canada for New Brunswick. Hopefully the city will be able to celebrate the year without mourning the loss of one of Canada's oldest artist-run centres.