![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/GalleryA.jpg\")
<\/a>\nGuardian spirit: the goddess at SAW Gallery on Nicholas Street.<\/p>\n
Unlike commercial and public galleries, artist-run spaces do not depend on selling exhibited works or tickets to make a profit. Instead, they run as not-for-profit institutions, relying on operational and project grants, memberships and fundraising.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s all controlled by artists.<\/p>\n
Money matters<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m shocked when I hear this misconception that artists don\u2019t know how to manage money,\u201d says Roy. He says that artist-run centres are proof positive that \u201cartists are the best to manage money because they have so little that they have to work with what they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pat Durr has been creating art in Ottawa for over 30 years, and says that she too has encountered the notion that artists are bad at business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not a bunch of artsy-fartsy, inept people just dancing around and looking for inspiration,\u201d she says. \u201cAny artist that has to stay alive and functioning over any period of time has got to learn to be a decent businessperson.\u201d<\/p>\n
Durr says that artist-run centres can be seen as one solution to one of the biggest problems facing Ottawa-area artists \u2014 a lack of exhibition space.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can\u2019t find places to start exhibiting, then it\u2019s very hard to find a clientele who can support you,\u201d she says. She says that artist-run centres provide a different service than other galleries \u201cbecause the people running artist-run centres are artists, and they understand the issues and the problems we face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because artists are in control of how the art is presented, says Stefan St-Laurent, curator at SAW Gallery, they can identify with the exhibiting artists and present them as well as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic galleries have a lot of pressure to perform, sell tickets and try to organize blockbuster exhibitions,\u201d he says. \u201cInstead, we really want to show the artist today without any censorship whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘We\u2019re not a bunch of artsy-fartsy, inept people. Any artist that has to stay alive has got to learn to be a decent businessperson.’
\n\u2014 artist Pat Durr<\/p>\n
St-Laurent says that his curatorial experience would be completely different if he was at another sort of gallery, and he wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I would be working at a public art gallery, I would probably encounter a lot of obstacles,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve never been told I can\u2019t do something because it\u2019s contentious or potentially controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n
St-Laurent also says he has a love for the off-beat, which often goes ignored in traditional galleries. For instance, in 2003 St-Laurent curated an exhibition called Scatalogue<\/em>, featuring all things fecal, and told the Canadian Press that he was excited to break art\u2019s \u201clast remaining taboo.\u201d<\/p>\n Granting and raving<\/p>\n The artistic freedom of artist-run centres has allowed St-Laurent to bring shows like Scatalogue<\/em> to SAW, but it comes at a price. Artist-run centres rely on funding from federal, provincial and municipal organizations like the Canada Council \u2014 curators\u2019 and administrators\u2019 estimates range from 20 to 75 per cent of operating costs \u2014 and they need to be accountable. Scatalogue<\/em>, for instance, was called a waste of taxpayers\u2019 money by a Canadian Alliance MP when it premiered in 2003.<\/p>\n Leanne L\u2019Hirondelle, the director and curator at Gallery 101, says that she always remembers that she is \u201cbeholden to [her] funders.\u201d<\/p>\n Even so, L\u2019Hirondelle has brought cutting-edge shows to Gallery 101. Recently, she exhibited works by First Nations artist Roger Crait, featuring brightly coloured metropolitan landscapes literally exploding \u2014 a highly controversial view of the First Nations experience.<\/p>\n Gordon Hatt, who runs the Contemporary Art Forum in Kitchener, says he also keeps his money in mind. \u201cEach funder has a different point of view and different interests,\u201d he says. Even so, the vast majority of provincial and federal grants are peer reviewed \u2014 the organization\u2019s eligibility for funding is determined by other arts administrators \u2014 and Hatt says he knows he is in good hands.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we think [a show] is really good, then we\u2019re pretty sure that our colleagues at other organizations think it\u2019s a good thing, too,\u201d he says. \u201cThen we know that we\u2019ve got our act together and will be reasonably well supported by the peer-reviewed councils.\u201d<\/p>\n Both SAW and Gallery 101 supplement their government funding with other initiatives. They host fundraisers and sell memberships, and \u201chave things that make me really tired, like we rent out our space to groups and events,\u201d says L\u2019Hirondelle. \u201cIt makes for a lot of long days sometimes, but it helps.\u201d<\/p>\n Present tense<\/p>\n These fundraising efforts might help, say both St-Laurent and L\u2019Hirondelle, but they\u2019re just not enough.<\/p>\n The question comes down to funding. Gallery 101 can\u2019t fix Ottawa\u2019s lack of exhibition space on its own, says L\u2019Hirondelle, because it faces the same pressures.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we can totally fix all of the problems because we\u2019re limited by the same things that are limiting the artists,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you look at how many submissions we get per year and how much space we actually have, your chances as an artist of getting art in an artist-run centre are pretty small.\u201d She estimates that fewer than 10 per cent of the submissions received end up in a gallery.<\/p>\n Like the artists themselves, Ottawa\u2019s artist-run centres are suffering from a lack of exhibition space. SAW has been in Ottawa for over 35 years, and Gallery 101 recently turned 30, but their spaces seem to be getting smaller and smaller, says L\u2019Hirondelle. SAW is located in what St-Laurent calls \u201ca glorified basement with exposed ceilings,\u201d under the Mackenzie King Bridge, and Gallery 101 is in a loft-apartment-sized space on Bank Street.<\/p>\n Even so, these galleries play a vital role in the Ottawa\u2019s arts community. Peter Honeywell, executive director of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa, says that artist-run centres provide a youthful glimpse into Ottawa\u2019s art scene.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that those galleries have been able to stay for 30 or 40 years shows that they\u2019re obviously finding a clientele,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s fantastic that we\u2019re starting to see a younger market exploring what\u2019s available through their own artists in their own community.\u201d<\/p>\n Artist-run centres, says Honeywell, are constantly \u201cbalancing the needs of the artist\u2026their artistic goals\u2026and that they have the income to make the space work.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Roy, it\u2019s this sense of balance that ensures that artist-run centres are an \u201cimportant complement to the visual arts in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all part of a delicate ecosystem,\u201d he says. \u201cWe all have a spot in this ecosystem and every spot is important, [but] artists are in the best place to know what is good for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nShopping for art at a SAW fundraiser.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nGallery 101’s minimalist space on Bank Street, downtown.<\/p>\n