Charlene Vickers, “Sleep Walking,” 2004
wood, wood composite, rattan, textile, thread, wool, acrylic, paper, printing ink, glass, plastic, shell and found objects, installation view in “Where do We Go From Here?” at the Vancouver Art Gallery (collection of the VAG)
There’s no denying it: 2020 was an annus horribilis – a horrible year – for Western Canada’s public art galleries. As if lockdowns, reduced hours and falling revenues weren’t enough, there were also postponed exhibitions, cancelled school tours and permanent layoffs – 17 at the Vancouver Art Gallery and 27 at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. Yet, despite COVID-19’s tough realities, galleries soldiered on, buoyed by emergency funding and a renewed sense of purpose.
Galleries West spoke to leaders at seven institutions in the last week of November and the first week of December – the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Glenbow Museum, the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton, the Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Regina’s MacKenzie Gallery and the Winnipeg Art Gallery – to find out how they are faring and what they have learned from the pandemic.
First off, everyone was grateful for federal assistance, including $198.3 million earmarked for arts and culture from Heritage Canada, announced in May but retroactive to the pandemic’s start. An extra $55 million in relief was administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. Various provincial agencies and arts bodies also provided financial assistance.
But it was Ottawa’s emergency wage subsidy, available to galleries with a revenue shortfall of at least 30 per cent, that made the biggest difference. That assistance let galleries move forward with reduced hours and eventually rehire most staff hit with temporary layoffs.
“The wage subsidy was a big lifesaver for us,” says Jon Tupper, director of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. “The Canada Council also came in, and that helped.”
Across Western Canada, galleries extended existing exhibitions, postponed upcoming shows and dived into their permanent collections for less expensive ways to fill space, buying time to reflect and take stock.
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Ruth Cuthand, “Surviving: COVID-19” (detail), 2020
glass beads, backing, thread and vinyl lettering on glass (collection of the Mackenzie Art Gallery; photo by Don Hall)
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Ruth Cuthand, “Surviving: COVID-19,” 2020
glass beads, backing, thread and vinyl lettering on glass (collection of the Mackenzie Art Gallery; photo by Don Hall)
For instance, the MacKenzie Gallery’s fall show, Reflecting Dis-Ease: Eh Ateh Pakinihk Ahkosiwin – Rethinking Pandemics Through an Indigenous Lens, conceptualized after the pandemic struck, was originally going to focus on smallpox. But the shutdown allowed time for a re-think.
“We thought what in our collection speaks to this moment?” says interim executive director John Hampton. The show, the gallery decided, needed a contemporary component. A work by Saskatchewan artist Ruth Cuthand, Surviving: COVID-19, was purchased for the gallery's permanent collection and included in the show, which also featured work by Robert Houle, Edward Poitras and Norval Morrisseau.
For its part, the Glenbow installed an exhibition specifically related to COVID-19. Produced by local photographer Neil Zeller, Porchraits: Calgary Families in Isolation During COVID-19 documents Calgary’s lockdown experience. The gallery is now temporarily closed until at least Jan. 10 due to provincial health orders.
“We wanted people to see the museum as a responsive institution and one that can serve as a mirror to the community,” says CEO Nicholas Bell.
Neil Zeller, “Untitled (Porchraits Series),” 2020, at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. (courtesy of the artist)
When the pandemic shut down tours and other events, all major institutions embraced technology to foster connections with their communities.
“That was one of the biggest adjustments for us here,” says Catherine Crowston, executive director of the Art Gallery of Alberta, also temporarily closed due to provincial health restrictions. “It was a big challenge to begin to think about how to turn traditional content into online content.”
Catherine Crowston
The Edmonton gallery responded with at-home tutorials on things like making relief sculptures and collagraphs, a print-making technique that uses collage. In Calgary, Glenbow From Home encompassed virtual gallery tours and curatorial talks. Winnipeg’s WAG@Home continued the trend, sharing highlights from the collection, DIY art projects and behind-the-scenes stories.
All the galleries say they expanded their online presence in 2020 and will continue to bolster it.
“We strongly believe in the civic nature of galleries as a place where people can encounter art,” says Johan Lundh, co-executive director of the Remai Modern. “But we also think a lot of people want to access art online, especially public programs and collections. I think that’s the two areas where we’re going to see a lot of growth. If you’re going to be a 21st-century museum, the digital component has to be part of that.”
Johan Lundh and Aileen Burns (photo by Louis Lim)
Nevertheless, in-person attendance at galleries was down dramatically in 2020. And while online programming heightens a gallery’s profile, it’s hard to monetize it to replace revenue from admissions.
“We’re not pinning our hopes on things returning to the way they were,” says the Vancouver Art Gallery’s new director, Anthony Kiendl. “It’s been slow to come back. We’re currently at about 20 per cent, on average, compared to last year’s attendance.
“Instead, we’re focusing on expanding our online presence, providing more opportunities and richer content, and making it seamless, being at the gallery and being online. I think the pandemic has underscored that and made it more urgent.”
Anthony Kiendl (photo by Carlos Taylhardat)
When asked if Western Canada’s largest public gallery is in danger of permanent closure, Kiendl said: “It’s something we think about on an ongoing basis week by week. I don’t think it’s imminent we would close, but I think we have to prepare for every situation and if we were in another lockdown for several months and there was no federal support, I wouldn’t say it was inconceivable.”
Fortunately, distribution of successful COVID-19 vaccines has started in Canada. As well, the federal government has extended its emergency wage subsidy program to June. But no one expects such largesse to continue indefinitely. All the institutions are ramping up fundraising campaigns, with outlooks ranging from optimism to worry, depending on the region.
“We’ve been lucky,” says Riva Symko, head of collections and exhibitions at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, closed since Nov. 2 due to the pandemic. “The exhibitions we have coming up next year have some big public sponsors.” She is also looking forward to the opening of Qaumajuq, the gallery’s new Inuit art centre, in February.
An architectural rendering of Qaumajuq, the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s new Inuit art centre, slated to open in February. (courtesy Michael Maltzan Architecture)
While conditions are tough right now with just a trickle of vaccines and a virulent second wave, Symko reflects the mood of other leadership teams: Full steam ahead.
The Art Gallery of Alberta hopes to run its 2021 exhibition program as scheduled. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is planning an exhibition of Asian ceramics. The Remai Modern will continue to highlight its collection of Picasso linocuts, while the MacKenzie has just opened Human Capital, which explores the intersection of art and Canadian immigration. The Vancouver Art Gallery launched a new show on Dec. 12, the aptly named Where do we go from here? It features recent acquisitions to the permanent collection by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour artists, as well as loans from local artists, mostly work produced over the last five years.
Cindy Mochizuki, “Sue Sada Was Here,” 2018
single-channel video from the exhibition “Where do we go from here?” (collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery)
Still, there’s no denying the world is a different place, and perhaps not just for the short term.
“People’s habits have changed,” says the MacKenzie’s Hampton. “We have to recognize there will be some need to rebuild audiences and get people back to thinking about art and culture as an essential part of their lives.”
Aileen Burns, the Remai’s co-executive director, says Western Canada’s public galleries will ultimately benefit from the crisis.
“I think this COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call,” she says. “A lot of great thinking was done around how we can work in public spaces and online in really meaningful ways.”
In Vancouver, Kiendl sounds another note of optimism.
“We’ll emerge from this and in some ways the better,” he says. “You know, crisis forces innovation.” ■
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