The Nanaimo Art Gallery is getting an artistic facelift about a year in the making and it is appealing to the public to help make it happen.
An eight-by-eight-foot carving by local father-and-son artists William and Joel Good will be the centrepiece of a building facade redesign that will see the banners come down and a new entrance and sign go up. On Thursday, Aug. 2 the NAG is unveiling its new design and a crowdfunding site will go live with a $10,000 goal to help fund the creation and installation of the art work.
NAG executive director Julie Bevan said this is something the gallery hasn’t done before.
“We don’t frequently have fundraising campaigns like this but so many people down here have commented to us about wanting to see a more vibrant entranceway at the building, really to undertake a project that reflects the vitality of our programs inside the building,” she said.
“And a lot of people are talking about downtown and wanting to continue the process of revitalization downtown and so this is a way by asking the community to contribute … to help show their support for that for art downtown and the gallery.”
As the gallery is a city-owned building, the City of Nanaimo is supporting the project and Bevan said an application is pending with the Department of Canadian Heritage to back the creation of the art work.
The Goods’ painted cedar sculpture is called Supernatural Eagle Returning the Sun to the World and references a Coast Salish creation story. NAG curator Jesse Birch said the only instruction he gave the artists was “work on something together and think about this place.”
“Fortunately, this was something that they had been talking about between themselves … to bring this design, which is based to a traditional older Coast Salish design, back in the form of a new carving,” he said.
Birch added that having the work created by a father-son team “sharing generational knowledge” appropriately aligns with the NAG’s overarching thematic inquiry for 2019 “What are generations?” Bevan said the partnership is also in step with the gallery’s mission of working with local artists and telling local stories.
She the goal of the renovation is to make the building appear more welcoming, friendly and distinctive and less like an old bank.
“We have such an important place here on Commercial Street but there are lots of people who still aren’t fully aware of where the Nanaimo Art Gallery is,” Bevan said.
“So addressing the front of the building and making it more vibrant has been something that’s been on our minds for a while and so the project that we have underway currently will serve to really crate a landmark on Commercial Street.”
Bevan said the crowdfiunding effort will continue into September, when she anticipates the art will be ready to install. The NAG will post updates on its social media accounts. To donate, click here.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
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