Saint John Arts Centre (Image: Submitted)
The Saint John Arts Centre opened its doors last Wednesday after having to shut down operations immediately on March 17 due to COVID-19.
The centre had to close its doors the day before a major exhibition was set to open that same week.
“We had two exhibitions on our main floor, and we had two groups of exhibitions upstairs that were high school students from our Portfolio Program and from the Saint John High IB Art program. That set the tone of how serious this crisis was developing,” said Executive Director Andrew Kierstead.
The Arts Centre quickly came up with ways to continue providing services to the public. Events and Promotions Coordinator Kelly Cunningham photographed the works from the exhibitions and put them up on the Arts Centre’s website where people could purchase them from the convenience of their homes.
The centre’s pottery studio (Image: submitted)
“That was something that we’ve never done before, we’ve always tried to have it so that people are encouraged to physically enter the building to see the artwork,” said Kierstead. “To have that service really meant a lot. We had quite a few sales and that was important for the high school students who are looking to go on to university because it gave them some money in their pocket.”
The centre reached out to ceramic artists and print makers to let them know that its studio was still open by appointment. One person would be in the building at a time, with Kierstead also on site, and they would go to the studio to work and then wave they leave, with processes set up for cleaning afterwards.
“I’ve been here, each day throughout this crisis while everyone else has been working from home, and the building doesn’t feel the same,” he said. “It doesn’t have a heart; it needs the community it needs people in it and so it’s really nice to see things starting to view the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another initiative is Art At Home, a series of children’s workshop videos called Art At Home developed and produced by Education and Outreach Coordinator Maggie Higgins. They are posted once a week and accessed on the Arts Centre’s website and social media.
“Maggie would develop a project and then step-by-step go through it through video and then post the video,” he said. “That’s opened up all sorts of possibilities because it seems we’ve now turned the corner where digital education is a key component for a lot of learning institutions.”
The Centre’s current exhibitions, Dan Xu in the Port Saint John Gallery and Carol Taylor in the City Gallery, were supposed to open in March and are now on display. “What we’ve decided to do is to leave both of those exhibitions up until the end of the summer to give them an opportunity for the public to come in and to see the works,” he said.
-
- Dan Xu’s ‘Awaiting Spring’ installation (Image: submitted)
-
- Dan Xu’s ‘Elephant Rock’ series (Image: submitted)
-
- Carol Taylor’s portrait of Peggy Woolsey (Image: Submitted)
Kierstead is working on applying for funding to expand the Portfolio Development Program beyond eight students and further online, digital plans and quick, efficient and cost-effective online services beyond the children’s workshops and being investigated.
“I don’t think we would ever change from what we’ve traditionally done to have a group of eight or ten people come into the Art Centre into a classroom and have one-on-one instruction with a qualified instructor,” he said. “That’s an important service; it employs an artist, and it also brings income in for the art centre.”
Plans are for business to return as usual for the centre in September with its workshop schedule set up and taking into account social distancing. The Port Saint John Gallery and the City Gallery have reopened while the top floor is off limits to the public for the foreseeable future, although an artist residency may occupy the space for the summer.
Printmaker Maria Doering teaching a linocut class (Image: submitted)
“We had a very aggressive schedule this summer, a beautiful exhibition from an Ontario artist who does jewelry, an installation artist from Edmonton, Alberta,” said Kierstead. “Unfortunately, they had to be rescheduled to 2023, but we have exhibitions scheduled for September, October in both of those galleries and also in November and December. Artists certainly understand the situation, and we’re trying to accommodate everyone the best we can.”
Saint John Early Music Festival’s Artistic Director Tim Blackmore has set up a series of Mozart concerts, 45-minute concerts scheduled for noon on Wednesdays, the first held this week, and continuing for the remainder of the month. The centre’s Summer Classics Series will be held in July and August.
“Because of the restrictions of people in the building Tim decided to do two sets of concerts of 10 people – and yesterday both concerts were full,” he said. “So it shows that the community is excited about getting back and about participating and about embracing culture again.”
The centre is entering into their second year partnering with the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design as the host location for their Foundation Visual Arts program, consisting of 15 students.
“The culture really is important here in Saint John and I think, out out of a crisis like this, it really does cause everyone to pause and to think about what is important, their priorities, and how best to move forward,” said Kierstead. “This is one of those situations where you’re forced to stop and think and so we’re very optimistic and very excited about the future.”
