CANADA COUNCIL ART BANK Founded 43 years ago, the Art Bank made purchases of $50,000 to $300,000 in the golden years up to 2011. Due to policy changes and the economic slowdown, no acquisitions have been made since then. The Art Bank’s deficit was $165,000 in the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
Storage racks at the Canada Council Art Bank help preserve the country’s visual culture while offering easy access when works are lent to corporate and government clients. Much of the collection of 17,000 works is in storage at any given time.
Meanwhile, Ottawa painter Natasha Mazurka gives the Tokyo embassy high marks after her solo show last year. Her work featured a series of recurring patterns that might have been lifted from wallpaper. “The staff was outstanding and provided everything needed to prepare for the project, mount the exhibition, and promote it through the media,” says Mazurka, who also has work at Canada House. The embassy’s Prince Takamado Gallery has also shown Narrative Quest, an exhibition organized by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts to raise awareness of 12 Alberta aboriginal artists. The show, which closed in February, included work by Joane CardinalSchubert, Terrance Houle, Alex Janvier and Jane Ash Poitras. “Embassy staff were pleasant and excited about the exhibition throughout the entire process,” says Erin McDonald, manager of art collections with Alberta Culture. “Our experience with them was incredibly positive and professional.” Narrative Quest was unusual in that most shows at the gallery are initiated by artists. “We assess each proposal against criteria to determine the suitability,” says Laurie Peters, head of public affairs for the Tokyo embassy. “While we provide the installation/dismantling services as well as promotion, it is up to the artist to seek out funding for their travel and transportation of their works. Most of the artists rely on Canada Council or provincial government funding and some have sponsors.” The placement of 281 works in Canada House last winter seems like a triumph for Canadian artists. But there’s more to the Foreign Affairs story than embassy exhibitions. Along with Conservative cuts to programs that help artists promote their work abroad, www.gallerieswest.ca
the move that caused such a stir in the 2008 federal election, the department was planning in 2012 to sell some of its most valuable paintings, works by the likes of William Kurelek, Jean-Paul Lemieux and Paul-Emile Borduas. The sale, which was supposed to help reduce the federal deficit, was cancelled after embarrassing news stories surfaced about the impending loss of national treasures. Speaking of the deficit, consider the ailing Canada Council Art Bank, an agency that was founded 43 years ago and currently owns about 17,000 works. Initially, it was given an annual budget to buy art. Then, in 1999, under the Chrétien Liberals, its mandate was changed so it could purchase art only from the profits of art rentals to clients in the private and public sector. Peer juries pick the acquisitions, but the purchase of so-called unrentables – nudes and large installations – is not encouraged. The new system initially worked. Annual purchases of between $50,000 and $300,000 were made in the golden years up to 2011. Then, as corporate and government clients tightened their belts amid a stagnant economy, the Art Bank started running annual deficits. No acquisitions have been made since then. The deficit reached $165,000 by the 2013-2014 fiscal year. The Art Bank, which operates semi-autonomously from the Canada Council, has the feel of a high-end gallery, despite its headquarters in an industrial area in Ottawa. Amy Jenkins, the lead art consultant, offers a tour. We stop to admire: A blue-and-white ceramic vase sprouting an artichoke by Vancouver’s Brendan Lee Satish Tang; a large-format photograph by Diana Thorneycroft of a miniature diorama showing Louis Riel at the gallows; a painting of a sparkling blue house by Saskatchewan artist David Thauberger. Works like these can end up in themed shows the Art Bank curates from its collection for a spiffy new gallery called Âjagemô, an Algonquin word meaning crossroads, in the ground-floor foyer of the downtown office building that houses the Canada Council and other tenants. Back in Osler, Sask., Clint Neufeld says he once tried to interest the Art Bank in his work. He failed. Could it be the Art Bank jury felt deputy ministers and bank presidents wouldn’t be interested in renting one of his pastel-coloured, ceramic auto transmissions or engines? Neufeld has no idea. Despite that rejection, he is not complaining. The Canada Council has given him three project grants, totalling $58,000, since 2008. Most project grants these days are $20,000, although that could change as the Canada Council overhauls its programs to simplify the application process. Some artists feel the current system rewards grant writing rather than artistic talent. But Neufeld, who has sat on a Canada Council jury, thinks the process is fair. “I was really impressed with the system that they had set up to dish out the money.” Like purchases by institutions, grants from the Canada Council and provincial arts boards are important to artists. “You’re not getting rich off it,” says Neufeld. “But it allows you to spend serious studio time and you don’t have to worry about working some crap job so you can pay the rent on your studio and buy materials you need.” Ultimately, the Canada Council subsidized the creation of Neufeld’s Slightly Purple Transmission. Then Foreign Affairs bought it. And finally, it was exhibited in the Saskatchewan Room at Canada House. Says Neufeld: “Hopefully, some day I’ll get there to have a look at it.” Galleries West | Fall/Winter 2015 47