Art Speak
by Donald Andrus
The title of this article has an impressive ring to it, but like a turtle bereft of its shell, this rather wonderful and naturally diverse collection remains hidden, by and large, in storage since there is no building as yet to house it. Yet again, very recently the topic surfaced momentarily. 2014 it goes without saying, would have been the perfect year in which to celebrate this Museum, in its very own building—a permanent memorial in a year that has used much money to create so many impermanent celebrations. Cost figures to build from scratch have been bandied about ($50 million, $70 million…) without any serious study having been made to present to the public what the costs might actually be, and who in fact should foot the bill.
There is a seemingly, annual mass migration of box stores in this city, busy moulting one shell in order to fit into an even larger one? Whether it be hardware franchises or supermarkets there seems to be on their part a constant hunger for more space. Soon the Canadian Tire Store, recently the Kent store, either one of which with modifications would have provided the area, the breadth and height, for exhibition areas, storage, work areas and offices, not to mention large parking lots. No need to build something from scratch, there’s always another box store on the move leaving yet another glorious opportunity to house the Museum.
Now most people realize that it isn't the cost of the “physical plant” so much that alarms government, no, it’s the long-term and ongoing costs ( a Director, Curators, Preparators, Security etc. etc.) with all the attendant salaries, pensions and so on, not to mention the cost of establishing a collection and of maintaining it. At the same time, a visible Provincial Museum would provide yet another important cultural destination in order to attract visitors to PEI, not to mention the teaching possibilities that would be made available to our schools, college and university.
While we are on this topic what about a Provincial Art Gallery as well, something that does not exist at all? In fact, although the general public might believe that this is what the Confederation Centre Art Gallery is: not so. The CCAG is a national monument and its first and foremost mission is to represent Canada to Canadians. The CCAG has always done a fine job of acknowledging the fact that it is located here on PEI, exhibiting work by professional Island artists as often as it can possibly manage, still its wider commitments do not permit a concentrated focus upon the growing community of artists here on PEI.
I bring up the topic of a Provincial Art Gallery here (are we the only province without one?) because with some imagination, both a Museum and Gallery could occupy the same re-purposed ex-box store structure. Loading platforms, work spaces, parking areas, even some personnel such as preparatory, security and custodial services could be shared between them. Such a Gallery, I would suggest should take the function of a “kunsthalle” a purely exhibition space, without a collection and hence without many of the attendant space and personnel costs of most public art galleries.
What a wonderful 2017 project (the 150th Anniversary of Confederation looms) this could be, to house both of these homeless “institutions” leaving Islanders with a proud heritage to mark that anniversary year. I know we are still in the thrall of the somewhat-manufactured excitement commemorating the events of 1864 but it will be a long wait for another commemorative moment if something like this project is not undertaken for 2017 and that means that the planning and development for such a project should begin now.Source: www.BUZZon.com
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