PentictonNow has fond memories of the little gallery in the centre of Front Street named, appropriately enough, Front Street Gallery.
It was one of the big hot spots during the 2018 Arts Rising Festival, hosting scores of guests, a musician, and lots of great eats and drinks during the crazy popular Art Walk. The joint was jammed.
It was also one the best places in the city for viewing the most possible art in the shortest possible time. At Front Street Gallery, there were no pretensions about skillfully positioning paintings for maximum impact. It was a small space, and the walls were loaded from front to back and top to bottom with good stuff.
Today, all the paintings and all the people are gone, and there's a "For Rent" sign at 60 Front Street.
We reached out to ownership partner and artist Julie-Ann Miller for her thoughts on the closure of a space that's been a Front Street fixture for the past half-dozen years. And while there was some sadness in her words, there was also satisfaction over a job well done. And a wee bit of frustration too.
"The closing," she said, "is a reflection of the economy in a small city that depends on tourism to cover most of its costs for the year. Every year we signed a new lease with the landlord, then determined our costs to run the gallery based on previous year costs. And each year the operational costs, like electricity, insurance, and point of sale, went up."
"We were determined to provide a venue for local art that was affordable for artists to sell their art in. So each year the added costs influenced that. Business was good during the tourist season, but the man hours and cost of running the business is year 'round and my partner and I decided we didn’t want to continue with that risk."
Miller, a member of the South Okanagan-Similkameen Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists who's exhibited her own works throughout the province, added that she's "enjoyed every part of it" and pointed to the various Art Walks and her out-of-town and international customers as high points.
But she also believes Penticton's private art gallery sector is important enough to warrant added support from local government.
"The private gallery scene has grown since we started and has cross-promoted art in general to the public. I feel the difficulty is that there are too many municipal supported organizations in old facilities in the art scene in Penticton and the cost of maintaining them all is not feasible any longer."
"The city budget has not reflected the incredible art culture we have in the city and the tourism value it has. Less than ten percent of the budget is planned for all arts in Penticton - performance, visual, etcetera. Private galleries absorb all the costs of keeping their doors open and do not have recognition for that contribution."
Going forward, Miller plans to explore her options and dedicate more time to putting paint brush to canvas.
"I'm a figurative artist who enjoys painting people and animals, usually in a local scene. I do lots of commissions and have done paintings for patrons across North America.
"I currently have a painting in the halls of the hospital that I'm hoping someone will purchase so that it can remain on the walls there. It is called 'It's all about the Bass.'"
Julie-Ann Miller can be reached at [email protected].
