THUNDER BAY -- All three levels of government collaborated on Thursday to ensure the Thunder Bay Art Gallery will have a smooth sail to its future location in Tugboat Basin on the waterfront.
The federal, provincial and municipal governments equally committed a combined $2.2 million to fund schematic designs, design development, construction documents and tendering for the future site.
Gallery director Sharon Godwin was thrilled with the announcement the gallery would be increasing from its current 16,000-square-foot capacity to a 36,000 square-foot institution in a location that will put art on the face of the city.
“We have a collection of 1,600 pieces that’s stored in a collection vault in the back. It’s overfull (and) the collection continues to grow so we need more space for that,” she said, adding the effort to move the gallery has been underway since 2010.
“We also get so many school groups, classes and workshops. We just don’t have enough public spaces to put on all the programs that the community really needs.”
Bill Mauro was going to school and working construction when he had the responsibility to help build the art gallery. Forty years later, the Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP stood with his counterpart Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle in announcing the next generation would build the gallery’s next home.
“I remember standing in this very room and I could tell you what’s above these ceiling tiles right here,” Mauro said.
“I’m feeling a bit nostalgic and a bit old about this thing but it’s really a spectacular piece.”
The gallery will be moving from Mauro's riding across town to Gravelle's. Gravelle considers the gallery move to be a smart economic move as well as a cultural move.
"When we brought it before the board of the (Northern Ontario) Heritage Fund, they were very enthusiastic about it, recognizing that although this is an astonishingly important tourism draw and great for the people in terms of building up our cultural attraction in Thunder Bay, there's also in terms of the economy," Gravelle said.
"This new location is going to be remarkably attractive to all kinds of people that will again, further enhance the waterfront."
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu announced the federal government’s funding third on behalf of Minister of Canadian Heritage Melanie Joly.
Hajdu’s passion for art and culture grew from her time as a young woman living in Toronto and she appreciated the cultural value of having public space dedicated to art and culture.
“When I returned home, the art gallery was one of the places I could come to capture that feeling and connect with historical art, with modern art, with an evolving art scene.”
“I often would attend the Lakehead University student exhibition and to me, that was one of the most inspirational shows because it was the up-and-coming artists who were displaying their things.
"Then when I became a parent, bringing my children to the art gallery and exposing them to arts programming but also that rich artistic history we have as Northerners.”
