Looking back, Betty Dhont recalls a sense of possibility, excitement and a sense of overwhelm twenty years ago in the lead up the opening of the Gallery at Artisan Square.
“You know what its like when you are sitting around, shooting the breeze about what could be,” says Dhont. “The conversations were within the Arts Council and just among friends and artists. Jackie Minns is one person that stands out as having a sense of unbridled imagination. She was talking about creating more than a gallery for art that you hang on the wall, she was thinking big picture, body art, yoga and more.”
Energies focused towards the goal, she says, and at some point in 1997, Doug Barry called up the Arts Council to let them know that a space would be opening up at Artisan Square, after the Bowen Brewery moved out.
Dohnt, who had an art degree, a career in the Netherlands, and also worked with Woodwards Gallery in Vancouver, became the first curator of the new gallery.
“It was decided it should be a paid job, not a volunteer position, as it was too much responsibility for a volunteer to take on,” explains Dhont. “Really, it is a challenging job, not just starting a gallery but also every single exhibit requires that you don’t get caught up in the day to day challenges, but you see beyond the horizon to get the job done.”
The goal of the gallery was to be a place where local artists could showcase their work, says Dhont, and the community’s enthusiasm for the idea was expressed by the fact that more than 30 people volunteered to get it up and running.
“There was a real excitement,” says Dhont. “And not just among visual artists, but dancers, musicians, theatre people and writers as well.”
When asked about the exhibits that she remembers best out of her six years as curator, Dhont has a long list.
“I was really drawn to social issues,” she says. “One in particular that I was proud of, was pulling together portraits of Vancouver’s missing women, done in mixed media by Shirley Leggett. If you’ve every done a portrait, you may know that the artists puts so much into getting to know the subject. I really wanted people to do the same when they looked at the portraits. The decision I made in trying to do that was removing the names from below each portrait and instead putting them all together in a list. Not everyone like it, but I think a lot of people got it.”
Another that stands out was an exhibit that had previously been shown at the Roundhouse in Vancouver, of works done by people with mental and physical disabilities.
“I can still visualize some of those works, the way these artists showed the challenges of their lives in such a unique way,” says Dhont. “And I think that has been an important role for the Gallery as well - bringing art in from off-island. It can be challenging though, to strike the right balance of work from on and off Bowen.”
Along with bringing art to Bowen, Dhont says the Gallery also served as a starting point for Bowen artists who have gone on to show their work elsewhere.
Dhont says that she sees herself as having been a building block, and every curator, every volunteer that came in after to build and grown the gallery is the same. Over time, and with a lot of hard work, that Gallery has become something of an institution on Bowen.
Now as the 20th Anniversary of the Gallery approaches, the Arts Council is looking forward the opening of the Cove Commons space beside the library. This will mean a new space for the Gallery, with opportunity for even more diverse program than what already exists. For Dhont, this move comes with a measure of loss.
“There’s a lot of good memory, and energy tied up in that place,” says Dhont.
Gallery Fun Facts:
- The Gallery @ Artisan Square has presented approximately 250 exhibits
- Over 20 years the Gallery has sold approximately $800,000 worth of art.
- In 20 years, the Gallery has welcomed about 150,000 visitors
