The Visual Arts and Her Poor Artists
An Early History of White Water Gallery, established 1977
Thanks to Heather Saunders for inviting me to speak about the beginnings of White Water Gallery to mark its thirtieth anniversary and the occasion of her release of a virtual list of a few of the many artists who have contributed to the arts in North Bay and area. 11 January 2007
What I have to relate is really a love story because it involves a beautiful muse and many devoted and besotted followers. The Visual Arts And Her Poor Artists. It sounds like the title for a Pre-Raphaelite painting.
In 1976 Sandie and I had just returned to North Bay after a winter in London England and an extended trip around Britain and France. Upon our return we learned two artists had moved into the community during our absence. Bryan and Jill Maycock had arrived from London Ontario with their two young children. Bryan had been hired by Canadore College to teach in the Graphic Design Program. In the seventies, Canadore had thriving Graphic Design and Arts and Crafts Departments and Bryan joined a faculty that included Jane Agnew (ceramist & sculptor), Jane Perry (weaver), Mike de Moree (photographer) and, in 1977, Keith Campbell (ceramist).
The thing about Bryan Maycock is that when he was in London he was involved with Forest City Gallery, (correction) which was one of Canada’s first artist-run spaces. He brought with him a desire to form a similar ‘alternative’ space in North Bay. North Bay didn’t have a public art gallery at that time (the Kennedy Gallery was still ten years in the future) so the concept of an artist-run gallery system that was an alternative to a public gallery system was alien to us. That didn’t bother Bryan for what he saw in a non-profit artist-run space was the benefit it would bring to area artists. And a non-profit gallery could bring arts council funding to the community. What followed were many meetings around the various kitchen tables of all of the above-mentioned artists and their partners. The constitution and mandate for the gallery we planned was based on Forest City’s.
I remember brutal cold days in January 1977 when Bryan and I inspected every available second and third level floors (mostly unheated) along Main Street, looking for the right combination of adequate space, friendly landlord, and cheap rent. The combination clicked at 173 Main Street West. The building was owned and managed by Trudi Bakker, a true friend of the arts. And the very supportive Daphne and Peter Mayne of Mayne Travel occupied the ground floor.
It was around one kitchen table the subject of a name for the gallery came up. We formed a long list of possibles – from ridiculous to sublime to Dadaist svelte to Minimalist cool. Right away, Jane Perry wanted to eliminate all the names that sounded ‘native’. She felt it would be stealing from another culture and we all agreed (we were way ahead of the times on that issue). ‘173 Main West’ was a hot pick for the name until we realized the gallery’s situation was so tenuous we may have to change the name annually. We even considered ‘Artists Out Standing In Their Field’. Bryan proposed ‘White Water’ at some point and it was a bit of a sleeper until, as we continued to eliminate names, it began to stand out as the one to go with. The vote was unanimous. I volunteered to make the logo because I immediately envisioned blockprint-like stylized curls of river rapids.
It was around another kitchen table we entertained Peeter Sepp from the Ontario Arts Council. He told us the Council supported our initiative to form White Water Gallery and they definitely wanted to fund the project – but we would have to operate for a year before they could begin. It was the same story from the Canada Council. So, the White Water Board of Directors, after moving walls, upgrading lighting, plunging toilets, cleaning and painting the space, then all kicked in $100. each to keep the gallery open. Poor artists.
The first Board Members were Bryan Maycock, Jill Maycock, Jane Agnew, Jane Perry and myself. Our numbers were expanded from the start with help from partners and supporters. Others who joined the gallery in the first few years were Keith Campbell, Lillian Thalheimer, Ford Collyer, Linda Rudderham, Ken Stange, Dan Johnson, Joyce Edwards, Colleen Hall Gil McElroy and Geri Openshaw. Sheila Lavack was an early Board Member and has devoted countless volunteer hours to the arts since then. Canadore students helped as volunteers and gallery assistants, including Ken Cronmiller and Michael Couchie.
The White Water Gallery opened April 11, 1977 with a member’s show. The Opening Reception was the first of many great parties in that space. One of the earliest live musicians we got in was Ted Chase of Fluid Drive
The other wrinkle that came up concerning funding was that much of the council funding came only when we were able to match it with contributions from the community. That set us to learning a craft we knew nothing about but has been a fixture at White Water and the Kennedy for as long as they have operated. Fund Raising. None of us knew how but were surprised to find there actually were books on the subject. They didn’t help much and we realized the only way was to get out and knock on doors. “Hi, we’re artists. We want you to give us some of your money to help keep our leading edge contemporary art gallery open.” This was North Bay in the late seventies. Even artists didn’t know about alternate galleries then. So the general public was a very very hard sell. We learned terms like ‘hard sell’ from the How To Fundraise books.
Gradually, we gained the confidence of some respected people in the community and they began to support the gallery. With their backing others came forward and, although fund raising never became easy it did become a bit more possible.
White Water immediately became known for its monthly exhibitions of leading edge (unsellable) art and looked to balance its program with survey shows and solo exhibits of local and provincial artists. Many artists White Water gave early solo shows to went on to national and international acclaim, like David Bierk, Denise Ireland, Bill Vazan, Suzy Lake, Mark Prent and Susan Schelle. I am proud that WWG gave former North Bay resident Jeannie Thib her first major exhibition. Jeannie went on to receive national acclaim in Toronto where she now resides. Noel Harding unveiled his ‘Blue Peter’ installation at White Water. David Blackwood donated art for a fundraiser. Jim Louis and Judy Lowry presented an exquisite craft exhibition. Fringe Research, the Toronto hologram studio presented an extended workshop that really became a week-long party.
The gallery has always partnered with other area organizations, doing joint programming with Nipissing University, secondary schools and, when it was formed, the W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery (finally giving White Water something to be ‘alternative’ to). In the winter Newsletter of 1979 White Water summed up its activities as follows. “Since its inception (in April 1977) White Water has been presenting a new exhibition each month, displaying works of such diverse media as painting, sculpture, tapestries, photographs, prints, ceramics and holograms. As a centre for other artistic activity, it has sponsored musical, animation, and Tai Chi workshops. For the last year it has sponsored a monthly series of readings by contemporary Canadian authors. All these exhibitions and events have been FREE. WWG is for you. Come out and participate.”
Early on I don’t think anyone imagined White Water would survive for thirty years. Yet here we are today, marking its anniversary. It has looked death in the face numerous times then fresh blood (poor artists) would appear and it would carry on. It has been an unnerving process but I, for one, hope it will continue for another thirty years and more.