[BCMA] CMA Clip Serv: Portrait Gallery idea lives on: Moore

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

   Portrait gallery idea lives on: Moore

   CBC News, Thursday, September 24, 2009

   Heritage Minister James Moore says the government is still committed
   to creating a permanent home for a Portrait Gallery of Canada.

   Last week, the portrait gallery's director lost her job and the
   collection was folded into Library and Archives Canada, leading to
   fears in the arts community that there was no more hope for an exhibit
   space for the collection.

   Moore said those moves were necessary in the midst of a recession.

   "It doesn't mean we don't want a permanent home. In time there will be
   one, but as of right now we had seven different proposals but none of
   them were adequate," Moore said in an interview Thursday with CBC's Q
   cultural affairs show.

   Moore said the government halted the plan to put the gallery in the
   former U.S. embassy in Ottawa because $11 million had been spent and
   costs were escalating on the project.

   A call for proposals to host the gallery from across the country
   resulted in seven proposals from six different cities, but none of
   them qualified, Moore said.

   "Some of them didn't meet the requirements on climate control; one of
   the proposals, they refused to abide by the Official Languages Act,
   which is a bit of a no-no ... so none of them qualified," he said.

   "Given those dynamics and given where we were sitting, we decided to
   make the best of the situation so we've come up with now $3.5 million
   a year in permanent funding for the portrait gallery to make the
   collection available around the country."

   The funding will lead to a series of travelling exhibits to showcase a
   collection that Moore said is as beautiful, rich and representative of
   Canadian heritage.

   There will be upcoming exhibits at Winterlude in Ottawa, in Vancouver
   during the 2010 games and there will be an online component, which the
   minister said will make the collection accessible to more Canadians
   than a permanent gallery.

   The federal government has been criticized by the visual arts
   community and supporters of the gallery such as Liberal Senator Jerry
   Grafstein for failing to create a gallery.

   Sandy Nairne, the director of Britain's National Portrait Gallery,
   told CBC News Canada's failure to create a portrait gallery was a
   missed opportunity.

   "It's a hugely important way to convey things about nationhood and
   about identity but also turn about and present a wonderful
   collection," he said.

   "People know that Canada has a wonderful collection but what they also
   expect is that there should be really good leadership and a way of
   making collaborations possible that other people will care about,"
   Nairne added.

   But Moore argued the government had to make choices in tough economic
   times.

   "Look at the network of museums we have in time of recession, building
   a new human rights museum in Winnipeg, Pier 21 in Halifax, the War
   Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Civilization, the
   Science and Tech museum, the National Art Gallery -- all the things
   that we're spending record amounts of

   money on across this country to make sure Canadians understand,
   recognize and have access to our incredible artistic talent and our
   incredible collections ... we are going to take lectures from no one,"
   he said.

   Moore did not offer any estimate on when a permanent home for the
   portrait gallery might be back on the government's agenda.

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