Art of the finest kind
The Canadian town with the most art galleries per capital than anywhere in Canada is not Toronto, Ottawa, or Vancouver but rather Lunenburg, a tiny heritage town on Nova Scotia's South Shore. "Lunenburg inspires a feeling in people, it's not something tangible, it's more of an experience," says Stuart Simpson, the owner of North Shore Canadian Art. "Artists and galleries converge here."
Simpson is also president of the Art Galleries Association of Lunenburg (www.lunenburgart.com), which was formed in 2005 to boost the growing fine arts community. Membership is currently full, at 20 galleries. "We have so much high-quality art here," says Simpson. "That's why we needed to market ourselves to the world as an arts destination." The AGAL produces a catalogue that is distributed to auctions and art shows across the country. A foldout and a map of the town showing the galleries has also been created, and they have been distributed to visitor centres and tourist outlets.
"We've had a great response," says Simpson, who sells nationally recognized Canadian art and specializes in original paintings by William deGarthe, one of Nova Scotia's best-known marine artists. "We held an art show late last May as a fundraiser for the town's opera house, which is being restored. We had 90 works on display, and 700 people came through in three days. That's not bad for a town of fewer than 2,500 people."
Mariette Roodenburg is a photographer, the owner of Anderson Gallery, and a member of the AGAL. She recently moved to Nova Scotia's South Shore from Holland after falling in love with the area during a holiday. "If you combine your energies and networks," she says, "you accomplish more than if you work single-handedly."
AGAL members on Lunenburg's Railway Wharf
Susan Hudson opened Peer Gallery Contemporary Art in Lunenburg as an artists' co-operative in January of 2002. The gallery exhibits the work of 12 Nova Scotian artists who have established regional and national reputations. Originally from Montreal, and the gallery's president, Hudson has lived in Lunenburg for the past decade. "I was drawn to the area because of the sheer beauty of the architecture and the varied landscape," she says. Hudson believes that being part of the AGAL is not only beneficial for its members but also for the community. "Artists add to any place they are part of," she says. "People come to see the art, then they visit the restaurants and shops, and all of a sudden the place becomes a destination."
The fact that visitors can stroll from gallery to gallery is a big advantage, according to Steven Rhude, a contemporary realist painter whose vivid work is inspired by marine culture. Rhude is the former president of the AGAL and currently the association's secretary. "The art is concentrated here," he says. "It's unique to be able to walk around a town and visit this many galleries on foot."
The art on display at the various galleries includes original oil and watercolours, acrylics and drawings, contemporary prints made using techniques of stone lithography, copper-plate etching and woodcuts, colourful contemporary pottery, Nova Scotian folk art, and handwoven clothing.
"Artists need inspiration, and Lunenburg is a living centre of cultural heritage and old-world social values," says Simpson. "It's home to the aesthetically inclined, whether you were born here or you're just visiting. The art scene here is a manifestation of the feeling that Lunenburg radiates."
— Carol Moreira
