Globe: Coming to a town near you- national museums

[TdotTrickyRicky]

Besides the point about national museums being in the national capital as it should be, I also have some problem with locating the facility in the Encana building. I am less sensative then most about corporate sponsorship but I think this project straddles too far beyond the line. If for instance Encana wanted to sponsor an exhibition of the national portrait gallery "Encana presents portraits of a nation" i'm OK with that, but what we are talking about here is THE national portrait gallery to be house at THE corporate headquarters of Encana, a collection that Encana has had nothing to do with assembling and yet will be displayed on their private property.

 

[building babel]

Canadian museums and art galleries are constantly lending items from their collections to one another, and to foreign museums. For instance, the ROM owns a 1754 letter of surrender written by George Washington in which he admits to assassinating a diplomatic envoy - and which precipitated the first global war, the Seven Years' War. The letter was central to a recent Smithsonian affiliate / Canadian War Museum travelling exhibition that drew from items in over fifty collections, which was shown in Ottawa last fall. I don't remember ever seeing the historic letter on display at the ROM however.

 

[bizorky]

The Feds announced that there will be no new Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.

The original plan put forward by the SAT Museum Corporation was for a building of 1.2 million square feet, and a price tag of $808 million.

They cut that back to $500 million, and then to $400 million. Both were too rich for the federal government.

Knowing something of the management of SAT, they probably requested a budget amount before they actually had a plan.

 

[building babel]

In related news, I see that the MoMA has just sold a vacant parcel of land next door for $125 million ( U.S. ). The developer will incorporate about 50,000 square feet of additional gallery space, for the Museum to house their collection in, joined to MoMA at the 2nd, 4th and 5th floors. The Museum will also get about 10,000 feet of storage space in the new building's basement.

 

[spmarshall]

That vacant parcel of land is where I stood out in the drizzle one Febuary morning waiting for my turn to enter the museum. Where to pen the overflow crowds?

 

[Bogtrotter]

I think a few smaller 'National' museums outside Ottawa is worth taking a look at. I like the idea that the major institutions are centered in Ottawa- the National Library/ Archives, Museum of Civilization, National Gallery, Natural History Museum are all there and should remain there. However I think there is justification for secondary museums to be granted 'National' status or be established in other Canadian cities. For example a National Nautical museum would be appropriate for say Halifax, The National Museum of Prehistory for Calgary/Drumheller might be justified and provide another fundindg source. Under such circumstances I think there is justification for having them located in these regions as they perhaps have the richest past in these areas. I'd rather see a National Portrait Gallery in Ottawa, but i'm open to another city.

However I'm totally opposed to the idea of large private corporations having say in what and where public national treasures should be located and what should be displayed. If Encana for example has significant word on a Board of Directors then the institution is no longer %100 public and therefore not National.

 

[building babel]

Is there a board of any major publicly funded Canadian cultural institution that doesn't have representation from the corporate world? I can't think of one. The question is, to what degree do they already influence the policies of these institutions?

 

[JasonParis]

National gallery not coming to Calgary building: EnCana
Last Updated: Friday, June 29, 2007 | 3:40 PM ET
CBC News

The National Portrait Gallery won't be moving from Ottawa into EnCana Corporation's new office tower in Calgary, the company says.

The federal government had been in discussions with EnCana last year to possibly relocate the gallery to the company's new building, the Bow.

Construction recently started on the building. Alan Boras, an EnCana spokesperson, said the timing of construction didn't coincide with the gallery's relocation.

However, the Bow will still have a space designated for a cultural group in the new building, Boras said.

The Bow, shown in an architect's drawing, will not house the National Portrait Gallery. EnCana says another cultural group will have a space in its building.
(EnCana) "When you go through a process like this, there are many opportunities that present themselves," he said. "You have to explore all the options that are presented, and we have some very good ones and we're excited about those."

The federal heritage department said there is no decision yet on where the National Portrait Gallery will be located.

 

[JasonParis]

Portrait Gallery allows limited tours of its vault
Monday, September 17, 2007 | 4:50 PM ET
CBC News

Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row, King of Generethgarich, was painted in oil by John Verelst around 1710. (Library and Archives Canada)

A limited number of visitors will be able see a handful of paintings from the Portrait Gallery of Canada this fall, as the homeless gallery conducts Sunday tours of its vault near Ottawa.

The gallery had a plan to convert the former American Embassy in Ottawa into an exhibition gallery, but it was nixed by the federal Conservative government. A rumour that it might find a home in Calgary for its collection of more than one million images also has been put to rest.

The portrait gallery has yet to have an exhibition in Canada more than six years after being formed by Jean Chrétien's Liberal government.

The collection sits in a huge climate-controlled storage facility at the Gatineau Preservation Centre in Gatineau, Que.

Starting Sept. 16 and continuing every Sunday until Nov. 4, the gallery, run by Library and Archives Canada, will admit two tours to one of its vaults — a total of only 30 visitors a day.

The free guided tours will give visitors an opportunity to view the Four Indian Kings, four portraits of chiefs from the 18th century, recently displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The vault also is home to Yousuf Karsh's famous black and white portrait of former British prime minister Winston Churchill and Andy Warhol's portrait of Wayne Gretzky.

The Conservative government has floated the idea that the gallery might remain homeless while mounting extensive travelling tours that would ensure Canadians could see the collections. No money has yet been provided for that idea.