Returning home to the AGN

The Art Gallery of Northumberland (AGN) is my home-town institution. It is in my town hall and has existed for 60 years (in 2020). It is also incredibly hard to find.

Location

55 King Street West, Cobourg, on the third floor West Wing. It is the entire third floor west wing so if you take the west stairs to the top, you are in the gallery.

Victoria Hall has an imposing facade and that can chase people away especially the young. It shouldn’t though inside is just like any other town hall. Full of people living their lives. It also has the AGN, the Ball Room, and the old Court Room. The last two are not open every day but are worth ducking your head into if you get the chance.

Cost Break Down

This gallery is free to attend. There is a donation box located in the shop. It moves around a little bit but is normally by the door. As always I encourage donating if you are not buying something from the shop. My standard donation is 5 of the local currency, in this case 5CAD.

Ease of Access: Building

This is not an easy place to find given where it is. For those not familiar with Cobourg: Victoria Hall, where the AGN is located, is the largest building in the southern half of the town. The only ‘sky scrapers’ are the churches. It is also right in the down-town core and by the tourist section of beaches and marina. The weekly farmers market is right behind it.

And yet locals and visitors alike don’t know about/never think about the gallery.

On top of that Victoria Hall is a historic building with all the building codes and historic preservation movements to keep it looking… well.. historic. Don’t get me wrong, I love history. I spent five years of my life dedicated to it. In Ontario highschool students (ages 14-18) are required to take 1 history class. I took 5.

Historic preservation is no excuse to not put up a clear sign pointing towards the elevator. Or the only accessible toilet in the building. Instead of a bright blue and white sign for the accessible toilet there is a small brass plaque. Finding the elevator is just as hard.

The AGN has no control over what happens outside their domain – That is up to the town – but there must be some compassionate Cobourgers who gets that these are not good enough.

For those who need the information the only accessible toilet is on the ground floor East Wing. Turn right before the Municipal Offices. Do not take the elevator on that side up as the third floor east and west wings are not connected. The Elevator you want is in the West Wing, turn left before you get to the Tax and Finance offices.

Ease of Access: Gallery

The gallery itself needs a new floor. The existing floor in the main gallery is carpet. I don’t know how old it is but it is very thin and wrinkling. This causes a tripping hazard. Such an undertaking is expensive especially given the size of the gallery but I do think it is worth it! There is an inch down into the main gallery from both the shop and the smaller gallery. Perhaps when the floor is re-done it would be worth exploring making those thresholds seamless.

Beyond that the space is fairly accessible. There is little in the way of access for the blind other than the perfumed or three dimensional items in the shop. There is in-gallery seating, the small Children’s area has even more. The lights are bright enough to see but not so bright as to trigger my photosensitive eyes. Staff is knowledgeable and happy to help.

It is the getting there that is the problem.

Tour Notes

I went to the gallery on a Wednesday. there were very few people in the AGN with me. A vounteer at the desk, a few highschool students, a few adults, and some more workers in an office to one side.

The show, called ‘Wall Gazing’ was interesting. In the centre of the main gallery there were a line of wall segments with brightly coloured graffiti and black paint overlay that had been scraped off. Each wall segment had sections ‘cut out’ as well which cast shadows and acted as windows into other walls.

On the gallery’s walls were paintings by the same artist somehow light from within. Well. Not really. It was the technique of the artist (Dimitri Papatheodorou) where he made very dark backgrounds and very bright light sources then lacquered them until they reflected the gallery lights as if they were the source.

Very cool.

In the smaller gallery there was a different exhibition. I forgot to write down the name of that show but it was works from the AGN collection that were done by women with one that was done by a man of a woman. These works were also very well done but I felt the show was a little lacking.

The AGN Shop

Shop on Three, as it is known, is not your typical museum store. Instead it is an artist consignment shop similar to an artist guild. This means that the gallery supports artists in the community by housing and facilitating the sales of their work. The AGN also does not set the prices and they can’t guarantee an item will be there.

Shop on Three caries a wide range of creations. A few weeks ago there was a table full of puppets, now there are a few puppets left but the table is full of beautiful woodwork. There are beeswax creations, soaps, books, and more traditional wall art including water colour, acrylic, and oil. Others too that I am sure I missed!

This probably sounds like an add for Shop on Three but I swear they aren’t paying me! I just like the idea of a consignment shop in a museum. Especially an art museum!

It gives artist remote access to artists. It gives artists a store-front without all the associated costs and risks. I wish there were a few little things for school groups – like a few coloured pencils and a sketch pad for a few dollars – but that would change the whole structure of the shop.

Become a Patron!

Score out of 10:6

For those new to Museum Spaces I score every museum I review out of 10 where 10 is the pick of the litter and 1 is not worth the effort

As I said at the start of this review: I know the AGN. I grew up here. And I want to give it the 10 out of 10 I think it should have but I have to be realistic.

The Needs Improvement:

1. The Floor. There are wrinkles in the carpet that create a tripping hazard. It is not safe nor accessible.
2. The signage. Countless people arrive in the shop and say something akin to ‘oh there’s an elevator!’ many of these are older people who are winded.
3. The Web Resources. I normally link web resources to these posts but I can’t today. There are none. This may seem small and not that important but in Museologist Notes 5 I talk about how sometimes starting small is the right way to do things.

The moving in the right direction

1. Community Building. The AGN is working hard to re-build community connections in Northumberland. I have a little insider knowledge and the previous director did some pretty bad things including selling art that was not hers to sell. She is likely to blame for a lot of the issues such as the web resources.
2. Consignment Shop. If you couldn’t guess from my above tangent: I like the shop. I like how any artist can contact the shop manager and get their work in there.
3. More Community building. The Art Gallery of Northumberland has some bibliotherapy connections. It is one of a few members of a pilot program. The gallery doesn’t have anything I could find up about it but more information can be found at this link.
4. Education Programming. During the above show wall gazing the education was about making walls. Instead of painting/drawing/other two dimensional work the gallery encouraged 3D creations inspired by Dimitri’s walls and Maquettes.

I will probably never stop coming here

I’m a Cobourger. I love art. This isn’t the sort of thing I have any question about. I might never go back to Ripley’s or the London Zoo, or New Walk Museum not because I don’t love those places but because of proximity. I don’t have that issue with the Art Gallery of Northumberland. It takes me less than 5 minutes to walk there.

I think this is a great break from sunny days at the beach. If you are a tourist to Cobourg – or local taking a stay-cation – swing by the gallery for a break from the sun. Do you agree with me? let me know in the comments.