After 10 years on the Westside, New Moon Gallery at 1726 Byland Rd. closed in April, a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the gallery is gone, owner Linda Lovisa is still active with her Natural Transitions Art Studio.
Lovisa is teaching in her outdoor studio for the time being as she regroups.
“My regular students are very excited to be back painting,” she said. “They love the setting in my backyard. It is peaceful and inspiring.”
Lovisa is still adjusting to the changes and isn’t sure what classes will look like in the fall as she looks into options and waits to see what the situation is with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lovisa said she had no choice but to close the gallery.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she thought she could manage to stay open as she had no problem limiting groups in the gallery to under 10 or even under five people.
The gallery rarely had large gatherings except for art shows.
The problem was most of her adult students were in the at-risk category so Lovisa had no students coming and as everyone was understandably taking precautions. Customers were staying away as well.
Galleries and artists always suffer when these kinds of things happen, Lovisa said, as art is the last thing people are inclined to purchase when they have families to take care of.
“I started to see day by day that it was going to be a much longer recovery, and although my landlords said the rent could be deferred to a later date,
I could not absorb that kind of debt,” she said.
Although there were many categories of government assistance programs, Lovisa did not qualify for any.
It was a sad day when Lovisa decided to close the gallery. She said her heart goes out to all who have had to take their dreams and close them.
“I miss New Moon Gallery, I miss my customers, artists and the social aspect that my gallery had for many,” said Lovisa.
Many people enjoyed New Moon Gallery’s offerings and Lovisa believes West Kelowna needs an art gallery.
“It is time for council to seriously think about setting some money aside for the arts,” she said. “Sports are great to support, but the arts are equally important in the development of a thriving community. What do we have if there is no art? “
Student registration for Natural Transitions Art Studio is limited. People who are interested in classes can email Lovisa at [email protected]
