Wiatr also has created a slideshow of the gallery’s current exhibit.
Vox believes online presentations such as these shouldn’t stop after COVID-19.
“Everybody who has accessibility issues is now suddenly getting all this amazing content,” she says. “I don’t think that we can just drop it suddenly. I think that there’s going to have to be a stronger digital component from all these art institutes.”
Kay Brownell, meanwhile, admits displaying artwork online from her Magnetawan gallery has been difficult.
“It’s been hard,” says Brownell of Windows to the North Gallery. “I am actually selling some things, but I have to learn how to do the online stuff.
“I don’t know what else to do,” says Brownell, admitting she has had to pick up a second job to help pay the bills.
In addition to herself and her partner, Brownell’s gallery is home to 40 artists. She admits she’s worried about losing her gallery and having to go online to sell her work while leaving the other artists on their own.
“I don’t know how else to help these other women. But I have to be able to pay my own bills first.”
Brownell says she’s adapted to the restrictions of social distancing by selling online and with a drive-thru gallery where she leaves pieces outside for customers to pick up. She says she’s even willing to display pieces outside for people to view if they are interested in buying.
But Brownell believes selling art online is not the same as selling in person.
“If I were going to buy art, I want to see it, touch it, feel it,” she explains. “But because of our reputation, people know our pieces are excellent. We only have top-of-the-line pieces in there, but only the people who have been into our gallery know that so they have to share with their friends.”
Nature Natives Art Gallery in South River, run by Christina Kearne and Joe Clayton, has been open for six years but also recently closed due to COVID-19.
Kearne says they haven’t been selling pieces during COVID-19 but have instead used the time to create more artwork for their gallery once it reopens.
“We hope to see people when everything opens back up again,” says Kearne. “We’re adding new pieces to our collections.”
She says Nature Natives doesn’t rely too much on an online presence, but has had people come in after seeing their work on Facebook.
“In the past few years, I’d say definitely so. All of a sudden they will come in and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were here.’”
Vox believes many people are starting to tire of relying on their computer screen for entertainment.
“I think a lot of people are waiting to get back into museums and art galleries,” she says. “I do think the experience in person is completely different than something you get online. I know from speaking to some colleagues at other institutes that people are getting screen fatigue and they want real life experiences.”
Wiatr agrees.
“At any point in time anybody can Google what the Mona Lisa looks like and yet how many thousands, hundreds of thousands of people visit the Mona Lisa each year in person. We all know what it looks like. There’s something different about seeing it in person, whether it’s historical, or whether it’s a piece of artwork that’s created in modern times.
“Despite all the digital mess of our world today, we’re still drawn to the physical.”
To view artwork from these galleries, you can visit their websites:
Virtual Tour of Callander Bay Heritage Museum Alex Dufresne Gallery
The Easel – WKP Kennedy Gallery Digizine
inspiRED – WKP Kennedy Gallery Vidcast
Mackenzie Casalino’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.
