AGH Annex store was part of James Street revival
It’s over for the AGH Annex.
The Art Gallery of Hamilton has decided to close its location on James Street North at the end of February in order to redirect resources to other priorities, such as its collection and programming.
“The Annex was wonderful,” said president and CEO Shelley Falconer, but it was also in the red.
“We have limited resources and to direct those to something that is a satellite space when we are having challenges funding the very core activities we’re mandated to do simply became unacceptable,” she said. “We tried everything we could.” The AGH opened the Annex in 2012 in a restored heritage building between Wilson and Cannon streets. It was a hybrid operation — a retail storefront that moonlighted as a cultural and educational hub.
Tor Lukasik-Foss, director of programs and education at AGH, said while the closure of the Annex is a huge loss, it will also allow the gallery to extend its outreach programs across the city instead of focusing on one bricks-andmortar location.
“We need to have a presence everywhere in the city. We need to have a formula that’s more nimble,” he said.
“I think it’s part of where the gallery is in its growth. It’s teaching itself how to extend beyond its bricks and mortar. We just felt it was time that we could move past it.”
The space was an important part of the James North revival, said Falconer. “It has an incredible history.”
Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla agreed.
Merulla, who sits on the board of the directors for the Hamilton Arts Council, said the arts community has played a significant role in the city’s economic and cultural “renaissance” — the Annex included.
“I can’t overstate the significance of any arts component that has played a role in the last decade,” he added.
While the Annex might have helped spur economic growth in the core, the Annex itself wasn’t profitable. And for Falconer, who was tasked with addressing the structural deficit when appointed to the gallery helm in 2014, that didn’t add up.
“Museums have stores and retail spaces to support the core activities,” she said. “That retail space was losing money. It was inappropriate.”
According to Falconer, the closure will save the AGH around $75,000 annually. No jobs or programs will be lost, just relocated to the main gallery on King Street or other locations (for example, the AGH, which runs a film program, plans to partner with the Westdale Theatre when the cinema reopens sometime in 2018).
Though prudent, the decision to close the Annex was “heartbreaking,” said Falconer, and she’s not the only one who’s sad to see it go.
Building co-owner Tim Potocic called the move “a shame.”
“I’m sad to see them leave, but I totally understand what they’re trying to do,” added the Supercrawl founder.
“They’re focusing on their core business and it was always an experiment.”
Potocic has yet to lease the space to a new tenant, but said there is “a lot of interest.”
“We’ll have a new tenant in there quickly, trust me,” he added. “We’ll have our pick of who we want.”