Bay gallery vaults back into life
The doors of the former Art Bank gallery in Takaka have been reopened under a new name.
Art Vault is the new venture of the gallery’s ex-manager, Grant Knowles, who has resurrected the business, which was recently closed by the Golden Bay Arts Council.
The gallery is based in the century-old Bank of New Zealand building on Takaka’s main street, where the arts council was based since 2014 and ran the gallery for local artists to exhibit and sell their work.
A few weeks ago the council closed the doors for the last time, saying the business was not financially viable and that running it detracted from the council’s core objective of supporting all artists in Golden Bay.
Knowles said that after the closure, he approached the building’s owners with a proposal to reopen the doors, and they had agreed.
He said he had seen ‘‘a lot of goodwill’’ from people who had donated time and equipment to get the gallery open again.
‘‘That and all the support from people coming in and saying how happy they are that I’m doing this makes it feel like I’m not only doing the right thing, but that the community is behind it.’’
He admitted he would have to make a profit to pay the lease and survive, but ‘‘for me, it’s not actually about making a lot of money’’. Sustaining the business and making a small profit was enough if he could provide a public gallery-style space for the community.
Knowles said Art Vault would be run much the same way it was by the arts council, but with some new additions. It would still be a public showcase gallery where members paid a $100 annual fee to exhibit and sell their work, with the gallery taking a 30 per cent commission on sales.
He said that within a few days of him announcing the reopening, 27 artists had signed up as members, and the gallery already had an eclectic mix of over 100 works displayed in time for the busy summer season.
The old vault room from the building’s former bank days would still be used as a space for artists’ installations, Knowles said. It would be free for nonmembers and anyone in the community who had an installation idea. Artist Pauline Pellow was already setting up an installation.
Knowles said he was also looking at hosting travelling exhibitions as a way to earn income and bring inspiration to artists in the bay. He was also open to selling people’s art collections for them as an ‘‘art dealer’’ service.