‘Shocked and appalled’ by decision to serve notice on gallery
THE Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust has served notice on a Harbour St art gallery to vacate its premises in a move that has ‘‘shocked and appalled’’ some in the town’s arts community.
Home Gallery Fine Arts owner and curator Lucy Gardner said she was ‘‘exceedingly disappointed’’ when last month — while in Africa pursuing her work as a photographer — she received an email from the trust telling her to be out this month.
She had put her ‘‘heart and soul’’ into establishing the historic precinct gallery over the past two tourist seasons and ‘‘felt it added significantly to the experience people have when visiting the precinct’’.
She understood the new tenant would use the top floor of the Loan and Merc building for jacket storage.
While she had been allowed to temporarily share the space with the new tenant, giving up roughly a third of the gallery and allowing them access from February 20, she would be forced out entirely in April.
After her first sixmonth season, her agreement with the trust had been month by month, but the trust ‘‘hadn’t signalled that they had other plans for this space’’, she said.
She believed the new tenant had made ‘‘a considerable offer’’, and she had since tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a new deal with the trust, failing also to reach a compromise, or find an alternative location in Oamaru suitable for the gallery.
In an emailed statement, Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust chairwoman Kate Proctor said the trust was ‘‘not prepared to discuss details of our commercial arrangements’’, but offered ‘‘general comments’’.
‘‘The trust occasionally lets space on a temporary basis, and often for peppercorn rents so that the spaces can at least be used until a better opportunity comes along. Such tenancies are let on the very clear understanding that there is no guarantee of anything longer than a limited period of time.
‘‘Those better opportunities that the trust is looking for can be in the form of more appropriate businesses that attract people to the area, or businesses that will give the trust some muchneeded funding to continue its restoration work. The ideal result is to achieve both of these goals, though that is not always the case.’’
Oamaru artist and longtime Harbour St tenant and advocate Donna Demente said the trust’s decision showed a lack of commitment to the arts and culture.
‘‘I think it’s appalling. I’m amazed. I’m amazed that decision has been made. Anyone we mention it to is shocked and appalled. It’s just dreadful. And I don’t understand what’s going on. I think they [the trust] need to really come clean about what’s happening because that’s just so counter to everything that they have put out there.’’
She was no longer a member of the trust. In the past, all the trust’s tenants would have been made aware of such a decision, she said.