Oamaru gallery changes are a ‘disturbing omen’

I WRITE to express my utter disgust at the eviction of Home Gallery Fine Arts from its magnificent premises in the Loan and Mercantile by the Whitestone Civic Trust.

I have it on good authority that a higher rent (undisclosed) has been offered by a party intending to utilise the space to store puffer jackets and similar items being distributed to shops, and if so it is a revolting notion that this employment of the building is being considered, nay acted on.

Who will appreciate the qualities of the building and the environment when it is barred to the public? I am an artist who has shown work at this gallery since its inception, and the space is very dear to myself and others.

It is a fine way for the Civic Trust to repay the courage and enterprise of Lucy Gardner to hastily evict her in favour of puffer jackets, and a poor compliment to the values and qualities the Whitestone Civic Trust is avowed to promote and protect. It is of importance to find viable uses for the buildings, but it is also of the first importance to continue to nourish the arts, steampunk and the ethos of the Victorian Town which has made Oamaru what it is today, and what has drawn myself and others to its atmosphere and people.

To throw the gallery out of the

Loan & Merc would be a disturbing omen of the longterm future of Oamaru. With this departure from its reputation, Oamaru shall not remain the Coolest Town in New Zealand for much longer.

Henry Turner (stilts) artist, Christchurch