RISKING COLLECTIONS, RISKING COMMUNITY, RISKING DEFEAT: THE FATE OF RODMAN HALL ART CENTRE

Collections Corner | Defne Inceoglu

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Rodman Hall Art Centre, St. Catharines, Ontario. (Source).

As a young, impressionable undergraduate student not too many years ago, I had the very incredible opportunity to attend courses at, write for (and visit religiously) Rodman Hall Art Centre. This 100-plus year old heritage house-turned-art-gallery is lauded internationally as a state of the art, National Level gallery (after the installation of a sophisticated collections vault and contemporary gallery space). Many mid-career artists exhibit their work in this space, alongside students who host yearly exhibitions. Purchased by Brock University in 2003 (for the low, low price of $2, plus the cost of liabilities!), the building has acted as both a professional exhibition space, teaching centre and learning space for students and other folks alike.

Screenshot from Brock University's 2003 agreement with Rodman Hall, Page 9. I wasn't kidding when I said they paid $2 for the building. Agreement made available through the Rodman Hall Alliance, full PDF available here.

The gallery regularly hosts travelling contemporary exhibits; however, it additionally holds a substantial permanent collection. Their website states that they hold over 1,000 objects, including a 2012 donation of 40 photographs by Edward Burtynsky from the artist himself. Other notable artists include Karel Appel, Tony Tascona and the Group of Seven. The value of this collection has not been disclosed; however, it can be assumed that it lies well over a million dollars. Located just outside of the City of St. Catharines’ downtown core, I hold many fond memories of happily walking, seeing the building on the horizon and knowing I got to spend time somewhere special. This feeling is echoed throughout the community it serves, where Rodman’s staff consistently provides fantastic programming.

As I entered my final years at Brock, there began to circulate a vicious rumour. The rumour sounded something like: "Brock University is ending their 20-year contractual commitment to fund and run Rodman Hall. The university is moving the permanent collection and handing over the heritage house to another organization." The faculty, student body and community were in shock. Members of the community banded together to petition against the University to rethink their decision. As time passed and I graduated, word got quiet about the fate of Rodman Hall’s collection.

In April 2019, news came forward from Brock in the way of a press release. To paraphrase, it was a confusing sort of… "here’s what we’re going to do with the collection and how we are going to it." The University had proposed to relocate the collection into another Brock owned building downtown, into a “class-A certified storage and display place at Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School and Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) in downtown St. Catharines." While this is fine, dandy and idyllic, the reality is that the MIWSFPA building does not currently have a “class-A certified storage." Canadian Art tackled this conflict, writing, “the university also promises 2,000 square feet of new gallery space in the School of Fine and Performing Arts building, and a new 7,000-square-foot creative hub downtown, but hasn’t yet detailed how that will happen or be funded”. This head-scratching, ‘who’s gonna pay’ sort of puzzle is echoed in Brock’s statement, which reads,

“The plan is based on commitments that would give the local arts community expanded space and long-term stability in modern, climate-controlled facilities that are conducive to storing and showing works of art, this despite the University needing to find more than $15 million in budget savings after the province announced tuition cuts on Jan. 17 [2019]”.

A view of the MIWSFPA. (Source). 

Also consider the breaking of the community’s trust; the gallery’s donors will perhaps not be very pleased to find out that their objects are not being held in good faith. Donors who relied on the gallery’s Class-A designation to keep the collections safe now face as much uncertainty as the rest of us.

With the closing date approaching, 2023, how will Brock University be held accountable for building a new facility to protect Rodman Hall’s collection? Who will manage it? Who will display it? Meanwhile, large renovations and builds are happening on the main campus-massive construction projects. These have been stretching on for years, dominating the landscape with glass, concrete, dust and noise.

It almost feels like a cliche at this point, universities shutting down Humanities department’s resources. It is a tough reality to face, an institution like Brock overlooking the basic care and reputation of a historic collection in a bid to leave a contract. They are risking a lot, but upmost they are risking their relationship with their communities, especially the strong community that Rodman Hall helped to foster in Niagara.

If you want to learn more, please visit Rodman Hall Alliance, they provide a number of resources. There is also a petition if you’d like to sign it.