Planet S

The Economics of Art

Rise of private galleries proves culture counts as Saskatoon grows

By Bart Gazzola


Perhaps one of the most important signifiers of the health of a given city is (shockingly!) not the price currently being paid for property, but the cultural events, activities and opportunities that the aforementioned metropolis offers.This explains why the government of Newfoundland is vowing to make up for the brutal cuts to arts funding recently made by Steve “I like paintings of dogs playing poker” Harper in Ottawa – Newfoundland, at least, has realized that culture is also a money maker for the community at large.

Here in Saskatoon, this can be seen most obviously in our whopping number of festivals, at the Mendel or in our vibrant theatre scene, but also where the worlds of commerce and culture meet. In terms of the latter, there are a couple of commercial galleries that have appeared fairly recently in Saskatoon that attest to the city’s growth – both in terms of population and in sophistication.

(Now, you may be amazed that I’m invoking the heretical dollar, but here’s a simple fact: artists like to sell our work, and we like dealers who help us to do that, who are eager to do so and bring a large degree of experience to the table - and we like to make money, and deserve to do so. Selling work is good – and there’s no shame in saying so.)

For roughly two years, the Rouge Gallery has been located in downtown Saskatoon –and Wanda Underhill, the owner, is refreshing in her succinctness, focus and open nature. The Rouge represents a variety of artists, both established and emerging, working a in a variety of media, and one of the reasons why this gallery is worth particular notice is that the diversity of work is matched by Underhill’s commitment to representing local artists.

Previously, Underhill had worked in “placing” art for corporations – but she found that, more and more often, she was having to look further, often buying from other commercial dealers, and realized that it simply makes sense to eliminate this extraneous step. In terms of the Rouge’s mandate, if the work isn’t interesting to Underhill – if she wouldn’t hang it in her own house, for example, it’s not something she’ll try to sell. As well, she provides what she calls an “onapproval” service – which means you get to take the work home and “live” with it in your space, before making a final decision. The Rouge Gallery has a stable of artists whose work is always on display, but the featured artist changes from week to week.

A wide variety of local artists have been exhibited thus far at the Rouge, and many of those continue to be represented by Underhill – Jacob Semko, Rick Pilling, and Patrick Bulas to name a few. A number of the artists whom she’s worked with that I’ve spoken to have nothing but praise for both Underhill and her gallery space – from her enthusiasm regarding their work, to her understanding that it requires money to make money by what she would describe as “investing” in an artist, and the future promise of their work.

The opposite end of the spectrum from the intense marketing focus of Wanda at the Rouge is the much newer Stall Gallery, located at Sonnenschein Place (the farmer’s market). The baby of Roberta Ross and Bevin Bradley, this is a space that describes itself as a commercial gallery, but has more in common with the true spirit of the original artist-run collectives (ARC). About a decade ago,in several larger urban centres, many emerging artists abandoned ARCs, as many of them, created in the ‘60s, either lacked relevance in their archaic rhetoricor simply were closed, exclusive cliques that had less to do with what you did than who you knew. With the Stall Gallery, Ross and Bradley hearken back to the collective’s initial goal, of empowering artists – but in a commercial format.

Ross and Bradley wanted to create a welcoming, comfortable space, one that they describe as more “artist friendly” (such as how, in the pairing of Patrick Bulas and Malaika Charbonneau, the two women took a more supportive, rather than directive, role), and more acknowledging that their demographic of twenty somethings is less interested now in moving to Calgary, Montreal, etc. than they are in attempting to change things here.

The space in the Farmers’ Market building is sparse, but connects to a larger area with seating that would allow for more time to be spent by gallery visitors. Bradley and Ross have collaborated on a number of initiatives and events, and this simply seemed like a logical next step. This prime space, in what is called the IDEAS Inc. Building, is theirs for three years. The Stall Gallery will be part of the “grand opening” of the complete IDEAS Inc. Space on September 18th, with new works, music, and drinks.

Both of these spaces are open, interesting places that you don’t need to be a buyer to visit. And, in concert with the long-time mainstays of Saskatoon’s commercialarts scene (such as the Darrell Bell Gallery, for example), they definitely indicate that Saskatoon is growing – and in ways that needn’t be associated with “growing pains.”



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