Fonds MS-3-35 - Eyelevel Gallery fonds

Eyelevel Gallery (ELG) was founded in 1974 by a group of artists formerly associated with Inventions Gallery. Inventions was established on West Street in 1972 by a group of local female artists. The Gallery moved to 1812 Granville Street shortly after opening and was destroyed by a fire in 1974. When the gallery moved due to the fire, members decided to extend membership to male artists and change the gallery’s name.

Eyelevel Gallery has always been located in Halifax, predominately in the downtown core, but it has moved locations ten times since 1974. The gallery was briefly located at Pier One Theatre at 2158 Upper Water Street, but was forced to move to 5785 West Street before the first exhibition, Peggy's Cove Syndrome. In late 1975, the gallery moved to the second floor of the Marble Building at 1672 Barrington Street. It moved to the Green Lantern Building on Barrington Street ca. 1978 and moved to Gottingen Street in 1986. In 1993, it returned to Barrington Street in the third floor of the Marble Building, where it remained until 2000. The gallery moved back to the Green Lantern Building (in the ground floor) until 2004, when it moved to 2128 Gottingen Street. It stayed in this location until 2007. The gallery moved to another location across the street and then moved to 2159 Gottingen Street in 2011. In December 2013, the gallery moved to 5663 Cornwallis Street and dedicated its program to projects outside the formal gallery.

Since its founding, Eyelevel Gallery has been an organization run by artists for artists. The gallery has offered an alternative space for contemporary art, provided exhibition space for local, national, and international artists, featured the works of emerging and established artists, offered workshops, provided a venue for theatre, music, and dance performances, sponsored visiting artists, and later housed a resource centre. The gallery has always operated as a non-profit organization committed to the “presentation, development and promotion of contemporary art” (Eyelevel Gallery “Mission”). Eyelevel Gallery has also made an effort to display innovative, not necessarily saleable, work that stretches artistic boundaries and challenges the status quo. In addition, its commitment to contemporary art in general helped the development of two other now independent arts organizations: Live Art Dance and the Centre for Art Tapes. As with other arts organizations, understaffing and inadequate funding have been ongoing problems for Eyelevel Gallery. Although the gallery receives funding from a number of sources, including membership fees and grants from the Canada Council and the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism and Culture, fluctuating funding levels have sometimes led to program or operational changes.

Eyelevel Gallery is managed by a board of directors, a number of committees, and a gallery director. Although the organization, responsibilities, and sometimes even titles of these groups have changed overtime, the board of directors has always maintained the ultimate authority within the administrative structure. Committees oversee the various responsibilities of the board including finance, membership, staff, curatorial space, and fundraising. The gallery director is responsible to the board and carries out their actions and policies, creates and circulates press releases and proposals, and manages the day-to-day activities of the gallery.

Directors of Eyelvel Gallery include Julia Schmitt Healy (1974-1975), David Sayer (1975), Susan Beaver (1975-1976), Garry Conway (1976-1977), Marina Stewart (1977-?), Michael Fernandes (?-1982), David Craig (1982-1986), Melodie Calvert (1986-?), Catherine Phoenix (1988-1992), Ann Verrall (1988-1990), Susan Bustin (1992-1994), Andrea Ward (1994-1995), Moritz Gaede (1996-1999), Melissa Kuntz (1999-?), David Diviney (1999-2002), Svava Juliusson (200-?), Jennifer Dorner (2002-200-?), Christine Kellner (2004), Svava Juluisson (2004-2005), Eryn Foster (2006-2009), Michael McCormick (May 2009- August 2013), and Katie Belcher (August 2013-).