Scugog’s Council for the Arts (SCA) is moving on to bigger and better things with a brand new space right in the heart of downtown Port Perry.
The SCA was located in a small space for the past 10 years at 181 Perry Street in Port Perry, tucked away behind the hot tourist spot of Queen Street. This summer they will have a brand new building to accommodate all their dreams.
According to SCA president Marion Meyers “the (old) space was not a great retail location spot for traffic.”
The previous space is owned by the township of Port Perry. They needed the space back.
“So their plan was always to make it a space where they might have staff, you know, certainly suited to staff that are working with the public,” said Meyer.
The new location was once the Home Hardware in Port Perry. The owner recently retired and it was bought by the owner of Old Flame Brewing Co.
It will now be home to not only the SCA but an antique thrift store as well.
“So we (have) always been kind of keeping an eye on where we could move to, and also where we’d have the freedom to kind of, you know, take some space and use the space in some of the ways we dream up,” said Meyers.
The new gallery location will have a lot more room to showcase different artists. It will also create more foot traffic for artists looking for exposure.
The new space will be home to an artist co-op, something the old building did not have the space to offer. According to SCA vice-president Jonathon Colwell, this will allow artists to have a space to sell their pieces and curate the space.
“I think this will be good for the artists because it allows them to sell more of their work rather than just showcasing big pieces at art shows,” said Colwell.
The new co-op will generate more revenue for the SCA which is something the old gallery did not have the means to do – they relied strictly on grants and donations rather than retail material.
The SCA hopes to keep up with their programs like the Christmas market and culture days, as well as adding some possible workshops.
Meyers said she recognizes that young people like to live their life through experiences and they hope to generate more of those for the younger crowd.
