City of St. Catharines To Preserve Rodman Hall Outdoor Sculpture Collection

News from the City of St. Catharines in Niagara, Ontario

Posted August 17^th, 2021 on Niagara At Large

Niagara, Ontario  — As Brock University moves to divest itself of Rodman Hall, the City of St. Catharines will ensure six outdoor sculptures that form part of the art gallery’s collection continue to remain on public display.

The City of St. Catharines is preparing to enter into a lease agreement with Rodman Hall Art Centre Inc. to relocate and display six outdoor sculptures from the grounds of Rodman Hall, including Sorel Etrog’s Profile II pictured here, on City property. Photo courtesy of City of St. Catharines

(Earlier this August) St. Catharines City Council approved a $133,905 expenditure from the Civic Project Fund this week to remove, store and eventually relocate six sculptures from the grounds of Rodman Hall.

Brock University is currently finalizing sale of the property, while working with Rodman Hall Arts Centre Inc. (RHAC) for that organization to take ownership of the gallery’s art collection.

As part of the process RHAC has been working on an inventory and condition assessment of the collection. In the long term RHAC hopes to establish a public art gallery in the city to house the Rodman Hall collection, but in the interim has requested the City take on removing a portion of the collection, the six outdoor pieces, and relocate them to an as-yet determined location in the downtown core.

Rodman Hall in St. Catharines, Ontario

Under a lease agreement the City will take the sculptures for 20 years, covering the cost of removal, storage and relocation, with RHAC picking up costs for maintenance of the pieces, insurance and related programming.

“As a City we are committed to fostering arts and culture in our community, it is one of the pillars of our Strategic Plan,” said Director of Community, Recreation and Culture Services Phil Cristi, adding, “these sculptures represent the work of world class artists and should remain on public display for our residents to enjoy.

“This is a real opportunity to not only preserve these works and their artistic legacy but also to build the cultural landscape of our community.”

The ultimate location of the six pieces — Mary Anne Barkhouse’s Settlement, Marino Di Teana’s Homage a la Vitesse, Sorel Etrog’s Profile II, William McElcharen’s The Race, John MacGregor’s The Flowering of Time, and Reinhard Reitzenstein’s Carolina Blue — has yet to be decided.

The City will host these works on City property, with locations determined in consultation with the Public Art Advisory Committee and RHAC

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