Above: Quite literally support for the arts. These are posts that support the ceiling of our new gallery. We have been in this week measuring, planning and recording images of the space. It is exciting to envision the final product at this early stage. It may not look that exciting at the moment, but we believe it will be a spectacular space when it’s finished.

 

Above: Our new home on Canterbury. The space on the right, with the parked Volkswagon, is where the Buckland Merrifield Gallery will locate. The space to the left is the site for Real Food Connections. Above will be great apartments, a terrific place to live, with your beer, food and art just downstairs.

There will be a new facade that will bring the doors and windows out to the sidewalk. Acre Architects is working on this, so you know that it will be a great entryway to the new businesses at this address..

 

Above: The walls are going up.

 

Above: Toward the back of the gallery.

 

Above: Looking toward our neighbours. The foreground pile of lumber is in our space. Just beyond the large post is the new home of Real Food Connections. Beyond that where you see more daylight is the area for Picaroons Traditional Ales.

 

Above: Toward the light. Like most construction sites, there is a lot of material lying around and a lot of people working to make this a very special place for the fall. Historica knows how to make great projects happen.

 

Above: Looking towards our front door, or at least where our front door will be. Also, the wall to the right will be taken out, opening the gallery to the street.

 

Above: Devon, the man at the centre. Devon is overseeing this project for Historica. I found him hard at work in his office, located on the ground floor of the building.

THE NEW LOGO AND THE NEW TEAM

 

 

SHANNON MERRIFIELD

Shannon Merrifield, a resident of Grand Bay – Westfield, is mother to two young boys and is married to renowned artist-teacher, Cliff Turner.

Shannon Merrifield comes from a socially and politically active family of entrepreneurs, something that has influenced her interest in community, and saw her develop her hardworking and tenacious spirit and her drive to accomplish.

In her formative years she traveled extensively, lived for a time in France, attended UNBSJ, UNBC and Holland College, from where she received a Culinary Arts Degree. Always driven toward creative projects, a pivotal moment was her purchase of Handworks Gallery in 2001. Under her ownership this gallery became a household name, and set the gold standard for fine art and craft within the Maritime region.

Shannon has won numerous awards: the Board of Trade Silver Award, the Uptown SJ Award and the Atlantic Craft Alliance Best Gallery Award. She was the Co-Founder of the social network organization, FUSION. She studied at NB Craft College, and in 2013, sold Handworks and established her own ceramic studio.

Recently, Shannon Merrifield has worked with government as a Special Assistant to the region of South West New Brunswick where she liased between government, industry and not for profit sectors.

Shannon brings a wealth of experience and a positive vision for the future of the arts in New Brunswick to this exciting new venture.

 

Peter Buckland

 

Peter Buckland began his career in the fine art business in 1981 with Windrush Galleries, and has operated the Peter Buckland Gallery since 1998. He has curated 250 exhibitions involving both noted and emerging Canadian artists. He has written extensively about art and artists. He co-authored Portraits: New Brunswick Painters in 2009.

 

He has been devoted to promoting the arts within this region. He has been a participant in the Saint John Gallery Hops since its inception in 1999. He was a founding member of the Saint John Community Arts Board (2001). He served as Chair of Saint John 225, Saint John’s year as a Cultural Capital of Canada in 2010. He served as Chair of the Originals (2012) and as Vice Chair of Sculpture Saint John (2012 & 2014).

 

Peter Buckland was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in September 2012 for his work in the arts.