Written by Zandra Juarez
This is part two of a three part installment. You can read part one here.
ZJ: I read in a recent article that you increased the collection from 150 to close to 9,000 pieces. Where are they located?
JN: They are stored at the gallery and many are small pieces, Inuit sculptures and indigenous beadwork, for instance. There is a substantial collection of European etchings and engravings stored in cabinets. The larger works are in temperature-controlled storage rooms and others are displayed on campus.
ZJ: I understand that the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre eventually got renamed the Art Gallery of Guelph in 2014, after you retired in 2013.
JN: Originally there were four partners: the City, the University, the County and the School Board. The County said that they wished to leave the partnership so they could fund their own facility in Elora. The name “art centre” was always a problem for me, many people thought it was an academic department or a children’s art program facility, I was always trying to convince people that “this is a public art gallery, to serve the region.” So, we decided we would start the process of changing the name to the Art Gallery of Guelph, and that took quite a long time, going through the provincial legislature, and it finally came about in 2014.
In 1975 we had an opportunity to take over the Macdonald Consolidated School at the corner of College and Gordon street. The school was built in 1904 as a model school for Ontario because it featured a science room, home economics room, indoor lavatories, and experimental gardens. The school was closed in 1967 because it no longer met building code standards. We asked the Macdonald Stewart Foundation in Montreal if they would provide a naming grant to renovate the building to become a public art gallery. That’s why it was called the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre from 1980 to 2014. The origin of the Macdonald Stewart Foundation was a tobacco company owned by Sir William Macdonald who provided money to build the Macdonald Consolidated School. There was a continuing relationship with the Foundation and that’s why they were interested in giving us the funding. It all worked out quite seamlessly. Sir William Macdonald also gave money to build Macdonald Institute for teaching home economics and Macdonald Hall, a women’s residence.
ZJ: In which capacity do you remain in contact with the Art Gallery of Guelph as Curator Emerita?
JN: When I retired in 2013, the Board of Trustees named me curator emerita to recognize my forty-five year career, as founding Director/Curator. I also taught sessional courses in Museum Studies and Indigenous Studies for 20 years for the School of Fine Art and Music using the collections as a focus of my courses. I continue to research and write about the collection.
In 2014, I turned my attention to writing my history/ memoir The Making of a Museum because I felt that my career in essence was very unusual in Canada, especially since there’s a great deal of turnover in these positions. I’d been there for forty-five years, so I had an interesting story to tell about how the whole thing evolved. There are many anecdotes and humorous events in the book. Then I turned my attention to writing a book about the AGG Sculpture Park, discussing the forty-one outdoor sculptures based on interviews with the artists. The Porcupine’s Quill published the book titled Kivioq’s Journey and Other Revelations in the Donald Forster Sculpture Park at the Art Gallery of Guelph.
ZJ: I have to say: I recently attended the AGG auction and felt that stepping inside the Judith Nasby Gallery was different this time, much more meaningful, since now I know you, compared to when I didn’t.
JN: The Board of Trustees also decided to name a gallery space on the first floor after me when I was named Curator Emerita in 2013.
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts presented the Charles 111 Coronation Medal to Guelph author Judith Nasby for exemplary service to the Arts in Canada. Judith recently received the 2024 McMaster University Distinguished Alumni Award for the Arts.
*This interview has been edited and condensed.
Zandra Juarez is a Guelph based writer and literary critic. She’s Vocamus Writers Community Director of Communications
This article will be released in three installments. Part three will be released in our March Arts E-newsletter.
