Written by Lisa Fedak
Thirty years ago, a group of artists came together to present site-specific artworks outside the gallery. The InstallArt Collective invited 25 artists to “find their niche within the parameters of downtown Guelph.” Each artist chose a location, negotiated with store owners, organizations and city staff to create site specific installations, interventions or performances for the exhibition called Niche in the spring of 1995.
Sally Wismer, on behalf of the Guelph Arts Council, wrote a letter of support which gave our group the confidence to approach a number of other organizations in search of funding. Niche had a self-guided map used by viewers to find their way to each artwork. The poster/map was funded by the Downtown Board of Management and the City of Guelph. The Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council allowed us to financially support the artists and to document the successful exhibition with both a printed catalogue and a VHS video featuring scenes of the artists interacting with their artworks and spaces.
I recently digitized the VHS tape to make it easier to share. Stills from the 26 minute video are grainy and full of surprises. For example, Patriciu Calimente’s street art poster reflects two images: one of the Church of Our Lady in Guelph (with spires) and the other of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France (since rebuilt after the devastating fire). In another scene, Loretta Paoli uses a $2 bill in her cash payment for insulin at the drugstore where her beautiful insulin-vial installation hung in the front window. And Ron Shuebrook’s classified ads recognizing Guelph artists appear in paper copies of The Guelph Mercury.
It is fun to revisit past snippets of the city and compare them to current viewpoints of the ‘same’ spaces. My piece is a telling example. Woody’s Passing was a garden I created in my car, a 1977 Ford Pinto Wagon. With city permission, I parked the car in the Macdonell Street Parking lot for the duration of the exhibition: April 22, – May 20, 1995. Recently, when trying to get to a downtown appointment, I couldn’t figure out how to pay for parking in the same lot because it involved scanning a QR code on my phone. It got me thinking back to 1995 when some of the downtown parking lots were attended by a person that you paid – with cash. The 30 year anniversary of Niche coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Guelph Arts Council, and this is a good opportunity to remember significant art events in the city and reflect on changes that have occurred in our community.
