Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Graphic material
- Moving images
- Sound recording
- Textual record
- Textual record (electronic)
- Moving images (electronic)
- Sound recording (electronic)
- Graphic material (electronic)
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
9.8 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Eyelevel Gallery (ELG) was founded in 1974 by a group of artists formerly associated with Inventions Gallery. Inventions was established on West Street in 1972 by a group of local female artists. The Gallery moved to 1812 Granville Street shortly after opening and was destroyed by a fire in 1974. When the gallery moved due to the fire, members decided to extend membership to male artists and change the gallery’s name.
Eyelevel Gallery has always been located in Halifax, predominately in the downtown core. The gallery was briefly located on the second floor of the Marble Building at 1672 Barrington Street. It moved to the Green Lantern Building on Barrington Street ca. 1978 and moved to Gottingen Street in 1986. In 1993, it returned to Barrington Street in the third floor of the Marble Building, where it remained until 2000. The gallery moved back to the Green Lantern Building (in the ground floor) until 2004, when it moved to 2128 Gottigen Street. It stayed in this location until 2007. The gallery moved to another location across the street and then moved to its current location at 2159 Gottingen Street in 2011.
Since its founding, Eyelevel Gallery has been an organization run by artists for artists. The gallery has offered an alternative space for contemporary art, provided exhibition space for local, national, and international artists, featured the works of emerging and established artists, offered workshops, provided a venue for theatre, music, and dance performances, sponsored visiting artists, and later housed a resource centre. The gallery has always operated as a non-profit organization committed to the “presentation, development and promotion of contemporary art” (Eyelevel Gallery “Mission”). Eyelevel Gallery has also made an effort to display innovative, not necessarily saleable, work that stretches artistic boundaries and challenges the status quo. In addition, its commitment to contemporary art in general helped the development of two other now independent arts organizations: Live Art Dance and the Centre for Art Tapes. As with other arts organizations, understaffing and inadequate funding have been ongoing problems for Eyelevel Gallery. Although the gallery receives funding from a number of sources, including membership fees and grants from the Canada Council and the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism and Culture, fluctuating funding levels have sometimes led to program or operational changes.
Eyelevel Gallery is managed by a board of directors, a number of committees, and a gallery director. Although the organization, responsibilities, and sometimes even titles of these groups have changed overtime, the board of directors has always maintained the ultimate authority within the administrative structure. Committees oversee the various responsibilities of the board including finance, membership, staff, curatorial space, and fundraising. The gallery director is responsible to the board and carries out their actions and policies, creates and circulates press releases and proposals, and manages the day-to-day activities of the gallery.
Directors of Eyelvel Gallery include Julia Schmitt Healy (1974-1975), David Sayer (1975), Susan Beaver (1975-1976), Garry Conway (1976-1977), Marina Stewart (1977-?), Michael Fernandes (?-1982), David Craig (1982-1986), Melodie Calvert (1986-?), Catherine Phoenix (1988-1992), Ann Verrall (1988-1990), Susan Bustin (1992-1994), Andrea Ward (1994-1995), Moritz Gaede (1996-1999), Melissa Kuntz (1999-?), David Diviney (1999-2002), Svava Juliusson (200-?), Jennifer Dorner (2002-200-?), Christine Kellner (2004), Svava Juluisson (2004-2005), Eryn Foster (2006-2009), and Michael McCormick (May 2009- August 2013).
Custodial history
The materials were donated to Dalhousie University Archives in two 2004 accessions and an accession in 2005, 2007, and 2008. Prior to that, the materials were in the custody of Eyelevel Gallery. Additional accession 2008-004 and 2011-035 are not described in this finding aid.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of documents created and collected by Eyelevel Gallery that reflect all aspects of the gallery’s management. The fonds includes artist files, slides, administrative files, publicity files (including press releases), correspondence, publications, financial documents, contracts, minutes of board of directors meetings, photographs, fundraising files and membership lists, audio and videocassettes, CDs, DVDs, books, and programmes, catalogues, posters, reviews, guest books, and miscellaneous files regarding exhibitions and events. Some digital records in this collection have been migrated from CD's.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Arrangement has been imposed by the processing archivist, using the original order of the materials whenever possible. Fonds contains twelve series, some of which are divided into sub-series. See series-level descriptions for more information.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script note
English.
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Membership lists (files 8, 10-14) and Records of the Eyelevel Director Hiring Committee (file 12) in the Personnel series are closed. All other materials are open for research.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Materials do not circulate and must be used in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room. Materials may be under copyright. Contact departmental staff for guidance on reproduction.
Finding aids
Associated materials
See also the Centre for Art Tapes fonds (MS-3-46) for related materials. The Centre for Art Tapes has had a notable involvement with Eyelevel Gallery.
Eyelevel Gallery maintains their own archive in addition to the one maintained at Dalhousie.
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.
General note
Preferred citation: [Identification of item], Eyelevel Gallery fonds, MS-3-35, Box [box number], Folder [folder number], Dalhousie University Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
- Art Exhibitions
- Art galleries--Archives
- Art, Canadian
- Artists--Nova Scotia
- Banking
- Biographic information
- Books
- Business correspondence
- Business records
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- Contracts
- Correspondence
- Exhibition catalogs
- Financial statements
- Fundraising
- Guest books
- Minutes and proceedings
- Performances
- Performing arts archives
- Photographs
- Postcards
- Posters
- Press releases
- Programs
- Publicity
- Reports, publications, studies, and documentation
- Sketches
- Video recordings
- Women artists
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Control area
Sources
This fonds description comes from the Dalhousie University Archives Catalog. The complete, original description is available there.