Eyelevel Gallery fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Eyelevel Gallery fonds

General material designation

  • Graphic material
  • Moving images
  • Sound recording
  • Textual record
  • Textual record (electronic)
  • Moving images (electronic)
  • Sound recording (electronic)
  • Graphic material (electronic)

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Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

MS-3-35

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

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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.

    Related materials

    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

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    Sources

    This fonds description comes from the Dalhousie University Archives Catalog. The complete, original description is available there.

    Accession area