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Politics overshadowing art, as artists call for autonomy at The Rooms gallery

Unheard so far in the controversy surrounding the hiring of Carla Foote at The Rooms is how artists feel about the situation — and they're not pleased.

Visual Artists Newfoundland and Labrador has sent a letter to Minister Bernard Davis, calling for the restoration of autonomy within the art gallery division at The Rooms, and the hiring of a designated gallery director.

That job was cut by the province in 2017 in an effort to save money, says David Andrews, VANL's executive director. Management of the art gallery was put under the purview of the museum director.

"At the time we got a lot of concern from the culture community and visual artists and a lot of arts professionals that this was the wrong way to go, [that] this was going to jeopardize the autonomy of the art gallery within the larger corporation," Andrew said.

"We said as much, but their requirement to reduce administrative costs was the reason why it had to be done away with."

The gallery itself has a very specific cultural purpose. - David Andrews

But news of the hiring of Carla Foote as the executive director of marketing at the museum, gallery and archive on the heels of those changes is concerning, Andrews said.

In the letter sent Wednesday, VANL said concerns over "improper hiring processes at The Rooms have emphasized the importance of having appropriate administrative structures and practices in place," adding that getting rid of the gallery director position further undermines the mandate of the art gallery.

Andrew said the province needs to commit to hiring a qualified art curator and gallery director to ensure an accurate representation of the province's arts community.

"The gallery itself has a very specific cultural purpose and its own mandate and it needs to be able to serve that mandate," Andrews said.

"As it is now, there is somebody overseeing it, but at the same time, to have somebody specifically advocating at the management table for the needs of the gallery is, I think, a really important thing."

While the gallery's executive staff position was cut, VANL said Foote was hired with an additional executive title and a $27,000 salary increase, a move that "circumvented all regulatory procedures and necessary qualifications to secure one of the highest-paid positions at The Rooms."

Paula Gale/CBC
Paula Gale/CBC

Andrews said the purpose of the letter isn't to have Foote removed from the job.

"That's not our concern, per se. We are specifically focused on the health of the gallery and making sure that it's able to operate as it should," Andrews told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

"It's a steward to the cultural community and the visual arts community, and I think it needs to be able to operate as was originally laid out in The Rooms Act."

Without an experienced art gallery director who is immersed in the arts community and is able to act autonomously, Andrews said, VANL is worried about the erosion of distinctions between departments.

"The fear is that, over time, that as all of those distinctions are blurred between the three institutions, that there might be a mandate or mission drift between them," he said.

"Gradually the needs of the corporation are going to start overcoming what each of the individual institutions should be doing."

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