Director's Message

The beginning of another year brings another set of anniversaries to commemorate in Niagara. 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the building of Rodman Hall by Thomas Rodman Merritt. It is also the 200th year since Laura Secord made her legendary run carrying her message that would save Upper Canada. Crossing Twelve Mile Creek en route to Pelham Road and Decew House, Secord likely climbed the rise where Rodman Hall now majestically sits. If you look closely at the hill you can see the faint impressions of wagon ruts from centuries ago still traversing the western rim. For a forward-looking contemporary art centre like Rodman Hall, to be housed in a significant historic building on such an important site forces us to always be mindful of our rich past.

Mary Anne Barkhouse’s outdoor sculptural installation includes a bronze coyote and badger within a garden shaped by the imprint of a settler’s home. Barkhouse contemplates the contemporary legacies of cultural alliances during the War of 1812 from an Aboriginal ecological standpoint. Beginning January 25, Kevin Yates’ new exhibition in the Hansen Gallery probes the richness of childhood reminiscence with the evocative power of projected imagery. Along the hall in our Project Space, Olia Mishchenko presents her intricate drawings depicting futuristic built environments on the shores of rivers and creeks in her installation called Ravine World. Concurrently, in the Harris-Godwin Gallery, Simone Jones pulls a video feed with live imagery from outside Rodman Hall into her show called All That is Solid. This show features computer-generated imagery that questions the very nature of representational art. I know that these provocative exhibitions by four prominent Canadian artists will resonate new meaning in our old house and grounds over the months to come.

We also have HOT TALKS, classes, programs and events that will draw you into this dynamic space called Rodman Hall. I hope that this newsletter will entice you into visiting us many times over the months ahead.

See you at the Gallery,

Stuart Reid
Director/Curator