The Art Gallery of Victoria's campaign to raise funds for their next gallery has gotten a big boost thanks to 3 patrons.
Andrew Beckerman, a local philanthropist, has pledged his personal art collection worth valued at $750-thousand, as well as $100-thousand in cash to support expansion of the gallery on Moss street.
Beckerman's collection includes 100's of pieces, with works on paper and canvas, bronze and stone sculpture. pre-Columbian and contemporary pottery, as well as antique and modern textiles.
Victoria is Beckerman's adopted home. He came to Canada from the U.S.. 11 years ago and became a Canadian citizen in 2015.
The Art Gallery also received two anonymous pledges. One for $500-thousand, and the other for $200-thousand. The pledges are contingent upon the gallery receiving funding from the province by the end of the year, as is a similar pledge from the Audain Foundation in November 2016. The gallery is currently in talks with both the federal and provincial governments.
Renewal plans for the Gallery were announced in 2012, with staff says the design will compliment the Rockland neighbourhood the AGGV calls home.
Gallery Director Jon Tupper says the federal government is commited, but the gallery needs to hear from the province wherther they will be approving a $7-million request for the Next Gallery project:
"Things are pretty much up in the air during election years. You don't really know. They haven't said 'no', so that's the good news. But we're still waiting to hear 'yes', or 'maybe' even as we move forward to the election."
Tupper notes $7-million isn't that much in the scheme of things. The estimated cost of the expansion is about $24-million, but he says the longer it takes to get the project off the ground, the higher the costs are going.
Tupper adds the Art Gallery can the Art Gallery can currently show just 1% of their treasures and expanding the building would allow more art to be shared with the public.