Eastern Edge, St. John’s
The Canadian art landscape is ever-changing. Akimbo keeps you apprised of the standard-bearers as well as the upstarts in our monthly series on exhibition spaces from across the country. This month, we speak with Ashley Hemmings, Executive Director of Eastern Edge Artist-Run Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
What is the history and mandate of your gallery?
Sylvan Hamburger, Cranky, 2022, installed on the front of the Eastern Edge building (photo: Sylvan Hamburger)
Eastern Edge was established in 1984 by a group of feminist women artists who were working to create an alternative exhibition space in the city. Now, forty years later, it has become hard to pin down exactly who had the idea first, but some influential artists who helped get the ball rolling include Marilyn Koop, Susan Wood, Di Dabinet, Debra Kuzyk, Marlene Creates, Kathleen Knowling, Jeannette Laaning, Bonnie Leyton, Beth Oberholtzer, Tara Bryan, and of course many more! At the time, Eastern Edge was Newfoundland’s only artist-run centre for visual arts, and it remains one of only a handful of ARC’s in the province to this day.
Our main programming goals are (1) solidifying anti-racism at the centre of our work, (2) fostering queer and feminist art practices, and (3) strengthening Indigenous resistance to colonialism. Through this lens, we provide space for artists to develop skills, share information and resources, foster community, and create a meaningful context for artistic activity in downtown St. John’s.
What’s a highlight of your neighbourhood?
Idelfield Collective, Photoautomat, 2023, photographed in the Eastern Edge parking lot in front of a cruise ship during HOLD FAST Festival (photo: Ethel Brown)
Eastern Edge is located in Downtown St. John’s, directly on the harbourfront. We love stepping outside every day and seeing the ocean through the narrows of St. John’s Harbour! We are also very lucky to be centrally located in between a number of downtown arts centres. We share a building with St. Michael’s Printshop, Lawnya Vawnya, Leyton Gallery, and many private artist studios. We are also just around the corner from the Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador, and a short walk from The Rooms and many other commercial galleries.
What’s your favourite part of running an art gallery?
fare & SQUARE, 2022, Eastern Edge’s annual fundraiser (photo: Ksenia Trubachova)
The obvious answer is the art and the artists! It’s a joy to work with such a diversity of artists from all over the world, building connections and relationships that last beyond the scope of a single exhibition. As an artist-run centre, we also see ourselves as more of a community space than just an art gallery. We like to say that everything we do, we do for our community. For a small city, St. John’s is dense with artists and creatives, and the community here is so enthusiastic about participating in our events and programs.
How do you find out about new artists?
Nadine Baldow, Alive Matter, 2024 (photo: Laura Sbrizzi)
On a local level we do a lot of partnership collaborations with local non-profits, which is a great way to meet artists who work outside of the world of art galleries. We have ongoing partnerships with First Light, Quadrangle, Queer Craft Club, Northern Film Initiative, and more. Through these partnerships we meet many emerging artists and newcomers to the province who are looking to start exhibiting their work.
On a more national level we meet a lot of artists through our programming. We program our Main Gallery and Residencies through an open call for submissions, and we receive applications from all over the world. Sorting through all of the applications is a great way to survey common themes and ideas circulating in the art sphere at any given time.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Par Nair, the stories we don’t tell, 2023 (photo: Laura Sbrizzi)
Over the next five years we will keep strong to our commitment to not just support but celebrate underrepresented artists of all backgrounds, and provide artists with the space and time to play and experiment. We always want to be a safe and encouraging community space where people feel supported to try new things.
And then, if I’m dreaming big, I would love to see us expand our space over the next five years. There is such a need for exhibition and studio space in St. John’s, and there is only so much we can do in the space that we have now.
What excites you about your upcoming exhibitions?
Z’otz* Collective, The Shy Agreement, 2020 (courtesy: Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery)
Eastern Edge has two exhibition spaces: the Main Gallery (which programs internationally), and the rOGUE Gallery (which is reserved for emerging local artists). Coming up in September we will have two new exhibitions. In the Main Gallery we’re hosting Bartering Futures by Z’otz* Collective. This exhibition will include a site-specific mural, projected animations, and ceramics. And in the rOGUE we are showing Place-Setting by Evelyn Roitner, an exhibition of ceramic dishware. Even though the exhibitions will look very different, they both use narrative painting and ceramics to share stories about their cultures/communities, and to explore the tension between human connection and individuality. For me, the most exciting part of new exhibitions (besides meeting the artists) is seeing how the two shows come together to create a larger dialogue within our space. Both exhibitions will be on display at Eastern Edge from September 13 to October 26.
Evelyn Roitner, Parents – Plate, bowl, cup set, 2023