If you want to hang with—and eat the fine cheeses worthy of—the big backers of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, you’ll have to call gallery events coordinator Sue Melvin at 424-8935. At the time of writing, there were only 15 or 20 tickets left for the 2008 AGNeS Award party, she says, but by the evening of Thursday, March 20, she “might be able to squeeze a few more in.” Each year the award celebrates an “important Gallery patron,” according to an emailed notice from the AGNS. In this case “important” means the patron who ponies up gifts to the gallery. This year’s fete honours Jack and Joan Craig (the names behind The Craig Foundation). Their gifts have been, the notice reads, “numerous and significant contributions in capital campaign funding and of significant work to the provincial collection and to a variety of programs including the new launched Autism Arts Program.” According to manager of development Jeff Gray, the Craigs’ initial donation of $5,000 “seeded” the Autism Arts Program. “It’s something we’re looking at making larger,” says Gray of the AAP.
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2008.
