Village pop-up art gallery — born of the Covid era
A vacant shopfront, three local artists, and eleven Covid-era months. The Pop Up Gallery that grew into a social enterprise of 71 artist contributors, and returned more than $90,000 in sales, directly to the artists.
When the leaseholder of a shop in the Smiths Lake village commercial strip closed the business in mid-2020 to work from home — itself a quietly characteristic Covid-era shift — a small group of local artists saw in the vacant premises an opportunity that the moment seemed to call for. The shop owners, supportive of the idea and patient about finding a new commercial tenant, agreed to a nominal rent. Mid July 2020 the doors opened on a minimalist, elegant presentation of works by three local artists, on a co-operative basis.
What followed surprised everyone involved
Within the first week, previously unknown local visual artists began arriving at the gallery — to meet, to talk, and to ask whether they too might exhibit. The pop-up had touched something the village had not realised was there. Over the eleven months that followed, the gallery developed an enthusiastic following among locals and the holiday-makers who continued to reach Smiths Lake under the shifting Covid travel rules of late 2020 and early 2021. Visitors came not only to look but to buy. Works sold. Artworks, crafts and some small gift lines found homes. Sales over the eleven months totaled more than $90,000, all of which went directly to the artists on a nil-commission basis.
Meet the artist evenings brought the community in and surfaced a cohort of artists who discovered one another as colleagues.
A minimalist three-artist gallery had become something else
The keen interest of other artists, the consistent patronage of locals and visitors, and the particular sensitivity of the period — months in which the small pleasures of a village shopfront mattered more than they would in ordinary times — prompted a change of intention. The gallery opened its space to many more contributors, accomplished and developing alike, responding to what had become an obvious community need: for recognition as an arts contributor, for an arts venue in the village, and for an opportunity to participate.
By early 2021 the gallery had grown into a social enterprise involving 71 local arts contributors. Monthly after-hours "meet the artist" evenings brought the community in to talk with the makers. Desk and presentation duties were shared on an entirely voluntary basis.
The gallery opened its space to accomplished and developing alike.
**The closing chapter**
The evident community support and enthusiastic patronage suggested that the pop-up might endure indefinitely — and may, in fact, have been deterring commercial offers on the premises. The shop owner, while pleased and supportive of the gallery's success, eventually sought through their agent a more commercial rental arrangement with the gallery participants, in the hope of retaining the gallery in place, even if not on a fully commercial basis.
The owner's request prompted a group discussion among the artists about formally structuring an arts co-operative beyond the initial patronage of the local initiators. An association was established to include the artists, but its leadership ultimately concluded that the group could not responsibly take on the financial risk of a commercial lease and the consequential liabilities and costs of an ongoing tenancy. The association was disbanded. The gallery's last sale was recorded on 30 May 2021, and the doors closed shortly afterwards.
Some of the local artists transferred their memberships to the Forster gallery and continue to contribute and exhibit there.
What remains in Smiths Lake is the memory of an unlikely eleven months in which a vacant shop, a difficult moment, and the goodwill of a sympathetic landlord gave the village a cultural identity it had not previously seen of itself — surfaced a cohort of artists who discovered one another as colleagues, and demonstrated, for those who were paying attention, that the appetite for such a thing was here all along.
Works sold — artworks, crafts and some small gift lines found homes.
Smiths Lake Pop-Up Gallery — Key Facts
- Opened — 25 July 2020
- Closed — 30 May 2021
- Duration — 11 months
- Founding artists — 3
- Total contributing artists — 71
- Monthly events — after-hours "meet the artist" evenings
- Artist commission rate — Nil
- Total sales returned to artists — over $90,000
- Premises — Smiths Lake village commercial strip
- Operating model — Volunteer-run, co-operative basis
- Origin — Vacant shopfront, mid-2020
- Outcome — Some artists continued at Forster gallery
Sources: Smiths Lake Village community project — content supplied for Villagefirst. This is a living entry; the community is invited to contribute photographs, recollections, and further detail through the Villagefirst comment and feedback form.