Fate of Art Gallery of Sudbury still uncertain | Crisis at Laurentian University

Annemarie, Karl, and Julie Hagan, the three children of Frederick Hagan, sent a letter to the leaders of Laurentian University, asking that the works of art in the collection not be sold to pay off the debt of Laurentian University.

Museum collections are held in public trust and should not be treated as realizable assets. It is clearly not ethically acceptable for a museum to sell collections in order to acquire funds for purposes other than the acquisition or maintenance of a museum’s collection.reads the letter, which cites the Canadian Museums Association’s code of ethics.

The Art Gallery of Sudbury, which is housed in a building that belongs to Laurentian University, has been in limbo for a few weeks after learning that the building and its works could be sold as part of the restructuring process. of the University.

Laurentian and the Art Gallery of Sudbury are currently battling in court to determine who has responsibility for the trust and the right to dispose of the works.

According to Annemarie Hagan, the precarious situation in which her father’s works and all the others in the collection find themselves is unacceptable.

When an artwork is given as a gift in public trust, it is the responsibility of the institution to care for the artwork.she laments.

The Frederick Hagan collection at the Art Gallery of Sudbury, which includes 254 works in various mediums, was donated in 1996, seven years before the artist’s death in 2003.

In their letter, the descendants of Frederick Hagan ask Laurentian to honor their original wish at the time, namely to transfer ownership of the works to the Art Gallery of Sudbury.

Andrew Boyd, president of the Sudbury Arts Council, laments that works from the Art Gallery of Sudbury like those of Frederick Hagan find themselves mired in financial turmoil at Laurentian University.

The works are managed by a public trust in Sudbury, he explains, and should not end up in Laurentian’s restructuring proceedings.

It would be illegalhe believes.

Frederick Hagan, a lover of the North

Born in Toronto and raised in the popular neighborhood of Cabbagetown, Frederick Hagan became a lifelong Northern Ontario fan after visiting family north of Sudbury as a young adult.

I think he realized the contrast between the very densely populated life of Toronto and all the space in the North, and that’s when he realized he had found something, that he found his inner peace in the Northsays Hagan.

For the rest of his life Frederick Hagan returned to the area regularly. I believe he was going to spend some time up north at least once a year.says Anne-Marie Hagan.

As a child, she remembers spending time near the water, including enjoying the French River in the Sudbury area.

This is where he wanted his ashes to be scatteredshe adds.

Mrs Hagan claims that her father spent hours sketching northern landscapes in the summer, drawings he worked on all winter thereafter.

Later in his life, he wanted to offer his work to a community in Northern Ontario, which is when his choice fell on Laurentian University and the Art Gallery of Sudbury.

The legal process continues

Representations in court to decide the fate of the Art Gallery of Sudbury’s works are continuing to determine whether the Bell Mansion, which houses the works and these, can be part of the restructuring process.

The next court hearing, which was scheduled for May 2, has been postponed to May 16.

The Art Gallery of Sudbury, through its lawyer David Ullmann, reiterates the organization’s position that the mansion and the artwork should not be part of the restructuring process.

In a press release, the Art Gallery of Sudbury indicated that Laurentian’s position demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of public art galleries, their role in the societies in which they operate, the nature of their collections and the history of this case.

Laurentian University did not respond to our interview requests on this subject.