Accession 97-21 - Susan Whitney Gallery

The Susan Whitney Gallery opened its doors in November 1979. In addition to Susan Whitney, at the time of its founding there were four other shareholders: Victor Cicansky, Joe Fafard, Jill Rawlinson, and Richard Spafford. Whitney became the sole shareholder in the late 1980s.

The mandate of this commercial art gallery was to exhibit and sell contemporary art, including painting, sculpture, tapestry, photography, and furniture, as well as Canadian folk art. A primary strength of the gallery was Saskatchewan artists.

In 1980 Whitney mounted the first of the Made in Saskatchewan exhibitions. The show was an unusual undertaking for a commercial gallery at the time. The show “included Doukhobor, Mennonite, Hutterite, Ukrainian, and French-Canadian furniture, rugs, quilts, carvings, clothing, paintings, samplers and ceramics. For most of its viewers, it was a first introduction to the vibrant material culture of the province’s ethnic heritage”.

This vibrant and nationally acclaimed commercial gallery participated in a number of international art fairs. Many of Saskatchewan’s most notable artists - Joe Fafard, David Thauberger, Victor Cicansky, Donna Kriekle and Wilf Perreault were represented by this gallery over the course of its twenty-six year history.

The Susan Whitney Gallery changed hands in 2005 and became the Nouveau Gallery.