Peer Gallery – Member Profile

The Peer Gallery artists.  Back row from left to right: Jennie Carton, Jackie Cohen, Lisa Wright, Bob Hainstock, Anne Tweed, Anke Holm, George Walford, Susan Hudson, Zalman Amit, David Pember.   Front row from left to right: Barbara Mclean, Regina Coupar, Sally Warren. Missing: Jane Whitten, Tom Ward.  Photograph by Garry Woodcock taken at the opening of the exhibit at the Chase Gallery, September 8.

Peer Gallery, is an artists’ co-operative gallery, formed January, 2001. This spring Peer Gallery is celebrating 17 years of operation. Located in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lunenburg, the gallery exhibits the work of 14 Nova Scotia artists who have established reputations. The gallery emphasizes a complete diversity in art viewing: painting, drawing, mixed media, coloured fused glass, wood turning, printmaking and other forms of artistic expression. The province recently honoured Peer Gallery for its cultural importance to Lunenburg County.

free to experiment
The artists of the Peer Gallery Co-operative are diverse and free to experiment

  • Zalman Amit, PhD, experiments with different forms of sculptural wood work.
  • Jennie Carton, BA, creates collaged objects that combine her drawings and mixed media.
  • For Jackie Cohen, MFA, painting, collage and printmaking and illustration are her mediums.
  • Regina Coupar, PhD, is presently focused on painting geometric abstracts.
  • Bob Hainstock is a printmaker who creates multilayered mono prints. Anke Holm is a glass artist fabricating fused and moulded objects.
  • Susan Hudson, RCA, works with collage, photographic, drawing, painting and printmaking.
  • Barbara McLean, BFA – her abstracts are layers of a strong use of mark making.
  • David Pember – for his paintings he uses stainless steel or EVA board as a support for his abstracts.
  • Anne Tweed, MD, BFA, works with acrylic inks abstracts on various plastic based papers.
  • Tom Ward, BFA, creates realistic water colours, images in a minimal palette.
  • Sally Warren AOCA, is a printmaker who combines her drawing using unique materials.
  • Jane Whitten, BA., Med., is a  contemporary basket weaver using found and recycled materials.
  • Lisa Wright’s paintings and colleges are non objective in the tradition of abstract expressionism.

maintaining a strong direction
Some of the challenges of running a co-operative is maintaining a strong direction for a group and also attracting and retaining artists, general financing. We rarely experience a challenge because we have monthly meetings to air any potential problems within our group of 14 artists members. There is a collegial atmosphere to share with fellow members.

The artists are featured on our gallery website, www.peer-gallery.com and they will benefit from any of the PR. for the gallery in general.  They will have a minimum of 6’ and a maximum of 9’ of linear feet of wall space, or if you a creator of 3D objects,
a comparable amount of floor space. Peer Gallery is part of the Lunenburg Art galleries map,  creating a market destination for Lunenburg. Approximately every second year a member will have an opportunity to hold a solo show in the off season, spring or fall.

a unifying force
We have been a VANS member from our beginning. VANS is the only representative in the Maritimes. We’ve held a VANS exhibit for the South shore twice. Some of us had joined the Mentorship Program while some of us have held administrative position on the board. We think that VANS is essential, especially given the fact that many artists live in rural Nova Scotia. VANS acts like a unifying force to keep us connected.

on & off the wall
Presently our focus is on our group exhibit, ON & OFF THE WALL, at the Chase gallery in Halifax this September, 2018, opening September 8 – September 27. During the off season time periods (April, May, and November, December) occasionally we’ll feature an outside exhibits such as Nova Scotia Printmakers in spring 2019.

See more work by the Peer Gallery Artists on their website: www.peer-gallery.com
Or follow Peer Gallery on Facebook or Instagram.