For its 30th anniversary, La Maison Longue is offering two exhibitions and a round table in the Saint-Roch district. An opening and the launch of the book Since 1993 will be organized this Thursday, May 23 at the Materia center. This foundation brings together ten visual arts artist workshops.
On May 23 at 5 p.m., the opening of La Maison Longue coincides with the launch of the publication Since 1993.
“For the 30th anniversary, we made a publication Since 1993 where we mainly present the workshops with photos of works,” explains Danielle April, an artist from La Maison Longue.
Since 1993 returns to “the context in visual arts preceding the creation of La Maison Longue, the history of it and the workshop and time”. La Maison Longue brings together ten artists, including France McNeil, Hélène Rochette, Paul Béliveau, Danielle April, Odette Théberge, Jean-François Lahos, Lucie Lefebvre, Lauréat Marois, Nicole Malenfant and Marcel Marois.
30 years later, six of them are still present today.
These visual artists practice painting, sculpture, photography, engraving, among others.
Exhibitions, a round table
The two exhibitions at La Maison Longue will take place from May 24 to June 2. One will take place at the Materia Center and the other will be held at the Criterium gallery.
“We wanted to move away from the private sector with exhibitions outside the walls,” says Madame April.
The workshops will also be accessible to the general public and the artists will be present to interact with people.
These visits will take place on May 24 and 31, between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. It will also be possible on May 25, 26 and June 1 and 2, from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Among other activities, a round table at the Charpente des Fauves will be held on Saturday June 8.
“This round table on June 8 will focus on workshops, that is to say how to acquire a workshop. What can we do today, can we repeat what the Long House did? Can we have different models and ways of doing things,” raises artist Danielle April.
“The first collective of artists with its own workshops”
“Over the course of a year, I visited 27 buildings and things were never going well,” remembers Danielle April.
After these 27 visits, a person informed him that an old garage on rue de La Salle had been for sale for months.
“I’m going to visit [cet ancien garage] with two other women artists. I thought it looked good. Ceilings were 16 feet on the main floor and 14 feet upstairs. The structure was made of concrete, but the building had been abandoned for eight years,” explains Ms. April.
The two other women next to him were rather perplexed, given the state of the building at the time.
“Paul Béliveau (an artist at the Maison Longue) passed by this old garage and asked me if we could do something with it. Someone else was interested like me. Then, I called the architect Martin Mainguy, who came to visit with me. He said to me, “this is what you’re looking for,” she recalls.
After convincing nine other artists, the idea was to create a company, according to a particular structure.
“Artists own shares that are equivalent to their square foot of studio space that they have. Our shareholders’ agreement is quite unusual. We did it, but it was legal. We haven’t been that terrible since it’s been going on for 30 years. »
“We are the first collective of artists to have their own workshops in Quebec. »
For her, “you have to be united and creative. You have to go for it. We embarked on a patent at the time,” concludes Danielle April.
This article was produced by Local Journalism Initiative reporter Anne Charlotte Gillain.
