Last show as costs force out Gully

By GAIL BAILEY


Karangahape Rd's continuing transformation into a hot spot for art galleries and boutiques has brought with it competition and rising rents.

After 15 months, the Gully Lounge Gallery, in St Kevin's Arcade, will close its doors at the end of the month, with a record shop taking its place.

"It all happened quite suddenly," says gallery manager Nora West. "We will have to be out by the end of the month."

The gallery, established as a charitable trust, was never going to be a commercial success, West explains. "It was dependent on protected rents and funding by interested groups and grants."

In the end, the gallery could not afford to pay the raised rent, even with the regular support of Peter Hawkesby, Alleluya cafe owner and long-time supporter of the arts, who allowed Alleluya's function and storage room to be turned into a gallery space. "It was often a struggle to keep the gallery financially afloat," West says. Art grant applications were not successful, which was a disappointment as "the whole aim of the gallery was to create affordable gallery space for young, emerging artists and groups from the wider community".

Over the past 15 months, the Gully Lounge has had more than 40 shows, ranging from art students from Elam, AUT and Whitecliffe to established artists such as Richard McWhannell, John Eaden and Betty Clegg.

"It's a great disappointment and I feel a sense of failure," West says. "I tried so hard to make this work. More importantly, though, I feel I've let the artists down. I've had to ring and send letters to artists who had upcoming shows to tell them the news."

The farewell party at Alleluya this week was attended by exhibited artists and supporters, with a slide show of the artists' shows.


Despite earlier plans to relocate to the Waiheke Community Art Gallery, West says there is now a strong possibility the Gully Lounge will stay in the neighbourhood.

She is negotiating spaces with the K Rd Samoa House Fale and the Pitt St Methodist Church.

The gallery's final exhibition at St Kevin's Arcade is Midnight Garden, floral paintings by Christine Thompson, on until the end of the month.

Exhibition

* What: Midnight Garden, by Christine Thompson

* Where and when: Gully Lounge Gallery, St Kevin's Arcade, K Rd, to Nov 30