Richmond BC, Canada #richmondartgallerybc
Borrow an artwork for your home from Richmond Art Gallery’s Collection
in conjunction with the exhibition a small but comfy house and maybe a dog
Original artworks from the Richmond Art Gallery’s Collection are available to Richmond residents to bring home and care for, on short-term loans, for free. Available works are currently on display at the art gallery and Richmond Public Library (Brighouse Branch).
If you are interested in borrowing an artwork, you can email us at gallery@richmond.ca or speak to the attendant at the front desk of the Gallery. Borrowers must be residents of Richmond, and a gallery technician will assist you in hanging the artwork in your home. More details on the loan process below.
This program was inspired by a similar library program that Su-Ying Lee, the curator of a small but comfy house and maybe a dog, an exhibition by artist Amy Ching-Yan Lam that is currently taking place at the Richmond Art Gallery, experienced in her youth.
“When I was a child, the library was foundational to my family’s well-being. A free space, where my mother, who loved books and was adapting to reading English, could be at peace, taking her time, slowly reading. It was there that I saw her relax a little bit, losing herself in stacks of titles, shooing her two children away to go explore.
All material things were precious to my frugal immigrant family, making the library a wonder—a place I could scarcely believe to be real. Access to so much space, words, pictures, stories and art. I remember coming upon a shelf of artworks, what I now understand to be reproductions of drawings and paintings laminated onto plaques, and asking my mother what they were for. She said we were allowed to take them home. Surprised, excited and shy, I picked out a drawing of a robin. After checking it out, I placed it on the back of our couch, against the wall so I could look at it from where I lay. My mother hammered a nail into the wall and hung it for me. When it came time to return our books and the robin, I was excited to pick out a sailboat painting.
When we first began discussing a project at the Richmond Art Gallery, I described the context, with a particular mention of the public library in the building, because I knew Amy to be community-minded, with work that trickled into surrounding spaces, becoming glue between groups, individuals, and organizations. In considering the relationship between the art gallery and the library, I described the art-lending program of my childhood. To me, just a passing anecdote. Amy, in her quiet, determined way, made the grown-up version of this happen. Seemingly impossible—these are original artworks, after all, not laminate reproductions—Amy has opened an access point that I hope brings borrowers as much satisfaction and pleasure as I experienced.”
—Su-Ying Lee, curator
Loan details:
• Borrower must reside in Richmond.
• Loan duration is 60 days.
• No new loans will be permitted after June 11, 2023.
• Loaned work will be hung in clean/dry areas of the home only, which does not include kitchen, washroom, or laundry room.
• Loaned work will be installed and de-installed by RAG gallery technician.
• Loaned work will not be moved by the borrower once installed.
• Borrower accepts all responsibility for any loss or damage to the loaned work.
• Borrower agrees to provide a copy of credit card and driver’s license with the office, to be attached to the signed Loan Agreement
For more information please contact the gallery at (604)247-8363 or gallery@richmond.ca
