Current Issue

JACKALOPE ART GALLERY LAUNCHES IN TORONTO THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 16.

FLY is thrilled to celebrate the upcoming opening of JACKALOPE GALLERY at 1558 Queen St East, Toronto, by artists GAIL WILLIAMS and TRACY DAVIES (pictured below) this Saturday 5-9pm.When Covid struck Toronto, we lost so many indie art galleries due to enforced isolation and closures. Now, as art lovers are craving their gallery fix, Gail and Tracy bring us a brand new space located in the east end of downtown Toronto. FLY recently spoke with Gail who shared her thoughts….

So many indie galleries closed down due to Covid – what prompted you and Tracy to open a gallery now?  It was serendipity really – I met Tracy at a Cornwall gallery and we got talking about a collaboration and decided to look for a gallery space in Toronto. We found the right with a wonderful landlord who bought into the concept of an art gallery and work studio. My studio is actually there, too, so I have a lovely creative space in which to work.You offer wall space to other artists – how do you plan to promote their works as well as your own?  Both Tracy and I are very savvy with social media and have created an Instagram account for Jackalope and will be launching our Facebook one, too. We’re thrilled to celebrate other artists via regular postings, show announcements and a monthly newsletter.You put out a call for artists and ended up with numerous submissions – what was your curatorial process to select the artists for your first show?  We first decided upon a theme for our debut show and that was “courage” so we reviewed all the submissions to find art pieces that reflect boldness and uniqueness. We also made sure that the individual artists had active websites and social media accounts themselves to enable us all to cross-promote and support each other.

How many shows do you plan to present over the coming months?  We’re planning a period of 4 weeks for our curated shows – this enables artists to invite their family, friends and followers down to see their work hanging on our walls. We’re also presenting artist workshops and other special events as we move forward through our first year….it’s all so exciting. And we already have 500 online followers with 200 people signing up for our monthly newsletter.

GOOD LUCK to Gail and Tracy, and if you want to keep up with news from the gallery, check out the website and social media…. https://www.thejackalopegallery.ca/
Instagram: @thejackalopegallery  or the artists themselves:  @gailwilliamsartist  @tracydaviesart

..in the meantime, FLY will be buzzing around the gallery on Saturday to report on the launch. Check back with us for the big blog.