It's going to be a zoo here today.
Bateman and his wife, Birgit Freybe Bateman, were at his eponymous art gallery for a signing session Saturday — the final day of operation after 10 years at the CPR Steamship Terminal in Victoria. A long line of people extended down a hallway and into another room, waiting for a chance to see the celebrated artist and naturalist.
“I had no idea until I stepped off the elevator there was going to be a queue, as they say in England,” Bateman quipped.
Over 200 people visited the gallery in just the first two hours of its 10 a.m.-4 p.m. farewell gathering.
https://www.timescol...gallery-6579107
Bateman Foundation chair David Schneider has tied the gallery’s closing to factors like funding cuts and limited government support — which he said are common in the arts-and-culture sector.
The foundation will continue to function.
Bateman said there is a possibility of re-opening somewhere else for the gallery, which has attracted about 15,000 visitors and 2,000 students each year.
It averages 41 people per day. Today it had 200 in the first 2 hours.
Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 February 2023 - 04:31 PM.