John Murchie
When artist John Murchie moved to Sackville in 1990 he was aware of the university town's celebrated artistic history, but he probably hadn't considered the possibility that he, himself, might someday write a couple of chapters in this exciting legacy.
"It's quite amazing what goes on here," notes the Coordinator of Struts Gallery on Lorne Street. "Everyone is supportive of everyone else. I find this quite a congenial community and quite supportive of its culture and the art community as a whole."
It was art, in fact, that brought the former librarian to Sackville as his wife, Gemey Kelly, settled into the position of Director at Mount Allison University's Owens Art Gallery, Canada's oldest campus gallery.
Murchie immediately became involved in the community, sitting a few years as Chairman of the former Atlantic Waterfowl Celebration and today serving as Chairman of campus radio station CHMA and as a member of the Sackville Golf and Country Club. John also worked with a committee that helped draft a cultural policy for the Town of Sackville.
But his real passion remains art and the development of artistic impression in all ages and all disciplines.
"I've always been a pretty active supporter of anybody at any age in anything they want to do," says Murchie, who bashfully admits to the reputation he has earned over the last 30 years or so in the national art community.
The artist and writer is well recognized as a former Director of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design library, a Fellow of the National Gallery of Canada, Associate Curator of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and a much sought after advisor for the Canada Council for the Arts.
With much of his work focusing on humor, the environmentally conscious artist uses many recycled items in his work, including newsprint and cardboard as substitutes for canvas. His prized creations, including handmade books he has authored, are among the collections of The National Gallery of Canada, Fredericton's Beaverbrook Art Gallery, The Museum of Modern Art in New York and many private collections.
Inspired by the dynamic of such a rich tradition of art and culture in such a small community, Murchie takes a great deal of pride in the contributions he and his friends at Struts have been able to make here.
Although he has only been Coordinator since early 2003, Murchie has watched the artist-run centre evolve since he came to Sackville. And he is well aware of its early beginnings when a group of artists working out of the former Middle Sackville School brought forward their vision of what the gallery should represent.
He is confident that vision has remained unaltered as the gallery continues to celebrate artists of many styles and disciplines with its Faucet Media Arts Centre, its ongoing Artists in Residence program, and a variety of other celebrated events that bring as many as 20 artists to town every year.
"I think Struts is contributing to a pretty healthy art aesthetic in this intellectual and social-cultural community," Murchie contends. "I think we are doing a really important job for the town, in terms of what it's trying to do in support of the arts. I'm really proud of what our members have accomplished in developing some of the infrastructure and support for what's going on today."