Art enthusiasts who frequent the Weyburn Art Gallery may have noticed the new display plinths, which are used for displaying works that can’t be hung on the walls.
“We approached Weyburn Dodge at the end of last year about coming in with the Weyburn Arts Council for a three-year sponsorship to purchase display plinths for the gallery,” said Natasha Hill, Co-Chair of the Weyburn Arts Council. “We felt that the ones that we were currently using didn’t necessarily reflect the quality of the gallery and the aesthetic that we wanted to convey.”
Hill said display plinths are expensive, but the ones that they were able to get are well worth the money that was spent.
“Weyburn Dodge came on without even a second of hesitation, and came in with the sponsorship, and we were able to actually partner their sponsorship with a grant, a matching grant. So we doubled their sponsorship with the matching grant.”
A plinth is a type of pedestal for displaying anything that can’t hang on the wall of the gallery.
“It’s pretty awesome of Weyburn Dodge to step up for us and especially when they heard that their money would be essentially doubled and they couldn’t not get involved,” she shared. “It’s great to see other businesses and organizations wanting to become involved with art in the city. We can create somatic sponsorships for businesses. We can offer team building and we can offer different things for use of the gallery, like private use for businesses and exchange for sponsorship. We’re pretty adaptable as an organization, making sure that anybody that comes to us with the sponsorship proposal that they can receive as well, so their donation, not just where the Weyburn Arts Council is benefiting from it.”
Hill explained that one of their driving forces with the Weyburn Arts Council in the last couple of years, and one of her mandates as the Chair of Arts Council, has been to meet people where they’re at.
“So rather than expecting people to come to us, we’re going to organizations, we’re going to businesses, and meeting them where they are and finding out what they need from us rather than us expecting that they will come to us, and that change in thought and change in our process has been really productive in creating a lot of new relationships and partnerships.”
Weyburn Dodge, she added, is even planning to bring some vehicles for display at the Gifted Summer Art Market, being held July 13th at Jubilee Park.
