Celebrate this year with us!
By Carol Kehoe
In July 1976, almost a year after the establishment of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS), five women came together to create Art Sales and Rental Society (ASAR), a non-profit organization that would give community volunteers an opportunity to assist the new art gallery in its many objectives, including to celebrate local artists and their work.
Irma Teichert, Suzanne Crane, Mollie Buckrell, and Christine Graham were self-described housewives, while Jane Gale was a local real estate agent. Their common passion was to help AGNS build its permanent collection, and ASAR would prove to be a 50-year powerhouse that has helped achieve that.
Modelled after well-established art rental services and volunteer committees in other galleries across Canada, ASAR consigned artwork from Nova Scotia artists to sell and rent to art gallery members. You could “date” your art, someone once suggested and see if you loved it enough to keep it forever. Along the way, ASAR volunteers would also hold special events and education programs to raise money and encourage young people, especially, to embrace art.
Started alongside the art gallery at its first location on Cogswell Street, ASAR moved with the gallery to its current location in 1998. “We now have three times the floor space of our former gallery,” Shirley Johnson ASAR Publicity Chair wrote in Volume 15/2 of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Journal, “and more large wall spaces for hanging major works. This expanded location allows us to promote better the artists who have been showing with us [as well as new artists’ works].”
A year earlier, these same volunteers pledged to raise $100,000 for the move to the Provincial building on Hollis Street. While maintaining the daily art-sales-rental business, they also organized three very successful antique sales that over four years raised $270,000, $170,000 of which went toward the purchase of Alex Colville’s “Dog in Car”.
As described in “Anatomy of an Antique Sale” in Volume 20/1 of the Journal: “Logistically, on paper it looked like a nightmare. We would need a storage/drop-off site, a bank of telephones, a moving company, reputable appraisers, a place to hold the three-day sale and sponsorship to offset our expenses.” But support showed up: Crowther & Brayley provided appraisals for the donated antiques, Citadel Hotel and the Lord Nelson Hotel provided the venues, and gallery and community members sponsored, attended and purchased.
In 2014 Art Sales and Rental Gallery was renamed Teichert Gallery to honour a key founding member and increase visibility. Four years later, the gallery went online with artist works posted to our website teichertgallery.ca making the gallery even more accessible to the community. Today, Executive Director Andrea Smith and Principal Gallery Assistant Rebecca Martin-Warr manage the day-to-day business, supported by upwards of 23 volunteers who form the nine-member Board of Directors, sales assistance and special event management. By renting and selling to the public, we aim to create interest in local art and make art available at reasonable rates.
In 50 years, nearly 500 regional artists have been represented by ASAR, and upwards of 250 artworks by the likes of Alex Colville, David Milne, Toni Onley and Mary Pratt have been purchased by the AGNS for the permanent collection with ASAR funds. Collaborations with Halifax Art Map, Nocturne, Downtown Halifax Business Association, the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour and more have flourished, providing memorable opportunities to enjoy the region’s art and artists.
2026 will be recognized as our 50th Anniversary, a celebration of the volunteers, the artists and the community who have long encouraged an appreciation for artmaking by talented Nova Scotia artists.
We hope you’ll join us and watch this site for more news and information.
Carol Kehoe has been an ASAR volunteer since October 2024 and is currently Chair of the Board of Directors.