Alchemy, art
and renovations

>>The Long Hall survives,
expands and ferments

REPRIEVED AND REVEALED: Vanessa Yanow (front left),
John Tinholt (front right) and Long Hall tenants

by ANDREA ZANIN

Two years ago, things looked bleak for the Long Hall, a living space-cum-art-studio-cum-gallery in Park Extension. Father-and-son landlord team William and Simon Berman seemed ready to oust the artist collective in favour of increasing the capacity of the building’s mini-storage facility. But in a happy turn of events, the conflict was resolved amicably—and then some. The Bermans in fact invested in renovations to create more space for artists, and signed a new five-year lease with John Tinholt and Vanessa Yanow, the space’s sole official tenants.

“For a while, we lost a number of studios and a bunch of people because it was a crazy construction period for about a year, with noise and dust and displacement,” Tinholt says. “But now that it’s finished, we have 18 studios and there’s 30 people in them.” That’s double the number of studios they used to have, and one-third more artists. “It changes the character of the place a lot, since there’s so many more people here. The whole community aspect of running into people in the halls when you go to wash your brushes is enhanced. And because so many people can be in at once, morale has really picked up.”

With artists working in a wide range of media and many collaborative projects in the works, the Long Hall has taken on a whole new feel. “It used to be John and me keeping the wheels rolling with energy and initiative and pulling the group together, and now there really seems to be a dissolve in hierarchy,” says Yanow. “After seven years, there are collaborations between the artists, on their own, without us persuading and coaxing. There’s a really nice alchemy going on.”

In addition, Yanow is excited to see a new balance of francophone and anglophone artists, with more francophones joining the mix.

STUDIO STEW: Sophie Privé’s “Ivresse”

Sauerkraut and rotting dresses

With a fresh crop of artists and an expanded space, the Long Hall’s creative energy is bubbling. Or… fermenting?

“We started holding an annual thematic group show six years ago, starting with the first letter of the alphabet and moving forward from there,” says Yanow. “The first year, the theme was ‘Adhesive.’ Then it was ‘Burnt,’ ‘Collision,’ ‘Deluxe’ and last year was ‘Echo.’ This year being an F-word, we sat around, all 28 of us, pitching words and voting on them and arguing the pros and cons and lobbying, and finally we decided on—well, most of us regrettably ended up deciding on ‘Ferment.’”

Regrettably? Yanow laughs. “It’s been a really challenging word to interpret. But ‘Ferment’ it is, and we’re gonna have a bunch of very interesting pieces.”

With a glass and textile installation piece inspired by yeast, clothing design using burlap cloth planted with seeds that sprouted and have since been allowed to rot, large-scale paintings, performance art and more, the show is sure to intrigue.

The challenge of working with Ferment may, in fact, have given rise to surprisingly ingenious art. “It seems that because the theme is so difficult to interpret, people are trying really hard,” says Tinholt. “One of the most difficult aspects of making art is that you make up all the rules, there aren’t any outside constraints on art because it’s art. But that very freedom can be daunting, a blank canvas can be just so blank, so a theme definitely helps.”

The theme doesn’t stop with the art, either. According to Yanow, “We’ll have an array of fermented finger foods. Clearly, there will be beer, wine and cheese, the standard. Sauerkraut too, most definitely.” But the artist food-making team is keeping most of the snacks a surprise.

Ass-backwards growth

Future plans for the Long Hall include a street-level sculpture garden slated for opening within 18 months, a new Web site with a blog, and endeavours to become an officially recognized artist-run centre or non-profit organization.

“We really have done this sort of ass-backwards in the way businesses go, because we’re not a business,” says Tinholt. “But we’d like to grow up a little and make ourselves more visible on the national and potentially international scene. It’s been good to reach out to some of the more established cultural bodies, come out from under our rock. I don’t see the gallery scene as a mainstream, but if there is a mainstream, perhaps we can be part of that.”

Ferment vernissage takes place
Friday, May 23, 6–11 p.m. at the Long
Hall, 450/454 Beaumont. Show
runs May 23-June 1, 12–6 p.m. on
weekends and by appointment
during the week. Call
(514) 948-0227 for info.