Lion Pickers

When tourists walk down Duke Street they rarely see NSCAD. Instead they see two lions up on pink pillars that tower over them. Then a common reaction is complete confusion because between the two lions is an unexplainable sculpture of a garbage bag.

Many myths about the lions have been circling the Granville Mall since they were erected in 2005. The majority of people I have spoken to believe the lions were purchased in 2004 by the NSCAD President of the time, Dr. Paul Greenhalgh and that he bought them from England. Neither of these are true, the lions were in fact purchased in 1967 and came from The New Custom House’s clock tower located in Halifax. They were stored inside a church on the Coburg Campus at the time but ended up in a Dalhousie University professor’s backyard from the early seventies until the summer of 2004. Not reall a sensational story.

The garbage bag, which was placed between the lions during the year they went up, was sensational however. It provoked passion in NSCAD staff, students and faculty. It was infuriating to some, but others thought it was clever. For some, the Lions are a symbol of authoritative British imperial power. This is not an image that most contemporary NSCAD students want have representing their school. Originally, these lions were to be placed against a wall on the clock tower because they have no back. It takes bold indifference, say the critics, to place these lions in the middle of the Granville Mall.

In my informal surveys of passersby, I'd say the lions have the same (forgettable) impact on most viewers, but the ambiguity of the garbage bag irritates or delights everyone. Sometimes, when drunken men stumble out of the Split Crow pub and attempt to move the garbage bag, both irritation and delight appear on the same stage. Big enough guns will nudge the garbage bag a few inches, but it would take some seriously big guns to move it away from the lions.

Neil Antoine Raymond Lapierre

- Student/ Artist/ Poet Amore and more

People who told me things:
Garbage artist. Personal interview. October 3 2008.
Anonymous (NSCAD Faculty Member). Personal Interview. October 8 2008.
Anonymous (NSCAD Faculty Member). Personal Interview. October 9 2008.
NSCAD Printmaking Student. Personal Interview. October 6 2008.
Cameron, Linda. Personal interview. October 9 2008.
NSCAD Printmaking Student. Personal Interview. October 6 2008.
“The Split Crow Story.” History. October 16, 2008.
http://www.splitcrow.com/splitcrow
Welter-Noland, Becky. Personal Interview. 30 September 2008.

The Mezzanine Gallery

Established in the early 1970s, The Mezzanine was a small independent exhibition space in the newly re-named Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (NSCAD). The space was adjacent to the former Anna Leonowens Gallery, and located in what was then NSCAD’s main campus on Coburg Road. The early 1970s were a time of change for the school. Recently appointed president Garry Neill Kennedy’s plans to change the structure of NSCAD were in full swing. From 1970 until 1973, Charlotte Townsend Gault served as director for the Mezzanine Gallery.

A space of modest size, measuring only 20’ x 28’, the Mezzanine was host to many important exhibitions throughout its short existence. The room itself was very simple and functional. With its white-washed walls and wooden floors, the Mezzanine was a terrific “blank canvas” for demonstrations, film viewings, audio presentations and performances by NSCAD faculty and students. The space also attracted many important professional artists of the time.

Artists in The Space.
With the assistance of the Anna Leonowens Gallery's extensive Mezzanine Archives, I have begun to compile a timeline of the exhibitions held in the Mezzanine. This time line focuses on the period when Charlotte Townsend Gault was director of the space [1969-1973].

• APR.1969 Lau, Rex Weiner, Lawrence
  
• OCT.1969 Kosuth, Joseph
• OCT.1970 McLean, Bruce
• NOV.1970 Askevold, David
  
• DEC.1970 Acconci, Vito Byars, James Lee
• JAN.1971 Asimakos, John Nolan, Bill Art & Project Waterman, Doug Young, Jon
  
• FEB.1971 Lozano, Lee Pulsa Group Zuck, Tim McNamara, Albert
  
• MAR.1971 Jarden, Richards Graham, Dan Chan, Jon
  
• APR.1971 Murray, Ian Baldessari, John Dibbets, Jan
  
• MAY.1971 NSCAD Graduation Exhibition ’71 Ferguson, Gerald Taylor, Thoss W. Gill, Dennis Wikstrom, Robert Kelly, Patrick
  
• AUG.1971 Sharfrazi, Tony
  
• SEP.1971 The People’s Art Studio Show Jarden, Richard Kosuth, Joseph Johnson, Tim
  
• OCT.1971 Bowers, Robert Cruise, Stephen McEwen, John Burgin, Victor Cutforth, Roger
  
• NOV.1971 Askevold, David Brennen, Wallace Conway, Gary Gill, Dennis Wickstrom, Robert Lively, Merf Mom’s Apple Pie Company Pearse, Harold World Encounter Students
  
• DEC.1971 Porter, Ken NSCAD Advanced Printmakers Conway, Gary Winsor, Jacqueline
• JAN.1972 Carr-Harris, Ian California Institute Of Art [Video work] Parsons, Bruce Harris, Lilla Dubé, Graham
  
• FEB.1972 Antin, Eleanor Vazan, William Oppenheim, Dennis Beckley, Bill Murray, John
  
• MAR.1972 Halifax-Vancouver Exchange Beckley, Bill Kulik, Sharon Dubé, Graham Oppenheim, Dennis Murray, John Brennen, Wallace Aycock, Alice Van Elk, Ger
  
• APR.1972 Kelly, Patrick Sondheim, Alan Kawara, On Van Elk, Ger
  
• MAY.1972 NSCAD Graduation Exhibition ’72 Dubé, Graham Kulik, Sharon
  
• JUN.1972 Gill, Dennis
  
• JUL.1972 Peck, Robin
  
• SEP.1972 Young, Jon Mcfall, Kathleen Latham, John Levine, Les
  
• OCT.1972 Sondheim, Alan Wilson, Martha S. Fried, Howard
  
• NOV.1972 Metson, Graham Bloom, Barbara Houghton, Nicholas
  
• DEC.1972 Beveridge, Karl Campbell, Colin Hillard, John
• JAN.1973 Ramden, Mel Corris, Michael Weilling, James MacNevin, Brian
  
• FEB.1973 Jarden, Richard Art & Project Peck, Robin Mizukami, Jun
  
• MAR.1973 Ellis, Dean Pearse, Harold Dikeakos, Christos Johnson, Terrence
  
• APR.1973 Alder, Bas Jan Leavitt, William Oberheide, Heidi Buren, Daniel Kennedy, Garry
  
• MAY.1973 Welch, Roger Kulik, Sharon
• JUN.1973 Nolta, Gunter Murray, Ian

Note: This list is incomplete and not all dates are confirmed.

by RYAN TAYLOR

Works Citied
Hein, Jessica "Mezzanine Gallery - Chronological History & Inventory of Announcement Cards" July 2007
Provided by Anna Leonowens Gallery Archive

"Mezzanine Gallery Invitation Cards" 2006
Provided by Anna Leonowens Gallery Archive

Gault, Charlote Townsend "Mezzanine Gallery Summary" Nov. 1971

Provided by Anna Leonowens Gallery Archive
"Mezzanine Gallery" Article Artscanada Magazine, Spring 1972 (p.78-81)