The Penticton Art Gallery is facing public backlash after disposing of artwork donated by local artists to a thrift store, with some pieces selling for as little as $9.99.
Norberto Rodriguez de la Vega, a British Columbia artist, was dismayed to find one of his paintings for sale at a local Value Village for $11, a price he noted did not even cover the cost of materials. He had previously donated the piece to the Penticton Art Gallery, which promotes itself as a community hub offering 'art for everyone.'
The gallery's board president, Leslie Whatmough, stated that the decision was made due to finding "hundreds" of unaccounted-for pieces that were not stored to museum standards. It remains unclear how many such items ended up at the value store.
These donated pieces were intended for fundraising events, including an annual auction, with proceeds supporting the gallery's community education and outreach programs. A former curator for the gallery, Paul Crawford, learned of the situation through inquiries about the artwork being sold and subsequently visited the thrift store himself. He found donated pieces priced as low as $9.99 and assisted shoppers in purchasing them.
Crawford expressed concern not with the gallery's disposal of works, but with the manner in which it was conducted. He noted that some of the discarded pieces were not by local artists but by established figures such as Helen May Duke, Sophie Atkinson, and William Alexander, the latter being an artist who, according to Crawford, taught Bob Ross. "These are not artists that did not have some significant role in the art history or the cultural history of our country," Crawford told CBC. "These are notable people."
Whatmough cited the difficulty of the situation, particularly regarding tax receipts. "You can't give the art back to the person who has donated the art if you have given them a tax receipt because that is considered tax fraud," she explained.
In a statement on Tuesday, the gallery addressed the criticism, noting it had been delayed in responding due to a cyberattack on its website. The gallery acknowledged a failure to communicate its process for reviewing donated items and the reality that not all donations can be kept. "For every piece that we had to let go, at least one other has been kept for future fundraising, and there are many more still to be reviewed," the statement read. The gallery maintained that the art was donated to "a location that would ensure the pieces received maximum exposure," with the hope that those who see value in the works would acquire them. The gallery committed to exploring other avenues for such decisions in the future.