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Vandalism prompts Art Gallery of Sudbury GoFundMe campaign

Gallery’s HVAC units targeted for copper piping, vandals cause $15K in damage

After vandalism that caused roughly $15,000 in damage to the Art Gallery of Sudbury’s HVAC system, the gallery has launched a crowdfunding campaign to defray these costs.

Demetra Christakos, director/curator of the Art Gallery of Sudbury (AGS), said the damage to the gallery’s two external HVAC units was discovered in the early morning of June 1. 

The copper piping connecting each unit to the gallery, as well as the internal fixtures, were cut and stolen.

“This was, to be honest, a real kick in the pants,” she said, adding that she’s since learned that HVAC systems are now being targeted for the value of the copper piping. “We were all of us shocked.”

Greater Sudbury Police say the incident is believed to have occurred overnight. The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to phone police at 705-675-9171 or Crime Stoppers at 705-222-8477.

Christakos explains that having the gallery’s HVAC systems out of commission is especially problematic for an art gallery.

She said the gallery is supposed to be maintained at 20 C, with 50-per-cent relative humidity, in order to sustain art museum conditions.

Christakos said there are sensors recording the environmental conditions in the museum, and this could impact AGS’ chances of securing future art loans for exhibits.

“This period was actually a period of evaluation for us to secure the loan for a major exhibition for next year, and unfortunately, with the data that we have, we were not sure that we'll be able to secure that exhibition,” she said.

Christakos said she hopes that AGS will be able to get the HVAC system fixed this month.

However, it’s a strain on the gallery’s finances, which is why she launched the GoFundMe campaign, which had raised about $3,600 of its $15,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon.

When there were contingencies such as this in the past, the art gallery was previously able to draw upon the BA McDonald Funds, a bequest to the AGS’ predecessor organization, the Laurentian University Museum and Art Centre (LUMAC).

However, for reasons related to Laurentian University’s insolvency, this fund is no longer available to the Art Gallery of Sudbury.

“Honestly, we need to get those units replaced,” Christakos said.”So that’s why I thought, well, we’ll try GoFundMe. We’ve never really been in this circumstance before.”

She said she would like to say “thank you” to the community for their outpouring of support. “Usually it takes us much longer to raise that kind of money,” Christakos said.

Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.


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