Sveva Caetani with works from her Recapitulation Series (Submitted photo/Caetani Centre)

By Vernon Matters Staff

Gallery expansion

Fundraiser launched to build new home for Sveva Caetani’s paintings

Nov 17, 2021 | 11:00 AM

After opening to the public with a successful season of sold-out tours, the Caetani Centre in Vernon is launching its latest campaign — to build a new home for Sveva Caetani’s heralded Recapitulation series.

Individuals or groups can sponsor an original painting from the series, featuring over 50 unique large-scale watercolours. Funds raised will be used to build a larger facility to publicly display the entire series at the Caetani Centre in the city’s East Hill area.

The campaign’s goal is to raise at least $65,000 for seed money to attain matching capital grants for the gallery expansion. The sponsorship package includes a five-year patronage, tax receipt, and formal recognition via a permanent plaque on the gallery building, acknowledgement on artwork label, on the Caetani website and through social media channels.

Sponsors Ken Derpak, General Manager, and Ginny Scott, Local Sales Manager, Silver Star Mountain Resort, with Caetani Cultural Centre Society Past President AJ Jaeger. (Submitted photo/Caetani Centre)

“Art patrons and the greater public now have the opportunity to be a part of history. Our plan is to build a home large enough to display Sveva’s unique collection. Those who help sponsor a painting will help expand our current gallery from 800 square feet to about 2,000 square feet to include additional display space, larger archival storage, and a larger presentation space,” said Caetani Centre executive director Susan Brandoli.

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The Caetani Centre is continuing its guided and self-guided tours now through December. For more information on the sponsorship program, tours, and to view the works, visit www.caetani.org or call the Caetani office for a personal viewing at 250-275-1525.

The Recapitulation Series continues to gain both national and international attention. The series documents Caetani’s life story and outlook and was put under the care of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) in Edmonton in the 1980s when Caetani was still alive. The series remained at the AFA for more than 35 years and was exhibited intermittently during this time. In March 2021, the AFA shipped the paintings back to Vernon to be housed at the Caetani Centre, Sveva’s childhood home, which now serves as a heritage site, museum and cultural centre.

Sponsors Darryl and Mary-Jo Payeur, Bannister GM, with Caetani Cultural Centre Society Past President AJ Jaeger. (Submitted photo/Caetani Centre)

The return of the Recapitulation series followed years of hard work by the Caetani board of directors and staff as well as extensive renovations and upgrades to bring the heritage facility up to code to accommodate public access as well as ensure the safety of the various Caetani collections. A significant private donation and years of concentrated fundraising and support from local businesses, artists and community supporters also made the return of the works possible.

“The AFA saw the benefit of repatriating Sveva’s work back to the home where they were created. The timing was perfect as we were getting ready to open the home to the public. We also received Caetani family artifacts back from both the Vernon and Kelowna museums and have had people from near and far coming to see and hear the story of the Caetanis since we started our guided and self-guided tours this summer. Our hope is to involve other organizations and individuals to consolidate the significant Caetani collection further,” said Caetani Cultural Centre Society President Sherry Price.