Vernon artist Sveva Caetani with paintings from her Recapitulations series. (Submitted photo/Caetani Centre)

By Pete McIntyre

Gallery expansion

Support growing for Caetani Centre fundraiser

Mar 8, 2022 | 4:00 PM

The local arts community is getting behind a project to improve a well-known cultural facility in Vernon.

The Caetani Centre is raising seed money to expand its gallery to be able to display the entire Recapitulation watercolour painting series created by late Vernon artist Sveva Caetani.

The Bringing Sveva Home Recapitulation sponsorship campaign has so far seen more than 20 works of the 47 large scale watercolour paintings sponsored by local businesses, groups, and individuals.

The funds will be used to increase the gallery from 800 square feet to approximately 2,000 square feet.

“We want to thank our corporate sponsors, Silver Star Mountain Resort, Bannister GM, and MQN Architects, as well as the many individuals, book clubs and other groups who have supported our Recapitulation sponsorship campaign so far,” said the centre’s executive director Susan Brandoli. “Thanks to them, we are moving closer toward our goal of raising $65,000+ in seed money, which will serve as the base for matching grants to expand the gallery.”

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The sponsorship package includes a five-year patronage, tax receipt, and formal recognition via a permanent plaque on the gallery building, acknowledgement on the artwork label, the Caetani website, and social media channels.

This past year, the centre, which is located on Pleasant Valley Road, displayed the first 17 paintings in the series as part of its guided and self-guided tours held since the museum in Caetani’s former home officially opened to the public last summer.

“More than 900 people have visited the centre, with many wanting to learn more about Sveva’s incredible story of loss, isolation, and emergence as a teacher and prolific artist,” said Brandoli, citing that the story has received both national and international attention, particularly from the Caetanis’ birthplace of Italy.

Several paintings from the show were sponsored soon after tours ended in December.

“We have plans to restart our tours in mid-April, and we will be exchanging the smaller paintings in our series for the larger ones, some of which are multi-panelled and take up an entire wall of space,” said Brandoli.

The works are also the subject of a significant research project.

Brandoli said a Young Canada Works grant has allowed the centre to hire intern Jessica Payne, a BFA graduate from Concordia University, to conduct extensive research on the entire series. Payne has gone through many of Caetani’s writings, archived at the Greater Vernon Museum and Archives, and other outlets to better understand the underlying themes and imagery shown in the paintings.

For more information on the centre, visit www.caetani.org or call the Caetani office at 250-275-1525.

by Pete McIntyre

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