The old carpet factory that became a modern art gallery

In 1979, an old Toronto carpet factory had been given a makeover and turned into the home of an ambitious new art gallery.

Called Factory 77, the artist-run gallery was a new space that wasn't a part of the existing art establishment.

"It's run for the artists, by the artists and it might one day become the gallery of modern art in Canada," the CBC's Michael Vaughan reported on The National, a few months after it opened.

Two artists spoke to The National about the potential they saw in the gallery, in the neighbourhood now known as Liberty Village.

"It has a community feel to it, a relaxed, more informal, we hope, kind of feel," said Reg Homes, an established abstract painter whose work had been shown in mainstream galleries. "It's just another space — that's all."

Renée Van Halm, an artist whose sculpture was then on display at Factory 77, said it was a more "approachable" venue.

'Putting up ideas for public discussion'

"Young artists can come to this space and expect to be heard if their work is sufficiently professional," said Van Halm.

"There are criteria, of course, but there's a lot more room here. There's room to grow here and we really find that lacking in the other major institutions."

When Vaughan visited the gallery, he told viewers "the artists say they are putting up ideas for public discussion."

But a skeptical-sounding Vaughan then mentioned a performance art-related exhibit on display which he said could indeed generate discussion.

"Documented here is an artist, standing, holding a slide projector, which projected photographs of a couple having sex," said Vaughan. "At the same time, the artist read, very slowly, from a pornographic novel."

'It's just a bunch of pictures'

Vaughan also showed viewers a series of photos in which a woman made up a bed.  

"Some people would look at this and say: 'It's just a bunch of pictures of somebody making a bed,'" Vaughan said to Van Halm.

Van Halm understood Vaughan's point, but told him: "if you start looking, you'd see that there's quite a bit of beauty in everyday activities and I think it deals with that a lot."

Vaughan said the artists involved with Factory 77 hoped to see it thrive and survive, so that deserving artists, both young and old, could get the exposure they weren't getting elsewhere.

"To survive, the gallery needs $70,000 a year, which it's now setting out to raise from governments, business and the sympathetic public," Vaughan said.

The gallery lasted a few years, but shut down its operations three years after The National dropped by.

In February 1982, the Globe and Mail reported that Factory 77 reported the gallery had "permanently suspended" operations. It also said the gallery had mounted more than 13 exhibitions each year during its existence.