Mendel Art Gallery history chronicled in new book

A new book has been written about Saskatoon's Mendel Art Gallery.

Dreaming a Gallery, by arts advocate Helen "Bubs" Coleman, is an extensive record covering five decades of history of the Mendel.

"This building has been wonderful and people love it," Coleman said. "It's been iconic and we're all going to miss it."

The Gallery is considered one of the finest examples of modernist architecture in Saskatchewan.

Coleman said she researched board reports, newspaper articles and conducted countess interviews for the book. She describes the decades leading up to the gallery's opening in October 1964 and follows through its nine directors and 50 years of exhibitions and public programs.

"I think this building has in many ways not only been a catalyst for art, so people come here to learn and to enjoy, but it's become a centre," she said.

The gallery's founder, Frederick Mendel, was a successful businessman and art collector who established Intercontinental Packers Limited in Saskatoon in 1940.

"It was due not only to Fred Mendel but it was due to the community and it was due to Sid Buckwold. He was the mayor at the time," Coleman said. "It was his passion for this city."

The Mendel Art Gallery will close next month. The new Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan is scheduled to open in 2016.