La Fecundidad by Salvador Dali will hang in Gallery 244 in Brooklyn on Saturday as part of the Queens Coast Art Tour. Photo courtesy of Sue and Chres Jensen

It’s the third year for the Queens Coast Art Tour and studio rally, but it will be the first year that people will be able to see a piece by Salvador Dali at one of the galleries.

Gallery 244 owners Sue and Chres Jensen bought a signed Dali in September and they plan to display it at their gallery in Brooklyn starting Saturday to coincide with the art tour.

Called La Fecundidad or Fertility, it’s a sterling silver relief from 1977. It’s signed by the Spanish surrealist, weighs just 249 grams, and measures 18 by 24 centimetres.

It was part of a limited run created for American Express as a promotional item for some cardholders.

The couple are in Toronto for six months while Chres awaits surgery. They told QCCR this week that they bought it from their friend Doug Peterson in Burlington, Ont., who has owned it since the ‘70s. 

They thought it would be a great way to help promote the art tour and Queens County artists.

“We knew we weren’t going to be there for the art tour and we wanted to send something back to Nova Scotia that would align our artists with a master,” Sue says. “I’m hoping that people come to see it and enjoy the work.”

“It’s kind of a draw like a bit of a fish hook so that people will see a piece by a well-known artist, and that will maybe introduce them to some of the local artists there,” Chres says.

“So that will create some curiosity and some buzz and that’s what we’re hoping to do and hopefully give the art scene in Liverpool and Brooklyn a boost.”

Sue says the piece will be hung differently than other artwork in the gallery. She says they’re not concerned about security.

“It’s gonna be hung in a little different way on the wall, but no, we know where we live and we want people to enjoy seeing it.”

After the art tour, she says they’ll store it in a secure place until next spring when they reopen the gallery.

The back of a piece by Salvador Dali bought by Sue and Chres Jensen of Gallery 244 in Brooklyn. Photo: Sue Jensen

Gallery 244 features work by Chres and other local artists. 

He says the Dali, which he estimates is worth around $5,000, will help add to the eclectic nature of their space.

“Our gallery is kind of diverse but we are more contemporary. We have abstract artists and cubist artists. I guess I’d put myself in that category. We try to offer something different to the public. Some people want to have something a little different and more striking in their personal collection of art.”

Sue says their friends have been looking after the gallery for them while they’re in Toronto.

“It’s exciting to give back to the community. The artists and musicians have been watching the gallery for us and working, so it’s just something to send back to them to say thank you.” 

The Queens Coast Art Tour is on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to the Salvador Dali piece and other work at Gallery 244 in Brooklyn, the tour features artisans at work all over Queens County. You can meet artists in their own workshops or at three public sites – The Astor Theatre, Coastal Queens Place or White Point Beach Resort.

More information is available on the Queens Coast Art Tour Facebook page.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Susan Letson is on the committee organizing the Medway Head Lighthouse Art and Craft Show and Sale, beginning Friday (Aug. 16) in Port Medway. (Rick Conrad)

The Medway Head Lighthouse Art and Craft Show and Sale opens on Friday at 5 p.m. with an opening reception at the warehouse in the Lighthouse Park in the village of Port Medway.

It’s the 13th year for the show, which features artists and artisans from around the South Shore and beyond.

It raises money to help maintain the historic Medway Head Lighthouse, down Long Cove Road in Port Medway.

The show continues Aug. 17 to 25, open 10 to 4 every day at the warehouse and at Seely Hall in Port Medway.

Here’s more about the show in an interview with organizing committee member Susan Letson.

Listen to our interview below.

Sue and Chres Jensen, owners of Gallery 244 in Brooklyn, are holding a Carnival at the gallery on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. (Rick Conrad)

Since Sue and Chres Jensen moved to Nova Scotia from Alberta three years ago, they’ve carved out a distinctive space for the creative community at their gallery in Brooklyn.

And they’re using it to host an event called Carnival that’s just as unique on Saturday.

The owners of Gallery 244 are planning to showcase art, music, poetry, henna body art, laser engraving, hula hooping and even some osteopathy at the free event. And food truck Mama Pita will be onsite too.

Sue Jensen, who is also a musician, said she wanted the event to be as individual as their gallery and the other artists they’ve met.

“I wanted to do something that would be different,” she said Wednesday.

The couple live in East Port Medway, and opened the gallery a couple of years ago, turning a building that used to be a gas station into a space that now features work from half a dozen local artists. It also features a cozy music room in the old service station’s attached garage.

Saturday’s carnival will feature Sue and other musicians playing throughout the afternoon.

Chres says they want their gallery to be a welcoming place for anybody who creates.

“This acts like a mini hub for artists and people to stop in, play music, talk about art, or literature, try to be creative. It’s growing every year.”

Chres works in different media, but with a distinct musical theme. Many of his pieces feature deconstructed string instruments like guitars or ukuleles in sometimes whimsical, sometimes elaborate scenes. Since they opened the gallery, he says, many people have donated their old guitars for his art.

“It’s worked for us really well. My studio where I came from, maybe it’s as big as this room which is 16 by 20 and I have eight, nine, 10 times more space (here).”

Chres says the couple quickly realized the abundance of artists of all kinds in the area.

“Even Brooklyn as a small microcosm is a vibrant arts community. We have a wood carver here, we have MJ (Dominey) and she paints and this lady over here she has crafts. And then you expand it to Liverpool, it’s just a dynamic area for arts and music.”

That’s what they hope to showcase on Saturday from 1 to 5. 

And don’t forget the hula hooping. A friend of theirs is a hula hooper, so they invited her to demonstrate her craft. And then a few other people contacted them to do the same thing.

“We have a dark horse who’s too shy to advertise but is actually a freak hula hooper,” Sue says.  “It was just a fun (thing), maybe the kids will bring their hula hoops.”

That co-operation and collaboration are some of the things the couple love about their new community.

“Everybody just seems to be working together so that everybody can have fun and be creative,” Chres says.

Saturday’s event is also a fundraiser for the Mill Village fire department. Sue says they have just one goal for the carnival.

“For people to participate, that’s our goal. To show up, to see what’s here. … We just want them to come. If you want to watch, watch, if you want to participate, participate.”

The gallery is at 3549 Highway 3 in Brooklyn. For more information, you can check out Gallery 244 on Facebook or their website at gallery244.com.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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