Craig Poirier named his gallery “Nomad” because it has no fixed home.
Nomads never settle — they wander from place to place making the best
use of available resources, offering a trade wherever they go.
Similarly, Poirier’s loose collective of Ottawa artists roams from
venue to venue, using temporary display spaces to increase the
visibility of art in the capital.

Nomad Gallery has transformed a dilapidated apartment, a legion hall
and a Middle Eastern community centre into temporary art houses.
“Nothing is off limits — experimenting with venues is part of the
fun,” said Thomas White, who co-ordinates Nomad events.
Poirier, a 29-year-old University of Ottawa visual arts graduate,
launched Nomad in 2004 with a small group of friends. With a mandate
to “empower artists, offer them a way to show their work and help them
interact directly with the public,” the gallery has showcased the work
of more than 40 artists in five shows, collectively attracting about
400 visitors.

Tomorrow, the Nomads are taking over Club SAW on Nicholas Street with
their 2000six show, billed as “a celebration of the new.” It’s going
to be a special event for White, whose mother exhibited a series of
hand-drawn posters at the same venue about 30 years ago and will hang
them again for 2000six.
While the majority of exhibitors have limited professional experience
as artists, Nomad also attracts veterans.
“Because we are young, emerging artists, that is our focus, but we
also have people with 40-year art careers come out,” said Poirier, who
teaches City of Ottawa art classes at East Ottawa’s St. Laurent
Complex. “Merging well-situated, accredited artists with fresh, new
artists creates a really dynamic space where we learn from them and
they learn from us.”

After discovering Nomad on artengine.ca — an artist-run website that
includes event listings — Jeni Jones decided to show one of her
“spiritpaintings” at Nomad’s December show.
Jones earned a visual arts diploma from St. Lawrence College in
Kingston nearly 30 years ago and now works as an addiction and trauma
counsellor and runs workshops on meditative painting.
Already an accomplished professional, she recently moved to Ottawa and
says she is “trying to get into the scene and get to know some of the
local artists and figured (Nomad) could help.”
Nomad’s motto is everyone is an artist, said White, a poet who
recently completed his first art course with Poirier and hung his
first painting at last month’s This Could Be Anywhere show. “Nomad
Gallery is great for people who like to do art in their free time and
don’t have a chance to show themselves off,” said White, who also
works at Carleton University as a neuroscience research assistant and
has convinced some of his lab buddies to submit work.
Poirier says the process of courting professional galleries to get
work shown is “a costly hassle” and most venues cater exclusively to
established artists or those who appeal to niche markets. “The typical
gallery setup is really difficult to break into — it’s really
cliquey. Sometimes, if you’re not a lesbian installation artist or a
native artist, you’re out of luck.”

Dave Maat, also a U of O visual arts grad and one of the original
Nomads, echoes Poirier’s sentiments: “It’s difficult to apply and get
into a professional gallery and most artists are not taught how to
interact in the business. Also, a lot of galleries have themes or
styles you have to conform to. Nomad is very eclectic because you have
people coming in from all sorts of backgrounds using different styles
and mediums.”

Nomad never rejects art — save for an installation of raw meat, which
caused “health and safety concerns” — and all mediums are welcome.
Past shows have included video art, poetry, spoken word and jam
sessions kicked-off by punk/do-op band Tungda Browne, a “Nomad
fixture.”

The group is always hunting for free spaces to transform into
galleries, but also collects a nominal $2 entrance fee at shows to pay
for venues that charge.
“Whenever we rent space, we end up in the hole,” said Poirier who
fronts his own cash to secure art space.

Jana Charron, owner and curator of Galleria Corso Italia on Preston
Street, said when she was approached by Poirier to donate her space
for This Could Be Anywhere she didn’t hesitate.
“I think what they do is really unique,” said Charron, who described
the show as “decadent,” and said in her 30-plus years in the art
community, Nomad is the first travelling gallery she has encountered.
“They’re smart to go from place to place because they always attract
different people and work in new spaces and that adds to the fun,”
said Charron, whose gallery features curved walls, alcoves and a scrap
airplane piece cutting through the roof in the main gallery.