Corporate Services and Background

 


Corporate Services

The following outlines our involvement in various corporate, private and institutional art collections, as well as our fund-raising efforts for many organisations. In each instance, we have immersed ourselves in the fundamentals of each project and have then translated those directives into a pleasing and educational display.

Our interior design background combined with our resources in the art world (original artwork by working regional and national Canadian artists, our specialisation in historic Canadian art including the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, restoration and formal appraisal, high quality decorative art and original prints, custom-framing facilities, etc.), we are able to assist in developing an Art Master Plan for any business. Our facilities in the gallery allow us to restore and present any contemporary or historical works of art in the appropriate context.

Owned and operated by Robert Koolen, we have a staff of framers, art restorers, art consultants, interior and graphic designers who assist in the many facets of the business. We are able to accommodate single projects of one or two pieces, keeping within tight budgets, as well as specialised framing projects that require conservation museum treatments, and large production jobs.

A recent example of such a project was The Halton Region Achievement Award Program which the Region of Halton hired us to design, execute and install. The program involved submitting proposals of art awards in order to recognise exceptional efforts on the part of Regional employees. The program was to have a 'year-to-year continuation' theme, encouraging each recipient to try to win the following year.

One of our artists was hired after our proposal was approved, and a 4 foot by 11 foot acrylic painting was designed and painted and installed in the Regional building on Bronte Road in Oakville. From the original painting, four separate sections were reproduced into 50 signed prints, each section representing a distinct area of Halton. The printing, framing and personalisation of each print was executed by Bronte Harbour Fine Arts over four years and we continue to be retained by the Region of Halton for art-related undertakings.

Community Profile

Bronte Harbour Fine Arts has affiliated itself with many cultural and heritage-related organisations in Canada. We have been directors, members and contributors to the Ian Anderson House Cancer Hospice (Directors and fund-raisers), Bronte Historical Society (co-founders), The Mazo de la Roche/Sovereign House Advisory Board, the Oakville Museum Board(directors), the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Commission (L.A.C.A.C.), the Burlington Art Centre, Quinte Arts Council, and the Oakville Arts Council (1990 Winner Mayor's Award for Business and the Arts).

 

Corporate and Fund-Raising Projects

Our clients range from multi-national corporations such as General Electric of Canada, Searle Pharmaceutical, and Janssen Pharmaceutica (division of Johnson & Johnson) to not-for-profit organisations such as The Ivanhoe Heritage Foundation, Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, The Bronte Historical Society in Oakville, The Quinte Arts Council, Belleville, the Burlington Arts Centre, Burlington, and the Ian Anderson House in Oakville. We have been actively involved in designing the interiors of professional offices for physicians, dentists, engineering firms, insurance companies, etc.

Bronte Harbour Fine Arts/Koolen Fine Arts is an enthusiastic, community-oriented private art gallery which also operates successfully within a variety of partnerships in order to fulfil the different mandates including presentations, displays, and fund-raisers. Over the years, we have hosted many successful Charity Art Auctions, exhibitions and permanent installations of historic Canadian art. The following are a few recent projects.

1. We have participated for three years as host of the annual Group of Seven Exhibition on the historical Ivanhoe Tug Boat at Vancouver and Victoria harbours which, in its first year grossed over $75,000 towards The Ivanhoe Heritage Foundation, attracting up to 1,000 people per day;

2. The annual art auctions held in aid of the Bronte Historical Society (a continuing involvement which lead to our winning the Town of Oakville's Mayor's Award for Business and the Arts in 1990);

3. Our association with the Bronte Historical Society inspired us to host a sold-out Christmas concert featuring Maureen Forrester and the Appleby College Choir at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts in December 1992, an event which netted the Society $18,000.

4. Our gallery and the Quinte Arts Council co-produced a very successful exhibition and auction of Historic Canadian Art (opened by Farley Mowat) which featured over 250 pieces of artwork produced by Canadians over a period of 150 years, fulfilling their mandate to bring unique and educational arts-related events to the Quinte area. Our art auction of original Canadian art which followed the ten day exhibition attracted veteran and first-time art buyers alike and raised the stature of important Canadian art in the Quinte and Prince Edward County region.

  Copyright 2024 Koolen Fine Arts *53 Downie Street, Stratford, Ontario, N5A 1W7*

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