At the Southampton Arts Centre (SAC) July 10, from left, April Patry, soon to be former Art Gallery Director; Darlene McMurdie, SAC's new Director; Dana Cheer, SAC’s new Operations Manager and Darlene McConnachie, soon to be former Art School Director.

Hub Staff

There are a couple of new faces to be found at the Southampton Arts Centre (SAC) as Art Gallery Director April Patry and Art School Director Darlene McConnachie leave the centre to undertake new endeavours.

Both Patry and McConnachie, who will leave their positions later this month, took on their director roles in 2013. “The last four years have been an incredible time of growth and development for me as Gallery Director,” said Patry, who has accepted a position closer to home. “It has been an absolute joy to collaborate with neighbouring Saugeen Shores organizations. The friendships that I have made here have truly enriched my life,” she added.

McConnachie said she will be semi-retiring and was looking forward to doing some travelling in the fall and winter. “I absolutely love the job, I really do,” she said of her position at the Arts Centre. “It's been awesome, unique and I've made really good friends with the artists and the instructors. People come in and chat and everybody becomes a friend. It's a really awesome job, it's a very busy job.”

Darlene McMurdie, who will be taking on the new role of SAC Director, said she was very happy to have been accepted for the position. “The smile is going to be on my face for a very long time. This to me is a role I still have to pinch myself every day. It encompasses a bit of different areas that I've worked in.”

McMurdie, originally from Waterloo, has lived in Saugeen Shores for the past four years and said that her background has been in business, sales and marketing. “I worked in the technology sector in Waterloo for years, so sales and marketing and business development,” she explained. “I also taught as an early childhood educator.”

She said that she has a strong artistic love. “I started painting and I've taken courses with a number of the artists here that show in the gallery,” said McMurdie. “I've been involved in fine arts and I love fibre arts, I do a lot of knit design.”

Working closely with McMurdie will be Dana Cheer, who recently graduated from Haliburton School of Art and Design and will become SAC’s Operations Manager. Cheer said she was looking forward to her role and loved everything and anything to do with art. “I like tangible so not so much on a canvas but moreso on a fabric, pottery or sculpture.”

SAC Board of Directors Chair Margot Foster said that SAC was celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and that the board had implemented a “strategic shift,” where there was now a “single expanded directorship role” responsible for both the art school and gallery operations. “The competences that Darlene and Dana will bring to this new structure, combined with the depth of our artist / instructor partners, positions the Southampton Arts Centre to thrive for the next 60 years,” said Foster.

She added the board wished to thank Patry and McConnachie for their years of service. “They have been been instrumental in elevating the presence of the Southampton Arts Centre in Saugeen Shores.”