About The Permanent Art Collection
The Permanent Art Collection is part of the culture and heritage of the Alberni Valley. Built over generations through the generosity of local artists and members, the collection represents an important piece of our community’s artistic legacy, and the Community Arts Council of the Alberni Valley is committed to honouring that legacy as it looks to the collection’s future.
A Community Legacy
The Community Arts Council of the Alberni Valley (CAC) was formed in 1965 by several local artists, including Robert Aller and George Clutesi, to bring together arts organizations from the region and to create greater awareness of arts and culture in Port Alberni. In 1977, the City of Port Alberni acquired the Rollin residence known as the Rollin Art Centre and leased it to the CAC as the “home of the arts” in Port Alberni.
Over the decades, members and artists have donated more than one hundred artworks to the CAC, forming the Permanent Art Collection.
The Aller Collection
In 1995, the Community Arts Council received a gift for its permanent collection of twenty art works by Canadian artists from artist and founding President Robert Aller. Donated as part of the CAC’s thirtieth anniversary, the Aller Collection contains works from some of Canada’s most notable First Nations artists, whom Aller met and whose art he collected while teaching in First Nations communities.
The Aller Collection was documented and displayed by the Maltwood Art Museum at the University of Victoria in 2005. According to Aller’s friend Martin Segger, then Director of the Maltwood, the donation was made as a founding collection for Port Alberni’s Rollin Art Centre—and, hopefully, the beginning of a community art gallery.
Looking to the Future
The Board of the Community Arts Council has established a Permanent Art Collection Committee to research and make recommendations on the future of the collection.
The Committee’s work is ongoing and time sensitive: the collection is currently housed securely at the Alberni Valley Museum until December 2026. Its work has included reviewing the collection’s history, provenance, and documentation; researching what is required to preserve, manage, and exhibit the collection; understanding the CAC’s governance and constitutional mandate; and engaging with the community, the City, and the Alberni Valley Museum to explore possible outcomes.
Diligent stewardship of an art collection is both costly and demanding for a community non-profit with limited resources. Museum-quality care requires adequate space to store and exhibit works, along with resources for insurance, appraisals, ongoing preservation, and secure, climate-controlled storage. After careful review, the Committee recognizes that maintaining the collection in this way is not sustainable for the CAC alone.
A new direction for the collection must be identified, one that honours the legacy of the artists and donors who created it, with input and support from the community. The Committee is committed to achieving this goal and warmly invites your participation.