In 1988 when she was 25, Vancouver BC art dealer Catriona Jeffries opened her first art gallery. She dreamed of an establishment with links to the international art community.

Her first venture was in a second storey suite in a now-defunct office tower at 555 Burrard, a site far removed from other important galleries. This geographical drawback did not prevent her whole-hearted promotion of the artists she was fostering.

The new site of the Catriona Jeffries Gallery and a mock-up of its layout at 274 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver BC

Ron Terada work in the window of the old gallery site at 3149 Granville Street, Vancouver BC

A few years later, she became the business and life partner of Nigel Harrison who had been the highly-regarded co-proprietor of PRIOR Editions in Vancouver. The Catriona Jeffries Gallery then relocated to its second premise on Cambie in Yaletown.

After being there from 1991-94, the dealership moved to “Gallery Row” at 3149 Granville Street. For the last dozen years it has been aligned with the city’s most important, well-established art venues. In this period, the Catriona Jefferies Gallery steadily accrued one of the most impressive stable of artists, despite the fact that, at only thirteen feet wide, there was hardly room to swing the proverbial cat.

Tall ceilings, clear running walls on each side and at the back, made it a possible, if not ideal showing space for the “Conceptual, not pleasant or decorative” work Jeffries was committed to feature. Ron Terada’s faithful replica of a highway sign with the words “Entering the City of Vancouver” that was part of his 2002 exhibition, is an example of the sophisticated level of presentation the gallery often achieved.

On the afternoon of Saturday, June 3 the new Catriona Jeffries Gallery at 274 East 1st Avenue will open a 9,000 square foot space with an all-inclusive, twelve person show, a feat never possible before. As Jeffries said, “This new site was chosen because of it’s importance in Vancouver’s industrial and transportation history and because it’s in an area of exciting development. This gallery will now finally be a proper showcase for my artists. It will draw curators and critics from all parts of the world.”

The late artists (Roy Kiyooka and Jerry Pethick), as well as, Ontario born social satirist Myfanwy MacLeod will be represented alongside senior contemporary art practitioners Ian Wallace and Christos Dikeakos and a host of up-coming and local artists – Geoffrey Farmer, Arni Haraldsson, Brian Jungen, Germaine Koh, Damian Moppett, Alex Morrison, Kevin Schmidt, Judy Radul, Ron Terada, Kelly Wood and Jin-Me Yoon.

Ann Rosenberg is a freelance curator, critic, and author.