Local art gallery administrator earns lifetime achievement award

Sackville arts administrator John Murchie received the Atlantic Provinces Art Gallery Association Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization's annual general meeting held last week in Halifax. APAGA Lifetime Achievement Awards are given to individuals who, during their lifetimes, have made contributions of outstanding significance to art museums, art galleries and the visual arts in Atlantic Canada.
John Murchie has been coordinator of Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Art Centre in Sackville since 2003. He was director of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design library from 1972 to 1990, and built the library and non-print collection during an important time in its development. He is also a practising artist working in performance, installation, and painting.
Murchie is active in the community and has devoted a great deal of time as a volunteer. He has served on numerous boards including Eye Level Gallery, Dalhousie Art Gallery, and Arts Atlantic magazine. He has served on arts juries including the Canada Council for the Arts and New Brunswick Arts Board. Murchie believes in and supports artists and artist-run culture, and supports students and others in the community through various ways and means.
The Atlantic Provinces Art Gallery Association was formed in 1975, as a registered non-profit organization intended to encourage close co-operation amongst art galleries, museums and artists in the four Atlantic Provinces. APAGA is dedicated to promoting the high standards of care and presentation of works of art and serves as an important advisory body in matters of professional interest. Past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Joe Sherman, Arts Atlantic; Patricia Grattan, Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador; Mary Sparling, Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery; Susan Gibson Garvey, Dalhousie Art Gallery; and Judy Dietz, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.
Murchie was given a print by Rita McKeough, a well-known Canadian artist and this year's recipient of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts.