Exhibition
The frames and support structures used to display the exhibited artifacts were fabricated by Martin Schop, a professional art-framer, and current President of Pied Carré. He was instrumental in the most recent negotiations with Allied through which Pied Carré was able to cancel its accumulated debt by returning, or “retrocessing”, one floor of 5455 de Gaspé to Allied.
When Allied purchased the buildings at 5445-5455 de Gaspé, the artists with studios in the building organized to form the Pied Carré collective. Knowing that the building’s purchase would trigger a rent increase, gentrification, and likely eviction, Pied Carré fought to preserve the studios and contingent arts community.
They also lobbied the Borough of Plateau-Mont-Royal to uphold a bylaw that required new purchasers to maintain the pre-existing artists’ presence in the building, to which Allied conceded. The agreement signed with Pied Carré bound Allied to a rent reduction, however, after it took effect, Allied made costly renovations to the building, which caused commercial rental taxes for tenants to increase by 300%, resulting in a net rent much higher than artists and even artisans could afford. At the same time, this agreement made Pied Carré responsible for covering the rent owed to Allied, regardless of occupancy rates. In the year prior to this exhibition, Pied Carré had accumulated over $3,000,000.00 of debt owed to Allied.
The poster stands within the exhibition displayed copies of email exchanges and press updates which documented these proceedings between Pied Carré, Allied, and the City of Montreal.