The transformed barn is ready to welcome artists in residence!
Introduction
The D'Arts et de rêves (DAR) artists' residence, located in the barn at 57, rue Principale Nord, in Sutton, has been reborn in terms of its look, see photos below, and its name, Studios DAR Sutton. The work begun a little over a year ago is finished, but in construction, as you may well know, there are always things still to be done... But all in all, the transformation of Studios DAR Sutton is complete.
- André Fournelle, who donated a monumental sculpture for the Parc DAR unveiling scheduled July 3, during the reopening celebrations, has been living there since June 21. André Fournelle (andrefournelle.com)
- You will be able to visit the Sutton DAR Studios on July 3 rd at 2 p.m., open house day.
You may recall that Nicole Côté organized a virtual tour in November 2020 and that we did a photo reportage to document the changes that were taking place.
Here is another photo reportage that reveals the rejuvenation cure that the barn that originally belonged to the Lusignan family underwent.
Before, during and after
The photo on the left shows that changes had already been made to the original barn as the artists’ residence and studio was created there in 2016: on the ground floor you can see the new window on the left and the red door protected by the awning from the original family home, and on the first floor the large window where a studio could be found.
The photo on the left, taken upstairs from the back of the barn, shows the large open space with the new beams. The photo on the right, taken from the same vantage point, shows the new studio with access to a staircase on the left, and next to it a sink and shelves. You can see that there is now a wall that divides the space in two, and then a door. This door leads to a space (mini-balcony) from which it will be possible to observe or capture what is going on in the large room on the ground floor.
The large room on the ground floor, which can be seen from the small balcony upstairs. This magnificent room will be used mainly by contemporary circus artists but also for cultural mediation activities, meetings, and shows....
These photos show the entrance through which the public will be invited for the activities held in this room. They were taken from the entrance reserved for artists.
After the view from the first floor, here is the view from the ground floor. The door and the small balcony, for observing or capturing the events held in the large room, overlook a door leading to the artists' residence. There is storage on the left and a sink on the right. But yes, there is a toilet, not yet installed at the time of taking the photos... Note the beam from original barn in the photo on the left.
Another view of the entrance door for the public.
Back to square one: the upstairs studio. The brightness and size of the space have already delighting the artists who have visited this studio.
There are now three bedrooms instead of two in the artists’ residence but at the time of publication, they had not been quite set up, so no photos available yet.
More work to be done
If you've walked or driven by 57, rue Principale Nord, you've probably noticed that there is a lot of work to be done outside the barn as the landscaping has suffered a blow during this construction year: storage of construction materials, continuous passage of workers, trucks going back and forth... This is the next phase of the transformation project that should take place this year.
To be continued…
Liliane Lessard