Public is given another handout
The Arts Council is bailing out The Public again, after agreeing a "significant grant" to cover the cost of portraits taken for an exhibition that never happened.
More than 70 dog owners paid £50 a time to have their pets photographed as part of a project run by the now defunct Public Gallery Ltd.
The portraits were to be displayed in the gallery in West Bromwich, and copies sent to the owners as part of the deal. But the company went into administration, and now, after complaints from pet owners, The Public's main funder, the Arts Council, has issued a grant to administrators Baker Tilly to pay for the pictures to be processed and delivered as promised.
Baker Tilly spokesman Bob Bailey said today: "We have been in contact with the photographer, and the photos are being processed in Canada. We are now looking at the most practical way of getting them to the dog owners."
Canadian artist Shari Hatt, who took the photographs in December, was also left thousands of pounds out of pocket, when the company running the gallery collapsed last month.
She has been contacted by Baker Tilly who have assured her she will be paid in full.
In total, 72 dog owners paid for portraits of their pets to be shown at the gallery.
