May 18, 2006 - Gallery and Artwork Safe After Local Floods

The Collector's Art Gallery is happy to report that it has now made a full recovery from the flooding that has devastated many businesses and homes in the Seacoast area earlier this week.

The flooding began just hours after the opening of the gallery's premier contemporary art exhibition on the evening of Saturday, May 13th, and water levels continued to rise through Tuesday, May 16th. Those who drove by the gallery's Foyes Corner location during the past several days found the building surrounded by water several feet deep. The parking lot, the lot behind the gallery, and parts of Sagamore Road were entirely submerged.

Collector's Art Gallery owner Michael Labrie states: "The timing of the flood caught everybody off guard. We were in the middle of our first opening, and the rain just wouldn't ease up. By the following morning, a lake had formed around the gallery. We worked feverishly to get everything high up off the floor in the event that the waters continued to rise. We knew that we had to act immediately in order to save the artwork."

Labrie organized a crew, deployed a pump and convinced the City of Rye to block off Sagamore Road from traffic. Part of the damage came from SUVs recreationally driving through the flooded areas at high speeds, causing forceful waves to crash over the building's windows and doors. The next seventy-two hours were spent in continuous efforts to pump out water that surrounded the building. "The single-minded goal at that point was to keep water from seeping inside the gallery until the flooding subsided," says Labrie.

As the rainfall finally eased up on Wednesday, the efforts proved successful. The gallery suffered minimal water damage, which was mainly confined to the parts of the building containing administrative offices. No artwork was damaged. "We felt a tremendous sense of responsibility to the exhibiting artists and are extremely relieved that we were able to save all the art," says Labrie. The Collector's Art Gallery is thankful to everybody in the community who showed concern and support during this crisis.