SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Northerners and visitors to Yellowknife will have one less place to go to find Northern art as Arrowmakers Fine Traditional Art Gallery will be closing its doors March 31, citing tough economic times and declining sales.

Darrell Beaulieu, CEO for Denendeh Development Corporation, which owns the gallery, said the business is another victim of the recent economic downturn.

"This has been coming for quite some time. The gallery was never a money-making operation and was primarily for supporting aboriginal art." Beaulieu said.

Arrowmakers received roughly $100,000 a year in subsidies from the DDC, and given the current economic climate, Beaulieu said it is just not possible to keep the gallery open.

"We had to make some tough decisions."

Beaulieu said the decision to close the gallery came in October after a meeting with the DDC board of directors.

"It did take the North a while to catch up and start recovering from the downturn in the economy, and we noticed an effect in terms of a decline in sales," he said. "It's sad because it was an outlet for artists and we would like to continue taking their art on a consignment basis, but artists have to eat too."

Beaulieu said the store will be featuring sales on remaining art in March, but couldn't give details on exactly what they would be.

Any art not sold before the gallery closes its doors will not just be thrown away.

"We will have it stored on the DDC premises, and if people want to buy it they can have that chance. There is some very nice work there and we can't just throw it in the dump," Beaulieu said.

Arrowmakers is 100 per cent owned by the DDC. It was founded in 1996 as Nor-Art International Gallery and features the paintings, carvings and other Northern art of Dene, Metis, Inuvialuit, Inuit and non-Aboriginal artists from across the NWT.

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