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By KATHY YANCHUS Oakville Beaver Staff Francine Perinet has had to defend her place of employment on more than one occasion. "You work at that awful place?" mimics Perinet of the accusing comâ€" ments she has received when she tells people she is employed by Oakville Galleries. "It‘s not something that shocked me," says Perinet who has been Galleries director for a little over a year now. "It is a problem of American society, the fact that art is not a part of life; it‘s (perceived as having) a value for one type of class." But being the determined, unflapâ€" pable person she is, Perinet has firmly entrenched herself in the Oakville contemporary art scene where she is determined â€" obligated in her mind â€" to educate the public, to grasp their misunderstanding of the Galleries‘ work and turn that frustration and animosity into conâ€" structive dialogue. Already, this Quebec native has put her knowlâ€" edge and innovation to impressive use, and she will make more changes, notâ€"the least of which will be doing away with the academic artsy jargon and reâ€"vamping the public education program. Sitting in their offices inside the Main House of Gairloch Gardens, overlooking the ducks and the water and the beautifullyâ€"manicured grounds, one might think the Galleries® staff is slightly aloof, perâ€" ]. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER FridayFile Presented by The Oalcuille Beaver Oakvnlle Galleries director, Francine Perinet. (Robert Nelson Photography) haps out of touch with the commuâ€" nity; plotting bizarre exhibits with taxpayers‘ money and basking in the national limelight that shines over the Galleries. But that couldn‘t be farther from the truth; every decision that is made has the community‘s best interests at heart, says Perinet. And that‘s a tough sell when you‘re talking about art that many don‘t understand, nor do they want to understand. "You want to make sure you‘re always in touch with the community. If you‘re in touch with your commuâ€" nity, you don‘t talk down to the community. What you have to do is establish a correspondence between your field of work and their field of work," she says. We all listen to the news at night; contemporary artists react to it, and have a different way of dealing with it," she adds. Her much sought after expertise in Canadian contemporary art has been accumulated over a long period of time. From the small town of Lake Megantic on the Quebec border of Maine, Perinet left home to continue her studies in Montreal, taking two years of medicine before switching to art. She studied Art and the History of Art at the University of Montreal and after graduation, taught at several universities. A "very crucial experience" for her came in the form of an innovative program she taught at the University of Ottawa, an introduction to differâ€" ent art forms and the relationships one could draw between art and daily life. What made it so unique, says Perinet, was that there were no strict guidelines and she was forced to do a lot of research. "It was a different way of looking at things. There are many successful artists today that came out of that era. The context (of the program) was very stimulating," says Perinet. Feeling the need to submerge â€" herself in contemporary art and accumulate more training, she worked for Parachute Magazine and established Artexte in Montreal, a bookstore which specialized in Canadian contemporary art and also served as a documentation centre on Monday Night â€" Tallbdy $2.99 Tuesday Night â€" Foosball League Plays ($10 entry) Wednesday Nightâ€" Pool Tournament' ($10 entry) aturday Night FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1993 PAGE 11 | Putting theory into | practice...pg. 12 Canadian artists and institutions. "This â€" would allow . the information to be known," Perinet. "Canadian art was the best kept secret." She then worked as a journalist with Societie Radio Canada before returning to teaching at the University in Ottawa while directing a gallery in Montreal, a small conâ€" temporary art gallery. Perinet‘s next stop was the Canada Council where she worked for five years as Assistant Head of the Visual Arts Section, involved in a "major program reâ€"evaluation." says She returned to teaching in 1988 and until last year, was director of the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Ottawa. When the position of Oakville Galleries director opened up, she went for it mainly because of its mandate of contemporary Canadian art. But also because of the variety of possibilities for exhibitions (because of the two very different exhibit areas at Centennial Gallery and Gairloch), the excellent staff and the Galleries‘ reputation. Although she had worked in (See ‘Breaking ‘ page 14 Macl’hee n Worksh()p AUTHORIZED DEALER Creative CIothmg for the Canadian Climate SEWING CLASSES FALL ‘93 A long dressy wool coat with a resistant outer shell, fur trim on hood. Registration $55 (1 eve., 2 days). 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