The gallery commenced operations in 1989 initially under the name Ikons in downtown St. John’s with the goal of marketing Newfoundland artists to the world.

Over time through its close association with the Pouch Cove Foundation, the visual artists residency program located just outside St. John's it has built close connections with many nationally and internationally known artists.

These relationships have provided us with several unique opportunities, to access art that would not normally be available to a regional gallery and to introduce this art to a new audience.

In early 1993 the name was changed to the James Baird Gallery and made a brief foray in Toronto at 80 Spadina Ave. to build a wider audience of Newfoundland work. But alas most art markets are regional in nature and we retreated before the economic realities of the time.

Over the past fifteen years we have held many exhibitions, not only in our own gallery, but also, in other commercial and public galleries across Canada.

We have been involved in curating and jurying other exhibitions. We have also been involved with the establishment of three other commercial galleries in Canada, England and Denmark as our clients have desired to enter the art world.

In addition we have been closely involved with the installation of site specific works around the city and the province.

We have also produced shows with the assistance of independent curators, held juried exhibitions, worked in conjunction with the Sound Symposium and with other arts organizations to stage many different kinds of art events.

In 2005 we moved from St. John’s and altered our name to James Baird>Pouch Cove to indicate not only our location but our changing role in the art scene. Not just a gallery we work with artists as agent, manager, friend and mentor to try and assist them to reach their own goals.

Our own goals have evolved.

More and more time is spent outside Newfoundland and Canada working on projects that are of interest to us.

From the isolated shores of the North Atlantic we have found a balance in the vibrancy of Buenos Aires, one of the world’s greatest cities and now divide our energies between the two places.

We are now James Baird > Pouch Cove & Buenos Aires and are engaged in assorted projects in both locations and places in between.