After living in Toronto, Caitlin Brubacher and Rodrigo Morante took the leap to move themselves and their business “Elephant in the Attic” to a historic home in Portage Du Fort, Que.

Elephant in the Attic is a unique custom framing business. As explained by Morante, most custom framers allow you to choose and order frames from a catalogue, their business is different as they have an inventory of over 1000 vintage and restored frames. Customers can come to them to frame their art, purchase art pieces, or have curated gallery walls designed for them.

“How we are different from other framers too is that we’re really about context, so I want to see photos of your space, sometimes I will even curate with other art to make decisions on how to do the framing. It’s really about how things go together,” added Brubacher.

The gallery walls and the style of the art stems from Brubacher’s time as a playwright in New York City. Brubacher practiced the art of piecing together numerous plays into contemporary works. This theme followed her as she moved from playwriting to visual arts. From there, Elephant in the Attic was born.

Brubacher and her partner Morante curate gallery walls that reflect the client’s personality and style while depicting a larger theme.

Rodrigo Morante and Caitlin Brubacher opening one of the many boxes of art from their move.

“We would have a session where I would interview [the client], and get to know [them] and understand [them] better, and through that process I would make a selection of prints and I would curate off of that,” said Brubacher further explaining her creative process.

Living in Toronto in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple found themselves yearning for reinvention.

“This time I think for a lot of people has shown what really matters, and to me that has been community and nature. So being a in a big city where you’re constantly producing doesn’t really provide space for those things” explained Brubacher.

The couple was searching for a home outside of Toronto’s metropolitan environment that would allow them to both live surrounded by nature and continue to run their business. Their search in Ontario came up short, as the real-estate prices did not allow them to find what they were looking for. Brubacher came across the listing for this house in Portage Du Fort and was immediately intrigued. The home sported three stories, two-foot-thick stone walls, and a Pontiac historical society plaque dating the house to 1847.

The couple took a road trip out to see the home and immediately fell in love with the property and its potential.

The couple plans on using the home as a gallery, where clients can view the art with the option of buying it. Brubacher, who has a background in arts education, hopes to teach art and theatre classes to the community. The couple plans to renovate the property’s large garage into a space that can house their frames as well as a workshop space that could be used for a variety of courses.

The couple hopes to foster a “space for community engagement, and a space for people to come together and share visionary ideas.”

Brubacher and Morante encourage anyone who is interested in collaborating to reach out to them via their Instagram account @elephantintheattic or by phone (613-220-5138).

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