A
adma
Guest
Actually, my nickname for it is "The View-Master". Needs a slot on top where I can stick something like this in
The base looks '70's forbidding, and the overall form doesn't excite me.
David Staples: Art Gallery of Alberta gains renown because it celebrates our world
Not many buildings stand the test of time. None of the five original Fort Edmonton trading posts survived, nor have the vast majority of the city’s pre-First World War buildings. We’re now tearing down steel and glass modernist structures from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. It’s way too early to know if any of our newest buildings will be around in 100 years.
For example, will the downtown arena make it? Or the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA)?
The AGA is of particular interest because the building was derided by noteworthy critics when it was first proposed in 2005, but has since grown in reputation. It won the prestigious American Architecture Award in 2012. Now, the prominent U.S. architecture and design website Curbed named the AGA as one of the 17 most beautiful museums in the world. Other museums on the same list include the work of “starchitects” like Frank Gehry in Bilboa, Spain; I.M. Pei in Qatar and Santiago Calatrava in Valencia.
Of the AGA, Curbed writer Megan Barber says: “Randall Stout Architects designed the structure with a massive ribbon of stainless steel that wraps around and through the interior. Called ‘The Borealis,’ the swooping lines represent the northern lights, a frequent occurrence in the Edmonton night sky.”
Paula Simons: Free Art Gallery of Alberta admission for kids, students from now on
“There is no must in art, because art is free,” said the great Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky.
The Art Gallery of Alberta seems to be taking that motto to heart, in a rather literal sense.
As of Tuesday, the AGA will be offering free admission to all children and youth under the age of 18. Admission will also be free to anyone registered as a student in an Alberta post-secondary institution, regardless of age.
The policy change was announced to coincide with spring break for many Edmonton-area primary and secondary students — which should come as good news to any parents trying to figure out just what to do with their progeny this week.