Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA)

[Offworld]

I wonder if the AGA needs to focus on traveling exhibitions that'll bring in people that wouldn't go to a gallery often. The VAG in Vancouver is dying a slow death because it seems stuck in ultra-of-the-moment art that speaks to such a small group it might as well meet at a coffee shop. They used to host traveling exhibits, the DaVinci was a massive success. Now? They couldn't fundraise for a new building and halted construction almost immediately after beginning site prep and excavation. There's more to that story but art galleries are losing critical opportunities when they instead turn their back on historically great art and focus instead on "artists" that honestly need to find a new vocation.

 

[IanO]

You are onto something here... kinda like how it makes me wonder why the Banksy exhibit is in the old SportChek instead of at the AGA?

 

[trevorhayden]

Yes they should, but the AGA was underbuilt for modern exhibitions. Needs more space.

 

[IanO]

'I get their meaning, but the attitude has to be the AGA must re-introduce itself to Edmontonians, not the other way around.'

Lorne Gunter: Onus on Art Gallery of Alberta to attract more visitors

Fundraising and membership sales are the AGA’s responsibility. But the city has a role in supporting the gallery’s goals.

edmontonjournal.com

 

[David A]

'I get their meaning, but the attitude has to be the AGA must re-introduce itself to Edmontonians, not the other way around.'

Lorne Gunter: Onus on Art Gallery of Alberta to attract more visitors

Fundraising and membership sales are the AGA’s responsibility. But the city has a role in supporting the gallery’s goals.

edmontonjournal.com

Yes, people are not going to want to go there out of some sort of sense of civic duty, particularly if it is hard to get to and/or far away for them.

However, artists are creative people, so I hope they can come up with some ideas to try to better engage with and reconnect with Edmontonians.

 

[The_Cat]

Perhaps one strategy is going to schools and art shows to promote the AGA.

 

[kcantor]

I think there are a number of fundamental problems with the AGA.

The building itself is more than 8,000 square meters but has less than 3,000 square metres of actual gallery spaces that are quite disjointed. While this is an increase from what was in the previous gallery, the relationship between the gallery spaces, the circulation between them, and their programming doesn’t “work” like there is more gallery space.

The old gallery was also first and foremost a gallery where you went for the art. The new AGA seemed to treat the art as secondary to the building itself and placed a higher priority on its being an event venue than an art venue.

Corporate events and weddings and patio parties and food service seemed to be more important than art and gallery attendance.

The addition of art classes for everyone from toddlers to seniors also seems to further dilute rather than enhance the buildings prime raison d’être as an art gallery, not a school or a community centre.

I think there needs to be a fundamental review of what an art gallery should be as it’s pretty clear that what’s being delivered isn’t what’s wanted. My guess is that would result in some internal reconfiguration and reallocation of some spaces.

 

[IanO]

The Edmonton Art Gallery — 1969

2 Sir Winston Churchill Square Designed by Bittorf and Wensley ArchitectsOriginal Owner: The Edmonton Art Gallery In 1969, the year The Edmonton Art Gallery (EAG) was complete, Edmonton Journal art…

capitalmodernedmonton.com

No Bilbao effect?

I miss the old 'art bar'.

 

[kcantor]

The Edmonton Art Gallery — 1969

2 Sir Winston Churchill Square Designed by Bittorf and Wensley ArchitectsOriginal Owner: The Edmonton Art Gallery In 1969, the year The Edmonton Art Gallery (EAG) was complete, Edmonton Journal art…

capitalmodernedmonton.com

No Bilbao effect?

I miss the old 'art bar'.

No Bilbao effect?

Firstly, Bilbao is four times as large but more importantly it's usable gallery space is eight times as large as AGA (and the ratio between the total and the usable is also much higher.

Secondly, while Bilbao's architecture is spectacular - and not derivative - Bilbao presents some spectacular art and is curated such that it would likely have great attendance if the the galleries were located in a big grey box. At the end of the day, Bilbao is still about the art.

Even on a visiting artist or loan program, how many pieces or exhibitions does the AGA have on view all the time that make people ask "have you seen XXX" or that you would visit again and again simply because they're such spectacular art?

They're art galleries and if they're going to be successful over the long term, it needs to be about the art and presenting it in a manner that the public wants to see. No-one visits Bilbao to play with clay while having a beer.

 

[ChazYEG]

No Bilbao effect?

Firstly, Bilbao is four times as large but more importantly it's usable gallery space is eight times as large as AGA (and the ratio between the total and the usable is also much higher.

Secondly, while Bilbao's architecture is spectacular - and not derivative - Bilbao presents some spectacular art and is curated such that it would likely have great attendance if the the galleries were located in a big grey box. At the end of the day, Bilbao is still about the art.

Even on a visiting artist or loan program, how many pieces or exhibitions does the AGA have on view all the time that make people ask "have you seen XXX" or that you would visit again and again simply because they're such spectacular art?

They're art galleries and if they're going to be successful over the long term, it needs to be about the art and presenting it in a manner that the public wants to see. No-one visits Bilbao to play with clay while having a beer.

Also, Bilbao, the city, receives heaps of tourists. And the relationship of Europeans with art is generally different from North Americans, in the sense that they don't perceive it as exclusive, or focused, for the elite.