it seems to be a slow summer....
A new spot to park the Carrs
Adam McDowell, National Post Published: Monday, July 07, 2008
Stuart Davis, Canwest News Service
VANCOUVER - When the Vancouver Art Gallery finally moves into its new (and possibly starchitect-designed) facility on the shore of False Creek in the middle of the next decade, it's a safe bet the door to the director's office won't still have "Chief Justice's Chambers" stencilled on the glass.
Though it's counted among Western Canada's most important public art institutions, boasting ever-rising attendance numbers and first-rate curatorial standards, the VAG has been housed since 1983 in an ageing, grand-but-cramped building that began its 97-year life as a courthouse (and still serves as one for movie shoots). The province gave the gallery a strong push toward building a new home last March: $50-million in cash and a deal to grant it the land where the Plaza of Nations, a doomed vestige of Expo 86, now stands.
It's a start, but the VAG must still find an architect, raise hundreds of millions of dollars and wait at least until 2013 or '14 before it can start displaying art in its first purpose-built facility.
In the meantime, like most everyone else at the VAG, director Kathleen Bartels professes a certain affection for the Robson Street pile. She somehow even manages to smile as she lists its frustrating limitations.
Take, for example, the fact that there's no way to prevent visitors from gawking at the installation of temporary exhibitions as they travel between floors. "It's all within sight of the public. You can't close something off so people can't see all of your mess and what's happening behind the scenes," Bartels says. "We find it extremely challenging.
"We also find it challenging that we don't have dedicated galleries for the permanent collection." This is arguably the VAG's biggest weakness. "We don't have dedicated galleries where people can say, 'Every time I come here I want to see that Jeff Wall that you have, or that great Emily Carr.' When we don't have Emily Carrs up, people complain."
The litany of infrastructure woes continues: a confusing layout for visitors; an outmoded HVAC system (heating/ ventilaton/air conditioning); no dedicated areas for educational programs. Senior curator Bruce Grenville says, "There are gorgeous things about this building, and there are things that make you pull your hair out every time you deal with them."
It's no wonder Bartels smiles wider when discussing the VAG's plans to move into a new facility. The Chicago native's endearingly Midwest-accented voice brightens as she ticks off a list of features the new building will possess.
"It's not just a wish list. We know what we need to have," she says. "Space for emerging artists -- on a regular basis we'd like to show what's happening in British Columbia or internationally. Who are those younger artists from L. A., New York, Vancouver, Hong Kong or Tokyo who are at the forefront?
"We need public gathering space, which we don't have. We can't seat a big crowd here."
Most importantly, the VAG will double its exhibition space to 320,000 square feet.
The next waypoint on Bartels's "stringent timeline" arrives this fall, when the gallery plans to put out a request for proposals.
Once a plan is chosen, the design debates will begin. "I know we will hire an architect who matches the aspirations of this city, this province and this institution," Bartels says.
It sounds as if she's preparing the city to welcome the work of an auteur architect: Vancouver, be prepared for a Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava or Daniel Libeskind.
"You know, I think there's this whole thing right now where people are anti-icon, anti-starchitect. It's overplayed, frankly. We want a visionary, whoever it might be, whether known or relatively unknown."
Then there's the pesky, multi-year task of knocking on corporate, private and government doors for donations. Bartels says setting a fundraising goal is "premature before you choose an architect." "When you start putting a number out there, people come back and say, 'Oh, you said it was only going to be this much.' It's just way too early." The Art Gallery of Ontario's renovation cost $254-million; the VAG's final figure will likely land in the same general neighbourhood.
Building a new facility means trying to please a lot of people, and the journey can be tough on a museum director. Bartels knows this. "You're always going to find criticism, no matter what you do."
However, there's reason to believe she will be able to please at least most of the people. Bartels has helped restore the VAG to productive harmony since she arrived from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 2001. Before her time, there was squabbling over the artistic merit of exhibitions between the board (which was perceived as conservative), the staff (which was not) and local artists. The leadership of the past did not get anywhere with its dreams of building a new gallery.
"We need to get this place humming," Bartels was quoted around the time she arrived, and she did. Membership has risen from 9,000 to 40,000 under her watch; the collection has grown significantly, from about 6,000 pieces to 10,000; and admissions revenue has doubled to more than $2-million. In January, 2007, she signed up for five more years in the chief justice's -- sorry, make that director's --office.
"I think it's an exciting challenge for me personally, for our staff, for our board," Bartels says. "The Vancouver Art Gallery's ready."
[email protected]
epper::cucumber:
