 |
 |
Party Arty Edmonton |
 |
|
|
As an arts centre, River City is well on its way, and the new Art Gallery of Alberta could launch us into the stratosphere By Gregory Kennedy The fine arts have always played a beloved cameo role in the cultural lives of Edmontonians — a role that’s now bound for superstardom as the iconic Art Gallery of Alberta throws open its doors to inspire and ignite the creative community. “Edmonton is very active on the art scene,” says gallery owner Agnes Bugera, who founded her first gallery here in 1975. “For a city of our size, we can compete with much larger cities like Toronto or Ottawa. I hear that so many times, when people come to Edmonton, how impressed they are with the calibre of work here, as well as The Gallery Walk.” “For the future, the Art Gallery of Alberta is obviously important in terms of cultural recognition for Edmontonians and Albertans,” adds Matthew Hudon, owner of West End Gallery, also established in 1975. “Edmonton’s a very cultural city with all its festivals — and this is keeping us up on the charts.”
With two higher-education centres to nurture new talent — the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan University — as well as The Works Art & Design Festival to boost the energy and imagination of downtown Edmonton every summer, it’s easy to see the canvas here is bursting with colour and opportunity for the artistically gifted. Artist-run centres such as Harcourt House, Latitude 53 Society of Artists and the Society of Northern Alberta Print Artists (SNAP Gallery) also empower artists to create unique work and foster new talent through workshops, studio space and galleries. Institutional art is one thing, however. Putting art into the homes, lives and hearts of city residents in another. At the grassroots level, it’s the enthusiasm, knowledge and support of developing talent shown by The Gallery Walk Association of Edmonton that’s allowed budding Canadian artists to mature into rewarding careers right here in River City. Member galleries include: Agnes Bugera Gallery, Bearclaw Gallery, Electrum Design Studio, Peter Robertson Gallery, Scott Gallery, Tu Gallery and the West End Gallery. “Not to toot our horn,” adds Hudon, “but I think the Gallery Walk Association of Edmonton, with so many art galleries within the area of a few city blocks, is good for the community.” A pioneering idea and the first of its kind in Canada, The Gallery Walk was created in 1981 to promote within our community both art and artists of merit. It’s a 12-block area just west of downtown in the 124th Street area — a funky, eclectic business community with boutique restaurants, gift and clothing shops, bookstores, live theatre venues and more over 12 scenic blocks. Each April and October, member galleries mount special shows for visitors who love to stroll from gallery to gallery, soaking up the visuals as they window-shop or add to their collection. (Folks who visit even five Gallery Walk members get a special thank-you from the art dealers — free admission to the new Art Gallery of Alberta.) Of course, anyone can take the walk solo anytime of the year — and the association will happily assist any group, convention, school or tour to set up their own special visit. Across the river in historic, bohemian Old Strathcona — for three days every July during the Whyte Avenue Art Walk — brush-friendly businesses such as The Paint Spot, Old Strathcona foundation and Old Strathcona Business Association provide friendly venues and sidewalk space for more than 230 artists to hawk their creations. Their gallery walls, mind you, would be nearly as bare as Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboards were it not for the University of Alberta’s century of avidly collecting works of art and historical artifacts for exhibition, teaching and research.
“The U of A was one of the first collecting and exhibiting institutions in the province. We’ve built some fabulous collections,” says Jim Corrigan, curator of the University of Alberta Art Collection. “We have the Print Study Centre. The Mactaggart Art Collection; we’ve won awards for that. We’ve attracted artists on an international scale. We teach. The students who emerge from here are internationally recognized. The U of A is crucial to the arts scene in Edmonton.” The university’s art collection now contains more than 8,500 works, including paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures as well as ethnographic and historical artifacts. The Mactaggart Art Collection — a true world-class treasure — comprises more than 700 rare and unique works of art, including textiles, paintings, handscrolls and other artifacts from ancient and modern East Asia. It’s all part of the University of Alberta Museums, a network of 35 interdisciplinary museums and collections across campus, ranging from art to zoology. The Fine Arts Building (FAB) Gallery, established in 1987, showcases the creative achievements of students, teaching and technical staff in its Department of Art and Design, and admission is free to all. Art also helps to heal here in Edmonton, at the University of Alberta Hospital, where The McMullen Gallery mounts a half-dozen engaging, educational and inspiring exhibits each year as well as hands-on art activities for patients. The contribution of fine arts to Edmonton’s quality of life is hardly abstract — it’s all around us. “Whether you’re a blue-collar worker or a white-collar worker — whoever you are in society — the fine arts are actually a mirror and a compass,” adds Corrigan. “They show us who we are, they show us where we’re going. Visual artists quite often anticipate things that are going on in the world around us, or they can show us what the world is made of in our interaction with it. I think whoever you are, creativity is part of the complexity of being a human being. Appreciation for the visual arts makes you a wholer person.” |
ARTY FACTS Canadian Council for the Arts, Edmonton Book of Everything |
