|
A blogger's preview of the Art Gallery of Alberta
 Posted
1/26/2010 12:44:00 PM
On Monday I was lucky enough to be invited to a tour of the Art Gallery of Alberta. But this wasn't just any tour. Local blogger and social media evangelist, Mack Male, had suggested to the AGA that they open their doors pre-opening to local social media and bloggers. The AGA gave a few tours Monday, including one to traditional media, and the one to the bloggers.
Still under construction
First, the Art Gallery of Alberta. I don't think it's any secret to anyone who's talked to me, that I LOVE the way the new Art Gallery of Alberta looks. So, I was very excited to see the inside of the AGA. And I'm not the only one, because the free online tickets to the Grand Opening weekend of the AGA, went like 'Tickle Me Elmos' at Christmas time. So if you're planning to visit and didn't book your tickets, you can start going to the AGA as of next Tuesday.
Around 30 bloggers attended the tour, which was given by Sarah Hoyles, who does Media Relations for the AGA, and Executive Director Gilles Hébert. They answered a lot of questions from the bloggers, and gave us a tour of the building sans-galleries.
There are four main elements to the Art Gallery of Alberta. They are: steel, glass, zinc, and douglas fir. The elements are carried throughout the building. The Borealis structure (the big steel waves) seamlessly flows between outside and inside the gallery. There is a vapor barrier inside and out so no moisture gets in - to protect integrity of the art. The Borealis is designed to draw your focus inside and outside the gallery, so you look at your city differently. I admittedly, only went to the old Art Gallery of Alberta once - and I think I was in grade six. But, I do plan to go a lot more. And there is a lot more to see. Gallery space went up 70% between the old and new building, and public space has more than doubled. They've also created a connection between the Churchill LRT Station and the AGA for use during business hours.
We didn't actually get to see any of the galleries, but we sure did hear about them. Franciso Goya, The disasters of war and los caprichos, should be a very interesting gallery to see. The Goya exhibit is here exclusively for the AGA. It's not touring anywhere else. The curatorial staff chose which pieces they would bring to the AGA, which is almost unheard of - the curatorial staff are leading the way in the art world. Georges Bures Miller and Janet Cardiff have two exhibitions at the AGA "The Murder of Crows" and the "Storm Room". I know I can't do the exhibitions justice, so check out the previews of the exhibitions by the AGA. I must admit, I am very much looking forward to the "Storm Room". Only 10 people will be allowed in at a time. It's the World premiere of the piece, and it's a multimedia installation which lets you live a storm from inside a house. The whole experience will last about 10 minutes, and I can't wait to experience it for myself.
This is going to blow you away.
As we toured the AGA, I couldn't help but notice the way the snow was building on certain parts of the Borealis. How would they clean that off? Well, have no fear - the artist who designed the Borealis, designed it to hold the snow. In fact, the snow collecting is intentional. The Borealis itself is an artform, presenting the snow to make it feel like you're under a snowbank when enough snow accumulates. Drainage has been installed so it does no damage to building. Different basins of the Borealis will hold snow and celebrate our winters.
In the lower levels, are some classrooms (yellow, green, orange) in which the AGA will be teaching classes to all ages about art. The lower level also features a theatre. The AGA will screen moving in the theatre, and it will also be open to rentals.
Executive Director Gilles Hébert answers questions from the bloggers at the conclusion of the tour.
I snuck out to check a bathroom on the lower level by the theatre. Initials impressions were that it was small, and there will definitely be lineups if you come see a show at the AGA. On the plus side - the lights, taps, and hand dryer are all motion sensored.
There are no hints on future exhibits at the AGA. However, there will always be a National Gallery of Canada exhibit at the Art Gallery of Alberta. In fact, our AGA is the only group that has the agreement. The agreement will allow visitors of AGA to see National Gallery of Canada works without having to take a trip to Ottawa.
The tour of the Art Gallery of Alberta was very interesting. And as much as I loved the tour, and am excited to visit the AGA and see it in all it's glory, there were two things that rubbed me kind of the wrong way. Firstly, Shop AGA will be selling an exclusive greeting card made specially for the AGA. My only problem with it, is that it was designed by an artist from British Columbia.
My second thing, would be that I think the AGA may not have fully been prepared to tour a group of local bloggers. This wasn't my first blogger-exclusive-tour, and hopefully, if I can continue straddling the line between traditional and social medias, this won't be the last. I know that bloggers may not have the reach traditional media, such as radio, has. However, we must keep in mind that there are niche-groups that definitely follow and will trust the blogger's opinion. For example, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra invited a multitude of bloggers to the Symphony Under the Sky this past summer. Most of those involved, were bloggers who blog specifically to the people who will be attending the Symphony. Now, perhaps there aren't many art-bloggers here in Edmonton, but it was too bad that the tour didn't go into any exhibits. Sure, the building was beautiful. And it was great to find out so much about the Art Gallery of Alberta - but why, if you have two media groups coming throughout the day - does only one get a preview of the exhibits? Now, it could have been a timing thing. But, it makes me think that if I want to experience a full preview, I should have gone with the rest of my industry. I have that option, as did a few other members of our touring group. But, the majority of the attendees don't have that option. In the future, I hope that when there is an event such as this one, they get the full treatment. I must say, that having worked side by side with some Edmonton bloggers over the past year at various events around town, they conduct themselves professionally, and govern themselves accordingly - with only minor exemptions. But, I have to say, even though I did feel minor disappointment at that part of the tour, I have to give the AGA credit. It was an amazing step for them to do something like this, and it's definitely going to pay off for them. Already, tons of blog posts, photos, and tweets, have gone out - expressing excitement over the Art Gallery of Alberta.
I still can't wait to check it out in all it's glory.
Note: As per Mack Male (in the comments below), he points out that the tour that went into the galleries was taken by the artist, and not the Art Gallery of Alberta. My apologies to the AGA, and thank you again for taking the step by allowing bloggers to come into the AGA for a sneak peek.
My photos from the tour can be found in my photo album: Tour of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
For other insight, photos, and etc, here are some other reactions:
Mack Male: Sneak Peek at the new Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton
Bruce Clarke: Art Gallery of Alberta – Sneak Peek
Chris Falconer: Art Gallery of Alberta – Edmonton, Alberta
Lea Alcantara: Flickr: AGA Sneak Peek
Taylor Reese: Flickr: AGA
Alex Abboud: Inside the Art Gallery of Alberta
I believe Mack is keeping a full list on his blog.
|
|
Brittney LeBlanc
|
|
|
|
Thank you very much Mack. Sorry about that, I didn't realize the group was given the tour by the artist.
|
|
Posted By
Brittney Le Blanc
On
1/26/2010 3:09:42 PM
|
|
A clarification: Sarah from the AGA tells me that no one has been given access to the galleries except for maybe the Edmonton Journal, because of their partnership. For instance, CityTV was there today and was not allowed in the galleries. The tour that was allowed in yesterday appears to have been invited by the artist, not by the AGA itself.
In other words, the AGA did not go out of its way to treat bloggers differently than the MSM.
|
|
Posted By
Mack D. Male
On
1/26/2010 2:16:26 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|