Login / RegisterVancouver Art Gallery relocation plan gets boost from local artists
A growing number of people from the local visual-arts scene are publicly voicing support for building a new Vancouver Art Gallery.
“It says very clearly and very loudly that pretty much the whole visual-arts community would love to see a new, stand-alone Vancouver Art Gallery,” artist Roy Arden told the Straight.
As of late October, more than 250 people had added their names to an online letter that expresses support for the proposal to relocate the gallery—more than 100 over this time last month.
Supporters include high-profile artists Jeff Wall, Ken Lum, and Douglas Coupland, as well as critics, curators, gallery workers, and others.
VAG officials want to move the gallery to a city-owned block at Cambie and West Georgia. They argue a new purpose-built facility is needed because the gallery’s current home, a former courthouse at Robson Square, has become too small.
“It’s a very problematic building for what it’s expected to do,” Arden said. “It’s not especially suited for showing contemporary art and it just has a lot of quirks and a lot of problems.”
The current building is protected, nothing bad will happen to it. It will find new use, possibly by the Vancouver Museum. Expanding on site was already studied and rejected for various reasons. Why so pessimistic about a new building? The VAG Board feels it is possible and they are the ones who must raise the funds. Why should it be like Seattle? That is just pessimism. Art is one of the important things that distinguishes us from animals. A new gallery will cost half as much as the stadium roof. A new building is overdue and a no-brainer. It will be enjoyed by everyone and produce economic benefit for the region.