Conceptual artist Wendy Williams Watt moves a Big Love Ball outside the Vancouver Art Gallery to celebrate International Women's Day, on March 8, 2017.DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
Vancouver needs a new art gallery. It’s time.
The concept has been on the table for about two decades – and now there is a big chunk of funding for it, thanks in large part to the province and philanthropist Michael Audain; each has given $100-million to the project.
There is a wow-factor blueprint ready to go, drafted by a Swiss architectural firm and modified in response to initial (not always positive) feedback, with a facade designed in collaboration with four Coast Salish artists. There is a parking lot sitting there waiting for it – land owned by the City of Vancouver, which committed the space for the project nine years ago.
And there is a need.
The current facility, which opened in 1983, is housed in a neo-classical courthouse. The building is pretty, has history and is very central, which people love. But it is inadequate. It’s too small, the ceilings are too low, and it lacks the educational facilities the new gallery promises.
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel around the country this fall, seeing reminders of the great potential of cultural infrastructure: the new contemporary Inuit art museum Qaumajuq at the Winnipeg Art Gallery; the spectacular central library in Calgary; the National Gallery in Ottawa; the Audain Art Museum in Whistler (yep, same Mr. Audain). As you walk through these places, it feels impossible not to be moved – by the art, the books, the ideas within.
Isn’t this what we were craving when we were all stuck at home? Not just to be with other people, but to be in interesting places that spoke to us in ways beyond what we can experience through a screen?
Budgets are tight right now (trust me, I know; I have a variable-rate mortgage). And there will be the predictable naysayers who will argue that there is a more appropriate use for public money; that spending on culture is a frill for better times.
In basic economic terms, the project is expected to generate an estimated 3,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs in the tourism sector.
These figures were presented by B.C.’s NDP government this month, as it announced $50-million for the project (in addition to $50-million committed by a previous B.C. Liberal provincial government).
Beyond the dollars, it makes sense to have a place that can properly showcase art in a Canadian city that has an international reputation for it.
The great Rodney Graham died this week. Not a household name, perhaps, but he was an extraordinary artist who lived and worked in Vancouver.
Not that you would know that if you visit the VAG. There are currently no works by Mr. Graham on display. No works installed by other superstar Vancouver artists, either – Jeff Wall, Stan Douglas, Robert Davidson, Brian Jungen – all of whom are in the permanent collection. Emily Carr is relegated to nine works in the current exhibition Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment. Even though the VAG owns works by all of these artists, including more than 250 by Carr, there’s just no room.
The new VAG will about double the gallery space from the current building. About one-third of that space will be dedicated to the permanent collection, VAG director Anthony Kiendl said this week. The lower floors he views as a sort of cultural centre – with education facilities, studios for artists and more.
Culture is an integral part of urban life. When you travel to a new city, isn’t there usually a museum or art gallery on your itinerary?
I think a perception of top-down decision-making and a lack of transparency was a big part of the failure in past years to get this project off (or into) the ground. I personally remain irritated that in 2015 the VAG announced, with great fanfare, the acquisition of 10 J.E.H. MacDonald sketches that had apparently been buried for more than 40 years. When challenged by the skepticism of art-world types in the know, the VAG refused to disclose the results of scientific testing by the Canadian Conservation Institute. If this registered charity wants the support of the public – whose hard-earned money contributes to funding the place – transparency is essential.
The gallery’s administration is in a tricky position, trying to plan the new facility while keeping the current place going. It is not always succeeding. There is grumbling over the fact that the library has been closed since its cataloguer retired in August. (Mr. Kiendl says there are plans to hire someone in the first quarter of 2023. There was a lot of attrition among staff owing to the pandemic, he added.)
The gallery is going to have to figure all of this out if it wants the public’s blessing – and needed donations – to move ahead with ground-breaking in 2023. The new building is a worthy project. I know the city is worthy as well; Vancouver deserves this.