Culture

Vancouver Art Gallery gets $50-million

by Rob Peters | March 7, 2008 at 10:46 am

857 views | 0 Recommendations | 7 comments

Given the current facility can only show about 3 per cent of the 9000-piece VAG collection, I'd say this is long overdue. I really hope they get rid of that stupid-looking van with the two rear-ends.

The Vancouver Art Gallery's director is hoping to accelerate fundraising for a new facility thanks to a $50-million provincial contribution, announced yesterday by Premier Gordon Campbell.

Vancouver artist Jeff Wall is a very serious guy:

"Vancouver, by now, is far too important a city not to have a very serious, very good art gallery in which they should have a very serious and very good collection and should be able to conduct a very good and very serious program," he said.

Some of the details:

The $50-million is part of $209-million in funding for the arts that also includes $150-million to create a general cultural fund tied to the province's 150th anniversary, and $9-million to restore the Vancouver East Cultural Centre.

Speculation about the new building:

The gallery was founded in 1931 and was moved into its current home in 1983.

There is no specific budget, architect or location for the new building yet, but Ms. Bartels said she is intent on seeing its doors open by 2014.

There has been talk of building the gallery at the site of a former bus depot at Cambie and Georgia Streets beside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. A site on False Creek also has been considered.

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cynthia yoo

at 13:09 on March 7th, 2008

Oh, I hear you about the van.

Jordan Yerman

at 13:36 on March 7th, 2008

I like the van for what it is as a maker project (a van with no front and no doors), but I confess to not "getting it" as an art piece.

grooni

at 14:04 on March 7th, 2008

Holga shot of the Vancouver Art Gallery

grooni has contributed a photo to this story.

Rachel Nixon

at 14:38 on March 7th, 2008

Autumn leaves at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Rachel Nixon has contributed a photo to this story.

Terence Sy

at 16:48 on March 7th, 2008

I am a photographer and I was on Christmas holiday when I took this picture, I was walking around the city when the architecture of the art gallery kind of got my attention.

Terence Sy has contributed a photo to this story.

Brule Laker

at 21:25 on March 7th, 2008

This photo was taken during our first trip to the Pacific Northwest last summer. Sadly, it was cloudy and raining most of the time we were in Vancouver. In fact, we visited the Vancouver Art Gallery because it was raining so hard. Luckily, we saw an excellent traveling exhibit of French Impressionists on loan from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Brule Laker has contributed a photo to this story.