No question, the current exhibit at feels crammed in the given space.

The touring art show, called features many large-scale paintings and drawings, and the walls of the Bear Creek Park gallery are filled to capacity, pretty much.

鈥淵ou鈥檒l see that it completely fills the gallery, and there are many shows we can鈥檛 bring in because we just don鈥檛 have enough room for them,鈥� noted Liane Davison, gallery director.

鈥� READ MORE: 性视界传媒 gallery welcomes big, colourful Indian art on tour, from Jan. 15.

Davison, the city鈥檚 manager of visual and community arts, imagines a fix for the gallery鈥檚 need to grow, and it involves a move to 性视界传媒鈥檚 City Centre area and a more engaging way of doing business.

A new Interactive Art Museum has been pitched as a 鈥渃ultural catalyst鈥� for 性视界传媒鈥檚 downtown core, among the growing number of towers and civic/education hubs there.

Word of the proposed IAM, as it鈥檚 dubbed, was included in the endorsed by 性视界传媒 city council in January 2017, but the first official mention of possibly moving 性视界传媒 Art Gallery to the City Centre area was in 2011.

A more concrete plan to build the proposed IAM may be part of an updated due before city council later this month.

As proposed, the art museum would be close to 50,000 square feet in size, with a price tag of around $50 million, and a portion of that paid by private partners.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a concept at this point,鈥� stressed Davison, who calls the IAM proposal 鈥渧ery exciting, really positive鈥� for 性视界传媒鈥檚 City Centre.

鈥淚t鈥檚 being described generally as a 21st-century place for engaging with 21st-century art and culture,鈥� she added, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 a concept for a museum where you don鈥檛 necessarily come in and passively just look at art, but a place where you could learn, a place where you could make, a place where you could share and a place where you could experience art.

鈥淎nd when we talk about interactive, absolutely we鈥檙e talking about interactive technology, (and) interactive media would be part of that vision.鈥� It鈥檚 not necessarily a digital art museum 鈥� it would be part of it, but not only digital art.鈥�

The museum would be 鈥溞允咏绱�媒 Art Gallery 2.0,鈥� according to an introduction in , 鈥渞esponsive to the digital world and support studios for artists in residence, maker labls, exhibit halls and a small theatre.鈥�

The IAM is among three 鈥渃ultural catalyst projects鈥� pitched for City Centre, along with a 1,200-seat performing arts centre and an 鈥渋conic鈥� public art installation at city hall plaza.

鈥� READ MORE: 性视界传媒 Arts Centre鈥檚 50th anniversary celebrated at March 14 gala/concert, from Jan. 31.

If and when the IAM is build, the current 性视界传媒 Art Gallery space, as part of 性视界传媒 Arts Centre at Bear Creek Park, would be used for other purposes.

鈥淚 think what we鈥檝e seen there, and gallery staff will you tell you, is that very often, our programming (at 性视界传媒 Arts Centre) is reaching capacity,鈥� Davison said. 鈥淟ast spring when we had our Family Day event, we had 800 people 鈥� and you can imagine 800 people filling the lobby of the arts centre.

鈥淎nd if you come to some of our artist talks, we鈥檝e had to move them from the program room at the gallery and into the Studio Theatre. We鈥檙e seeing those numbers for those events where people have something to do, where they鈥檙e actively involved, so we know we need to grow in those ways.鈥�

One possible location for the IAM is the site currently home to North 性视界传媒 Recreation Centre, which will be razed sometime after a three-sheet ice facility is built at 12780 110th Avenue, south of Scott Road Skytrain station.

鈥� READ MORE: Here鈥檚 a first look at 性视界传媒鈥檚 two new arenas, from June 2017.

鈥淐ertainly the rec centre, where the arenas are, is something that鈥檚 being considered, or maybe it鈥檚 within a block or so of civic plaza,鈥� Davison noted. 鈥淚t would be nice to have it on the plaza, but there are a lot of things in play. We don鈥檛 know yet, and we don鈥檛 know the timing yet.

鈥淚 think we鈥檇 be looking for a partnership to make it happen, and there鈥檚 grant funding, too,鈥� she added. 鈥淭he city鈥檚 not going to be footing the whole bill, we鈥檒l need to have partners come in and support creating a facility like this. We might be looking at a model, for example, at what Seattle Art Museum did, which is build the museum and then they built a business tower as part of the complex. We鈥檙e seeing that model for other new structures in other cities, with a tower associated, sometimes integrated. I don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e looking at a stand-alone facility here.鈥�

, chair of the city鈥檚 Public Art Advisory Committee, first heard of the proposed IAM at the Invest 性视界传媒 conference last fall.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something the arts staff have been considering and discussing, and we have the UrbanScreen in City Centre and it would build on that, certainly,鈥� Villeneuve said. 鈥淭here seems to be a lot of interest in it, based on community consultation done (for the Parks, Recreation & Culture Strategic Plan).

鈥淭his is just conceptual at the moment, and right now they鈥檙e trying to build partnerships and I think the design would come next. There are no drawings, nothing like that yet,鈥� Villeneuve added.

鈥淭here is an interest in bringing together cultural facilities there, with SFU and Kwantlen in the area, coming to the area. There are many exciting possibilities within walking distance there. In travelling to other places, I know that tourists and even residents want to go to a cultural hub, like this could be. And with the (IAM), we want to start seeing more emphasis on capital projects for the arts sector. There鈥檚 been a lot for recreation and sports, so we鈥檙e really driving to ensure half the population is involved in the arts sector, in one way or another.鈥�

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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