Art Gallery of Alberta

Infobox Museum
name = Art Gallery of Alberta


established = 1924
location = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
type =
visitors =
director = Tony Luppino
curator = Catherine Crowston
website = [http://www.artgalleryalberta.com/ Art Gallery of Alberta]

The Art Gallery of Alberta (formerly the Edmonton Art Gallery) is a public art gallery located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Its collection of well over 5,000 works of art includes historical and contemporary paintings, sculptures, installation works and photographs by Canadian and international artists.

Originally designed in 1968 as a Brutalist building by Don Bittorf, the gallery is currently undergoing a controversial $88 million renovation.

History

The Art Gallery of Alberta was founded in 1924 under the name “The Edmonton Museum of Arts”. Its first exhibition was held that year in the Palm Room of the Hotel MacDonald. The museum later found its home in four different locations, including the Palm Room, the old Edmonton Public Library, the fourth floor of the Civic Block and the Edmonton Motors building before settling into historic Secord House in 1952. It was after this time that the museum re-titled itself “The Edmonton Art Gallery” in 1956.

Soon, even Secord House was too small for the gallery’s ever-expanding collection. In 1961, the Museum set out to build a new facility for itself. The City of Edmonton donated convert|0.59|acre|m2 at #2 Sir Winston Churchill Square for the site of the new gallery and in 1969, the new building was opened as the “Arthur Blow Condell Memorial Building”, colloquially titled “The Bittorf Building” after architect Don Bittorf.

The acquisition of this new building meant that the gallery could now invite in larger exhibitions with higher exhibition standards. However, by the early 1990’s, the building was considered outdated in design, and the gallery required a new facility. In 2005, and architectural competition was held, and a design by Los Angeles architect Randall Stout was chosen as the winning design for the new Art Gallery. At this time, the gallery re-titled itself again as the Art Gallery of Alberta. In April 2007, the Bittorf building was demolished. Completion of the new Gallery is slated for Fall 2009 with opening exhibitions in early 2010.

External links

* [http://www.artgalleryalberta.com/ Official Website]