The renovation of the Association for Visual Arts gallery space included refurbished floors and paint and an overhaul of the gallery’s lighting system to replace 15-year-old equipment handed down from the Hunter Museum of Art.If you go
› What: Association for Visual Arts grand reopening and members show› When: Friday, July 1, 5:30-8 p.m.› Gallery hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.Tuesday through Saturday› Where: AVA Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave.› Admission: Free› Phone: 265-4282› Website: www.avarts.org
If a painting can’t be seen properly, does it still elicit an emotional response?
This isn’t an aesthetic riff on the popular philosophical thought experiment but a practical question posed last fall by board members of the Association for Visual Arts. The organization was contemplating plans for an ongoing update of the its gallery space, which will reopen to the public on July 1, and improved lighting was deemed to be one of its most dire needs.
For the last 15 years, AVA’s ability to showcase the work of its member artists has been hampered by a shoestring lighting setup. The current equipment is comprised of Hunter Museum of American Art hand-me-downs, whose ability to illuminate the artwork was spotty at best, says AVA Executive Director Anne Wilson.
“We were grateful for it and it had a good life, but we were down to the last can that would sort of work if it was twisted just right,” Wilson says.
Beyond that, the exhibition space had gone entirely too long without a sprucing up, she says.
“The initial renovation of the space in 2000 was great, but really nothing had been done since then, so it was starting to show its age a little bit,” she explains. “We came to the [conclusion] that an investment in AVA’s building would serve AVA very well and the community well.”
Shortly after AVA’s yearly planning meeting, the Lyndhurst Foundation approached the artistic organization with an offer to provide money for an initiative to improve the gallery’s ability to serve the public. AVA’s board determined that updating the gallery fit the bill and drafted a plan for a $66,000 renovation that included updated lighting, a new sound system, additional ceiling fans, improved front display area/stage, repainted walls and re-oiled wood floors.
Also opening
Coinciding with the debut of the Association for Visual Arts’ annual members exhibit, a second exhibition, “Examinations,” will premiere in the organization’s Landis Education Gallery.Through a partnership with the Hunter Museum of American Art, 13 of AVA’s new and emerging member artists visited the Hunter, selected their favorite work from the museum’s collection and created their own piece inspired by the Hunter work. Video interviews detailing the artists’ reasons for selecting each Hunter work and how it affected their artistic approach will be displayed in the gallery.“Examinations” will be on display during normal gallery hours through July 29.
In some respects, the new lighting is the most significant component of the update, but it’s an improvement that may go unnoticed by many visitors, says AVA Education and Exhibitions Director Lauren Goforth.
“But that’s sort of the point,” she says. “The way the work is presented, it really should seem seamless and effortless to the viewer, but for me, it’s going to make things so much easier.
“The lighting is very important in a gallery and having enough of it,” she says. “If the artwork isn’t well-lit, you can’t see the work. That alone is going to change the experience a lot, but it’ll be a little hard to notice.”
The gallery’s grand re-opening will coincide with AVA’s annual members exhibit. The show will feature a single work from each of the gallery’s 40 to 50 artists. They’ll be hung in salon style, an approach in which works are stacked atop each other from floor to ceiling.
“When you walk in you’ll sort of be engulfed by [art], which can seem overwhelming, but I don’t want the visitor to be intimidated by that,” Goforth says. “It’s really, really accessible because there are so many works from so many types of artists in different styles and media, so there’s really something for everyone to come and enjoy.”
The timing of the reopening to coincide with the members exhibit should offer an ideal re-introduction of the space to the public and to the arts community, Wilson says.
“It’s typically packed in there anyway – packed with art and packed with people,” she says. “It’s just a great celebration. It’s a perfect alignment.”
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.