UPDATE: THE PRAIRIE ART GALLERY

The proposed new Prairie Art Gallery in Grande Prairie.

When the roof and the walls of the historic Prairie Art Gallery in Grande Prairie, Alberta collapsed under heavy snow on March 19, 2007, the art community in the region was left homeless. Not so the art itself. In the days and weeks that followed the disaster, gallery staff slowly and meticulously rescued the entire permanent collection from the ruins of the building.

At the time, plans were already underway to build a $7-million extension to the gallery. In response to the collapse, the western wall of the new building was redesigned where it would have joined the pre-existing structure, and for now, there is a temporary wall in place making the “extension” into a self-contained unit. This new 6000-square-foot gallery space will open in April.

The fate of the collapsed structure is still unresolved. Built in 1929, it was both a local historic landmark and an integral element in the design of the new facility. Uncertainty about whether the building could be safely restored led the City of Grande Prairie, which owns the site, to consider demolishing it. More recent studies have indicated that it can be repaired, and demolition now seems unlikely.

Even as the physical walls of the new structure have been going up, bringing walls down has become something of a prevailing metaphor for gallery executive director and curator Robert Steven. In the absence of a bricks-and-mortar facility, Steven and his staff have had to reconsider their role and the potential for reaching the public in previously untried ways. They have re-launched the gallery’s website, with blog-style communications and web-based art. They have held exhibitions outdoors, transforming downtown storefronts and walls into showcases and screens for video art. They hosted an art event in a tent at a summer street festival, showed art in a log cabin in a busy park, and ramped up their publishing schedule.