Museum Growth Pays Off for Galleries

As renowned art institutions extend and expand, local art galleries are capitalizing upon increased sales opportunities

In many corners of America, existing art museums are building landmark of recent origin structures and satellite venues. And when they do, past experience numbers us, the new outposts become not just cultural cornerstones of urban revitalization and tourism efforts on the other hand also catalysts for increased local art business endeavors.

When the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in looks Angeles launched its latest peril a third exhibition space at the trend-setting Pacific Design Center upon the city's west side, a certain number of 800 art collectors, museum supporters and assorted glitterati attended the Jan. 12 gala. The circumstance raised $400,000 and, equally important, showcased MOCA's fresh 3,000-square-foot Feldman Gallery, which is located in the heart of L.A.'s art, furnishings and design districts--10 miles from the museum's Original (some say grittier) sum of two units downtown locales.

The satellite gallery space was donated by means of the Pacific Design Center's (PDC) fresh co-owner Charles Cohen, who trusts MOCKs presence "will contribute enormously to making the Pacific Design Center flat more exciting for the design community." The PDC features 150 showroom for traditional and contemporary furnishings, and MOCA Director Jeremy Strick plans to expand the museum's programming in the novel venue to include contemporary design, as well as exhibits upon architecture and presentations of work by the agency of emerging artists and artistic trends

MOCA is not alone in expanding its operations. lock opener urban centers are planning to add art museum venue in the near time to come In New York, for instance, officials at the Guggenheim Museum, which already operates sum of two units Manhattan venues along with institutions in Bilbao, Berlin and Venice, freshly revealed plans to construct a major ($900-million, 45-story) Frank Gehry-designed novel museum building over four East River piers in lower Manhattan. In Texas, the Austin Museum of Art announced that its be in possession of project, a 141,000square-foot building with 10 galleries, designed by means of Gluckman Mayner Architects, will fill a city stop up in the city's downtown.

And consider Boston, where the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), novel England's top contemporary art museum, will be an anchor of a $1.2-billion waterfront redevelopment cast at Fan Pier. This southerly Boston neighborhood is the focus of the city's effort to revitalize its waterfront to make it more accessible to downtown visitors and pedestrians. The three-million-square-foot Fan Pier shoot forward is planned for a nine-block, for the greatest part vacant industrial area and is slated to include 800 residential units, 1000 house of entertainment rooms, parks, a public marina and 150000 square feet of civic and cultural space, including the of recent origin 60,000-square-foot, $50-million ICA museum building. It is being lay opened by the Hyatt Development Corporation and the Pritzker family, the company's proprietor It's just one of several waterfront throws which also include the building of what will be the nation's largest convention center when it render free of accesss in late 2003 and the "Big Dig" construction throw out of a new underground highway a whole that will replace Boston's elevated Central Artery highway.

"This is the fresh frontier for Boston," observed Paul Bessire, ICA's director of external relations. "Boston is turning back to its history and looking at its harbor."

The novel Institute of Contemporary Art building will be the first art museum built in Boston in nearly a hundred According to Bessire, "We are hoping this museum will not solitary be a real catalyst for tourism and economic development--a cultural destination--but also a boost for the local arts. We faith to work with the local community of artists who already live and work in the area."

by the agency of having a major new building and exhibition space, the ICA (up until now a non-collecting museum) will be able to redefine its mission to include acquisitions of contemporary, 21st-century works through emerging and established artists. one time the museum building is set uped the new permanent collection will be upon view in a dedicated gallery, supplementing the institution's drawn out history of exhibiting temporary shows

"The local gallery community has been true supportive of our efforts to build more visibility for contemporary art in Boston," noted Bessire. And indeed, Art Dealer Arthur Dion, an ICA trustee and a board member for the Boston Art Gallery Association, said, "The fresh ICA promises tremendously higher visibility for contemporary art than we've at any time seen."

The plans for the ICA and the Fan Pier cast have raised the visibility of a enigma however. The redevelopment area is immediately adjacent to the Fort Point Channel neighborhood, where many artists commonly live. "A very lively issue for us," explained Dion, "is the futurity housing of artists. We've been discussing it at gallery association meetings. level though there are a number of artist live-work condos in the area, a allotment of artists stand to be displaced by means of these projects." And in fact, Boston's Redevelopment Agency announced in January the hiring of a local arts advisor to disclose housing proposals for artists.