Vacant buildings are Window into Art

Windows upon windows dressed in different types of contemporary art scatter downtown Vancouver.

Seven buildings, 19 artists, and 18 different exhibition sites.

Windows into Art is an exhibition where vacant windows and storefronts are turned into masterpieces of art that can be viewed from the street at no cost from June 4 to July 5.

K.C. Madsen, curator, conceived and launched this event with co-curator Dene Grigar.

"It started about a year ago, buildings downtown had started to become empty," Madsen said. "I was interested in the opportunity to show work that's not often shown in this region."

Money was very tight with a budget of only $500, all the work was volunteer.

"The essence of what it's about is the art," said Madsen.

Madsen acquired the buildings on April 1 and thanks to the core of volunteers, everything came together in less than two months.

Madsen and Grigar chose artists based on their work and the number of buildings that were available.

Clark College professors Avantika Bawa, Blake Shell, Senseney Stokes, and Carson Legree were featured and have instillations in storefront windows, as well as artists Jeannette Altman, Janice Arnold, Christina Broussard-Pearson, Jennifer Corio, Erin Dengerink, Dave Frei, Harrison Higgs, Anne John, Yoshihiro Kitai, Will Luers, curator K.C. Madsen, Mikhail Oparin, Kathi Rick, Crystal Schenk and Gregory Zschomler.

"My approach explores the balances or imbalances between wholeness and fragmentation, gravity and suspension, or containment and dispersal," Bawa said. Her work is featured in the old Columbian Newspaper building.

"Essentially I have bands of seemingly 'perfect' green vinyl glued outside the building. Inside the space are plies of Construction debris scattered through out the space, such that they echo the positioning of an army of ‘construction workers/material' that are at rest. All the material will be painted in a ‘toxic' green," said Bawa.

"Through this tension of the outside perfection (vinyl bands) and the inside chaos (debris), I hope that I create enough visual 'umph' to incite people to pause and look at the Columbian building... smile for a second and then think about the space, its location, what it was and what it could soon be... and how these thoughts can help create a greater awareness of the times we are in now."

Each building also has a feature called Beetagg.

If you have a smart phone and want to get information on the artist or artists' work, you can download the Beetagg reader for free.

Beetagg is a barcode that you scan with most smart phones.

Just download the FREE Beetagg Reader, access it on your phone, point your phone at the Beetagg, and then receive music, video, images, and descriptions.

Adjunct Art Professor at Clark and Washington State University, Shell, describes her work as artistic practice that stems from her interest in the influence of the Internet on her generation.

The Internet is a central method of contemporary communication, reflecting humanity and all of its cultures, interests, and visions and she looks to discover new aspects of humanity and to see the new forms that human interaction is taking online.

"I am enjoying having work up in Vancouver. It is great to get the opportunity to connect with Vancouver downtown and to be in an exhibition with such great artists," said Shell.

The different locations for each installation are, the former Koplan's Furniture, the former First American Title Insurance Company drive through window, the former Captain's Sports Bar, the former Spanky's, the Vancouver Ballroom, the Vancouver USA Regional Tourism Office, and the former Columbian Building

"It's the old school idea of window shopping, and the city becoming a museum," said Madsen

Anne John contributed funds for postcards and marketing. The postcards have a map on the back of them which helps lead to where each installation is featured.

Downtown is home to many restaurants, retail stores, florists, salons, and spas, as well as art galleries.

"Our organization always supported art in a big way, and were continuing interest in art in downtown Vancouver. From this event we hope to emphasize that downtown Vancouver is friendly to art and to invite visitors. There is lots of good art and good food and this is a great way for people to discover that." said Lee Rafferty, Executive Director of Vancouver's downtown association.

Contact Mariah Canoose at mcano8536@students.clark.edu.