New gallery dude rips out lame wall carpet, puts DJ on roof

Dr. Curtis Collins is the new Ultimate-Frisbee-loving, 80s-wall-carpet-hating director at the Art Gallery of Algoma.

He has some plans for the gallery that he hopes will lure in people who've never been there and keep them coming back.

Putting a disc jockey on the roof to spin tunes for a dancing crowd on the lawn below is just the beginning of those plans, Collins tells SooToday.com.

Other ideas he's working on include stripping the tacky 80s-style carpeting from the walls in both of the gallery's main exhibition spaces and bringing in fresh, bold displays to adorn well-lit, upscale gallery space to inspire and nurture local artists.

Collins took SooToday.com up on the roof of the waterfront landmark to show us what he planned to do with the space.

We were very nearly blown away.

Literally and figuratively.

But we did manage to snap this wind-blown image of Collins, before ducking and scrabbling around on the slick rooftop in a vain search for a hand hold.

Collins just stood there smiling and seemingly immune to the elements, as he explained how he wants to send a disc jockey and a van-load of tune-pumping equipment up a ladder and onto the roof, for a bash to get things rolling at the gallery.

"We need to really broaden the demographic," he said.

Prior to his unsuccessful attempt to pitch us off the roof for the sake of a little publicity, Collins took SooToday.com for a stroll through the gallery itself.

"We did receive a grant from the Trillium Foundation to replace the wall surfaces in the galleries," Collins said. "So we'll be getting rid of the 'your mom's basement rec room look' much to the relief of a lot of people. It's all stained and you can see some little bit of patching here and there."

The brand new, fresh, white gallery walls will be completed between June 1 and July 11.

They aren't stopping with the walls, either.

The gallery also submitted an application for federal infrastructure funding through the Cultural Spaces program so the floors can also be redone.

Collins is happy with that plan because he believes it will make it easier to bring in some larger-profile displays to the gallery.

He also wants to bring out works from the permanent collection and maybe borrow from other collections.

"Once we get the space elevated in such a way, the likelihood that we'll actually be able to borrow stuff from other collections like the National Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario and places like that increases," said Collins.

The main gallery, currently known as Gallery 1, will be more geared toward professional artists from the region or from across the country.

"In the last stage of the changes, there would be a re-orientation in the programming," Collins said. "What we want to do in this space [the smaller gallery or Gallery 2] is to construct a wall that would cut the room essentially into one-third and two-thirds."

The one-third portion of the room that's currently known as Gallery 2 will become the project gallery.

"The project room would be for more experimental types of exhibitions and it would be committed exclusively to artists from the region," said Collins. "We're looking for an opportunity for people to really stretch their craft."

But the space won't be exclusively for experimental shows.

It will flip back and forth between those and more traditional displays.

"What this space can do is nurture artists," he said.

The larger portion of the room will become the education gallery with work from students across the region, including the elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools.

"Then, every seven to eight weeks, we'll flip the whole building all at once," he said. "We'll have a big opening reception where everybody with their respective audiences comes for the openings together."

The quality of the displays will be equivalent to what visitors to any major gallery in any major city would see.

One thing visitors to the gallery may not initially expect though, is the coffee bar planned for the back of the gallery.

Construction on the new cafe is already well underway.

When it's complete in the next few weeks, Arcadia Coffee House will be selling some of its finest brews to gallery visitors.

"Some people may have some reservations about visiting the gallery," Collins said. "But I think by having the coffee bar and regular education shows it just begins to dissolve the barriers. Soon everyone will realize there is a reason for them to come and a place for everybody here."

The classroom area will also be getting some renovations including an office space for instructors and more shelving for projects and materials.

Summer classes will continue as planned, though.

The gallery will be open to the public during renovations, although areas of it may not be accessible at times.

Art Gallery of Algoma will also be doing some fundraising to help pay for all the work.

"I would think that it's something that would be appealing in the sense that you're helping the gallery and the gallery helps the community," said Collins. "It's a place where you'll be coming all the time, not just once or twice a year."

He's confident that renovations and a programming change will be the last items needed to forge the gallery into an economic, cultural and social conduit for the community.

The day before Collins was scheduled for his final interview for the director's position, he visited the gallery on the sly to check it out.

"I went up to Stokely to go cross-country skiing first. Then I came kind of tripping through here in my AC/DC toque and, in a very clandestine fashion, kind of checked out the space," he said. "I think what we have here is a great building, a great location, excellent collection a really wonderful staff and a very solid board of directors."

Collins said the gallery building had a lot of appeal for him.

But, as a person who likes to fish, ski, ride his bike and play Ultimate Frisbee, the community and its lifestyle opportunities were the cherry on the sundae in attracting him to the Sault.

Now, he's planning to enhance the Sault's quality of life, starting with some hot coffee, white walls and a rooftop DJ for a summer dance party.