An art gallery is helping to bring new life to a building that once housed a major packing plant in Inglewood.
The concept is “a mall for art,” says Rob Mabee, director of Artspace. “We have tried to maintain a lot of the industrialism of the building,” he adds.
Artspace is on the second and third floors of the old Canada Packers plant at 1235 26th Ave. S.E.
The stark, industrial space taking up a good chunk of the second floor seems bright as day under mercury and fluorescent lighting. With those lamps turned off for shows, halogen spots will highlight the works on display.
Mabee says it’s the biggest commercial gallery in town, as big as a public gallery or a museum. Two hundred people can walk around at an event, sipping wine and looking at art. Downtown or in the Beltline, they would be crowded.
A couple of German artists will take full advantage of the space next fall with a large installation. “It’s kind of unique to have a big installation like they’re building for this space in a commercial gallery,” he says.
Artspace calls the large, open area on half of the second floor the Colonnade Gallery. Off to one side, a few steps higher, is the Inspectors’ Gallery, a narrow corridor that could be a venue for photographic art. It was once the place for inspectors to observe the activities of the packing plant.
Moving around the other side of the second floor, there are smaller spaces with a fine-art photo dealer, a large framing operation with a wood shop, an art school, and an art supply outlet run by Kensington Art Supplies.
Another space could be rented to another gallery, says Mabee.
Another gallery? Isn’t that like putting Eatons inside the Bay?
The art community is supportive. “We all have to support each other,” says Mabee.
Yet another shop specializes in art books and collectibles. Artists can rent studio spaces on the third floor.
It took more than a year to complete the conversion from former packing plant to market and gallery. The lower floor of the building is the new home of the Crossroads Market.
Mabee credits market entrepreneur Gerry Kendall as the visionary behind the projects. Kendall says the market is an incubator for small business. More than 300 vendors work there, many of them seniors or new Canadians augmenting their incomes.
People who have travelled know that in many places the market represents what the city is about, says Kendall. For many ethnic groups, it’s where you teach the kids how to do business. Much of the activity is cultural. Art marketing is similar, he adds. Artists have a small business and a creative spirit.
Real estate professionals Bernie Bayer and Grant Kosowan have set up a firm specializing in retail property consulting. They will work with landlords or tenants on finding the right location or the right tenants for properties. Among other projects, they’ll be working on the redevelopment of Midnapore Mall.
A Calgary company with real estate interests has been added to a Toronto Stock Exchange index.
Proprietary Industries Inc. has been added to the TSE 200 Small Cap Composite Index. Proprietary has real-estate, natural resource and related assets and investments. It trades as PPI and closed Friday at $5.10.
The CRTC has approved a broadcast distribution licence for the telecommunications subsidiary of Boardwalk Equities Inc.
Through subsidiary Suite Systems Inc., Boardwalk can start commercial transmission of its digital format broadcasting in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, the company said in a news release.
The service will start in Calgary and Edmonton, where Boardwalk owns 16,000 suites. The company owns 25,000 suites altogether.
Suite Systems’ multimedia plans include local and long-distance phone service and other entertainment, computing and e-commerce applications.
Boardwalk trades as BEI on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where it closed Friday at $10.70.
