'HIGH ART' MAY BE ANOTHER REASON TO MOVE GALLERY

Vancouver Art Gallery volunteer tells public meeting that 'there's
dope wafting through the air' at current location

As a volunteer at the Vancouver Art Gallery's acquisitions committee,
David Allison gets to spend time in the facility's basement vault. Not
only is there "appalling" leaking down in that basement, he reports,
but he revealed another problem Wednesday night: He has been able to
detect the scent of marijuana smoke in the air.

"It wafts in from the front steps. So here I am in this room
surrounded by Emily Carrs and Group of Seven pieces and all these
amazing, amazing contemporary artworks that we have in our possession
as a city and as a citizenry, and there's dope wafting through the
air."

Mr. Allison made the comments at a public information session on the
gallery's proposed relocation from the old courthouse at Robson Square
in the centre of downtown to a city-owned block at 150 Dunsmuir
Street, the former Larwill Park site. His observations about the
storage facility were meant to illustrate the need for the move.

"It's not an ideal situation for us to be storing our legacy for the
future."

The VAG is a notorious gathering point for pro-marijuana events (such
as the annual 420 gathering) and it's not unusual to see - and smell -
people smoking pot on the steps outside the gallery.

While Mr. Allison said "it just seems like common sense" that
marijuana smoke would have an impact on the art collection in storage,
the gallery's director Kathleen Bartels assured The Globe and Mail
that the works are protected.

"We monitor on a daily, hour-by-hour basis," she said, suggesting Mr.
Allison may have been in a different part of the basement when he
smelled the marijuana smoke. "We don't have leaking water in the
vault," she added.

The VAG is located in a former provincial courthouse, which was
renovated about 30 years ago by Arthur Erickson to house the gallery.
Ms. Bartels says it's necessary for the VAG to move out of the
facility, because it's too small. Only 3 per cent of the gallery's
permanent collection can be exhibited at any one time; there isn't
enough room for educational programs; there's no theatre or lecture
hall; and the storage vault is beyond capacity. She wants to move to a
new purpose-built gallery, but city approval is required. It owns the
collection - and the land the gallery wants.

A formal proposal for that land has now been submitted by the VAG to
the city. "I've had a lot of positive feedback from the city," the
chair of the gallery's relocation committee, Michael Audain, said
Wednesday night.

Mr. Audain says he expects city council to deal with the matter in the
fall. "I still feel very positive about it," he said.

The VAG will host another public information session at The Cultch on
Thursday July 8 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.