Party-goers at the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton on Saturday.
When it came time to launch a new exhibition of Emily Carr paintings and Haida sculptures this month, officials at the Art Gallery of Alberta faced a flurry of planning decisions that were once not a part of the world of classic art - what DJ to hire and where to put the bar.
Edmonton's AGA reopened early last year after an extensive $88-million renovation and has since set about its rebirth. Chief among the strategies is its "Refinery" series - booze-fueled, late-night gallery viewings held three times a year and meant to lure in young people.
By the time the sell-out event's doors open at 9 p.m., the main floor of the gallery has been transformed into a club - a bar sits against the lobby's far wall, drink ticket tables are wedged into corners and a coat-check line snakes its way through the crowd. Waiters circulate offering free gourmet treats.
Music echoes up from the lobby throughout the building, with its soaring ceiling design inspired, in part, by the Northern Lights. Inevitably, the odd drink tumbles over a railing to the floor, and patrons, below. (Only lobbies and stairways are food-and-drink-friendly; security guards make sure you check your refreshments at the entrance to the four main art exhibition spaces.) Craft tables are set up, aimed at adults and based on the exhibits. And doors stay open until 2 a.m.
The parties seem to have struck a chord in snowy Edmonton, where cultural events are concentrated in the warm summer months.
"It's new, it's different, it's kind of a fun venue. It feels a little more big-city," partygoer Teresa Vezina, 31, said at the gallery's doors Saturday, heading into the gathering.
A mother of two young children, Vezina is precisely the type the parties are meant for, gallery staff say.
"We're looking at how we can reach out to audiences that aren't necessarily coming to the gallery," said Ruth Burns, associate curator and interpretive programs manager at the AGA.
"Goodness, it's March, winter's been going on forever - people need to get out of the house. I think it offers something you don't often find in Edmonton. It's a fantastic large-scale party, but we also have our exhibitions."
It's all part of an international trend that began in the 1990s to transform galleries from "a jewellery box of objects to a space where art is being made by both artists and its audience," said Patrik Andersson, an associate professor of critical and cultural studies at Vancouver's Emily Carr University, in an e-mail.
It means putting the audience at centre stage - craft tables - and changing the hours of operation.
Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario (with its once-a-year, $150-a-ticket Massive Party) and the Vancouver Art Gallery (with its "Fuse" events, held three times a year since 2005) have also launched similar efforts.
But there's a catch. In Toronto and Vancouver, the events make money. In Edmonton, they just break even.
The AGA's mission, as such, is something of a Trojan Horse: Draw in young people with a great party and then, hopefully, turn them into lifelong patrons.
"What you're really trying to do is get people interested in the organization in a way that gives them a sense of long-term investment that you hope will turn into other things. You're really trying to find other ways to gain people's loyalty to the organization," said Charles Reeve, a Toronto-based curator and associate professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, who doubts the merits of the strategy.
"I wonder in the end how effective these things really are. I've been to some of these things and heard people say things like: 'Has anyone been here before?' Or, 'Does anyone know what they do here?' " Reeve said.
The results at Saturday's AGA event were mixed. The crowd cheered and danced throughout the night, but was thicker near the booze than near the art. Many were surprised to learn the party's $25 ticket didn't generate any profit to benefit the gallery, while others said becoming a monthly donor is a tall order for young parents such as Vezina.
"Not yet, not yet. I have a young family, and that's not really in the ballpark," she said.
Instead, gallery officials say they sell more annual memberships, which offer the opportunity for first crack at Refinery tickets.
Many partygoers said they'd rather pay more for a one-time event than become an ongoing donor.
"I would pay more [for a Refinery ticket] especially if they said that [extra]part was going to the gallery," added Sameera Alladina, 30. "I don't really go to the art gallery that much, which is why this event is great. It combines a Saturday night with the gallery."
The AGA's next Refinery event is in June. The gallery hopes to maintain momentum, as events in Toronto and Vancouver have. However, although Saturday's party sold out, the crowd appeared thinner, and left earlier, than at previous Refinery events.
Gallery staff say they can sell more tickets in the summer (when an open patio increases capacity) and that demand remains high.
"We're planning to definitely do them throughout 2011, and I'd be surprised if we didn't [beyond then]" said Ruth Burns, the curator. "Some day, hopefully, it will be a revenue generator. We're doing it because we believe that this is an important part of what the gallery is - open, accessible, fun, smart."