Thursday 3 April 2008
Sarah Eades
Image: Vancouver Art Gallery
Well one of the reasons i thought this blog would be great was to talk about some of the visits to other museums/cities/countries that staff of the AAG often attend as part of the job. Whether being a courier for a work of art going on loan, conserving an artwork in another institution of many other reasons, the fascinating stories and wonderful images are always fun to hear and see on their return.
So.............. I received the Elizabeth Yates Grant from the Auckland City Council with the intention of furthering my career by funding a trip to Canada to attend the Museums and the Web conference in Montreal next week. As part of the trip i decided to take some time off and visit Vancouver on the way.......so here is am. It's 10.15pm and i seem to be just waking up, but here is what i wrote last night before i found the lovely wireless capable cafe that i am now.
"Well here I am finally, in Vancouver after a brief stop over in Los Angeles Airport. All in all the travel was not so bad, after the rush of the last few weeks it was just great to get onto the plane and stop for a few hours. First impressions of Canada are good.
Although it was getting dark as I arrived it was clear skies and I had a fantastic view of the mountain range with snow capped peaks. A very special view to arrive and see. My hotel however lost my booking but found me a room anyway, I had visions of myself spending the night, literally, in Starbucks or somewhere that is open for the most hours.
It’s 9.11pm here and I have been for a walk up Robson Street and checked out the location of the Vancouver Art Gallery where I will be going tomorrow. It’s a very pretty street, fairy light tree clad, with shops still open now. I’ll try and take a photo another night. I have picked up a copy of Canadian Art magazine, which at first glance looks ok with an interesting feature on Chen Zhen who it seems, works in Paris. I’ll be reading it again when my eyes are working properly; lack of sleep is making it hard to concentrate. Flicking through it is disappointing to see how so many art magazines all over the world look the same, I guess it’s a formula that must work but I’d love to see something a bit more adventurous in the magazines design.
So i'm off back to the streets for a walk then back to my room to prepare for an exciting day tomorrow. Can’t wait to get stuck into Vancouver. Find out what the art culture of this place is like."
I'll email today's adventures shortly
Over and out for now.......