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"It was not uncommon
to find Audrey Regan walking barefoot around the space, even when it
was opened for regular business to the Wall Street crowd. And, it
was not uncommon to find an artist here and there who was taking a nap
after working on an installation. The gallery’s daytime visitors came
to expect such things and most of them loved it, many even bringing their
lunches with them and finding a quiet place to sit somewhere within the gallery
– to get away from corporate fluorescence for just one hour."
LINDA GARTH: "THE AUDART ADVENTURE ON WALL STREET" MORE PRESS / MEDIA |
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Audrey Regan was the Creative Director
of the Audart Gallery Project, which she co-founded and funded.
The gallery, located at 60 Broad Street in New York City, had its
inaugural exhibition "The Urban Frontier",
in February of 1996, and was located just a few steps from The New
York Stock Exchange. Audrey was born in Hornepayne, Ontario.
She moved to Blind River, Ontario, when she was eight years of
age, and remained there through highschool. At 18, she packed her bags and headed
to Toronto to find a job. "I just wanted to experience a large
city," she said, "And to do something that would lead me to a creative life;
and I always believed I would end up in New York oneday." Audrey also
contends that raising her two daughters in Manhattan
was the best opportunity she could have given them, for a diverse range of
experiences. "Many people don't realize what a family-oriented place
it is." she claims, "Or the incredible resources available to children and
teens." Jeffrey Simpson, author, and editor
for the Globe & Mail, In the Spring of 1997, Regan introduced live theater to Audart and opened the gallery to afternoon and evening performances of "Frenesi", a play that was written, produced and performed by actress Melanie Rey. The show was a great success at Audart and enjoyed two reruns. Two significant Audart exhibitions were: "Ten Years After: The Warhol Factory", curated by Dr. Debra Miller of the University of Delaware, which exhibited the works of The Artists of the Warhol Circle. The show commemorated the ten year anniversary of Andy Warhol's death. "Important Women Photographers" at the Audart Gallery, sponsored by The National Organization for Women and the Westbeth Gallery, with curation by Jacqui Taylor-Basker, Director of Westbeth. In 1996, Audrey Regan began exploring art on the internet. She was fascinated by the number of artists who had websites, despite the internet being in its infancy stages. At the same time, The Art & Technology Circus, which would be Audart's largest exhibition, was in the planning stages. Regan began contacting artists from around the world, directly from their websites, inviting them to ship their artworks to the Audart Gallery for exhibition in the Circus. As a result, "The Art & Technology Circus" included artists from India, South Africa, Amsterdam, Canada and across the United States. Sixty-five artists, performers and technicians took part in The Art & Technology Circus. The exhibition was sponsored by a number of technology companies, including OKI, Winstar and ForeSystems. The Audart Gallery comprising fourteen rooms, spread over 8500 square feet, was completely transformed for each new exhibition, requiring extensive use of fabric, props and artistic lighting. The salon areas were redesigned for each opening to facilitate wine and food service for one to five thousand people at a time. Today, Audrey maintains www.audartgallery.com, an archive of the Audart Gallery
during its time on Broad Street. In addition, she developed and
edits www.art-is-life.com,
an arts magazine representing art in all its forms. She has co-curated
exhibitions in New York city galleries and she assisted gallery director,
Sam Israel, by locating artists from around the world for "The Bill
Clinton Show" at the Locus Gallery in SoHo, New York. She
also has four internet businesses, including a shopping service for unusual
home items and functional art. Audrey has two grown daughters who live
in New York City and Toronto. |