Unique digital art gallery opens in Winnipeg

When I first read the headline from the online Winnipeg Free Press,

“Mayberry Fine Art of Winnipeg is launching a digital gallery underground today near Portage and Main in the Shops of Winnipeg Square. The gallery says the concept is unique in Canada.”
. . . read more here

I thought WOW, cool, a Canadian Digital Art Gallery, as in the brick & mortar kind,  . . . to my dismay, but I believe the concept has great merit. This announcement triggered another article by digital artist / author  JD Jarvis I had read a while back about MOMA’s POD Kiosk. (read an excerpt from JD’s article below).

I guess the great thing here is that digital IT technology is being used to bring art (all kinds of art) closer and more accessible to it’s viewers, and that is good!! )

Here is the announcement release from Mayberry Fine Art’s website:

“Mayberry Fine Art is pleased to officially launch our digital gallery in the underground retail concourse near the storied Portage and Main intersection in Winnipeg. The innovative showcase which features almost 2000 works by some of Canada’s finest artists – including Robert Genn, Wanda Koop and Joe Fafard
– is believed to be a Canadian first among commercial galleries.

Mayberry Fine Art’s satellite exhibition space employs touchscreen technology which literally puts the gallery’s vast inventory of contemporary and historical Canadian artworks at the fingertips of the myriad people who will pass by each workday.

The public can use the digital gallery to view Mayberry’s impressive collection of paintings and sculpture on a 32-inch LCD monitor. As well, the interactive system allows users to e-mail specific images of the artworks to themselves or someone else. Mayberry Fine Art will also use the space to host monthly exhibitions by top Canadian artists. First on display is a collection of paintings by Robert Genn from the Whiteshell, and Lake of the Woods area.”

~ ~ ~

p.s. Robert Genn is an amazing Canadian artist and author of what I consider to be a “Must Read” bi-weekly newsletter for all artists, check out The Painter’s Keys Community for Artists and sign up for his “Free” newsletter here

image: The print-on-demand kiosk at the MOMA/NYC museum shop
from JD Jarvis’s article on the Dpandi website

Snippet from: Printing Digital Art: Fine Artists Explore the Promise of New Markets
by JD Jarvis, Las Cruces, New Mexico, March 15, 2008 – his complete article can be read here

“THE NEW MARKETS
As with all things on the Internet, the new printing and marketing models are constantly morphing. However, three basic types of markets are seen to be developing along the lines of (a) storefront or kiosk, (b) web based print-on-demand and framing centers, or (c) the more traditional master-printer format.

a) Storefront or Kiosk
With the kiosk or storefront model a person looking for some artwork goes to a digital terminal located in a gallery, frame shop, museum bookstore or some other kind of outlet. There they are able to view a selection of artwork contained on a local databank or specific web browser set up for this purpose. After choosing an image file the customer can select the size of the print and the substrate upon which the image will appear, along with framing and matting options. The print is made at that location and the customer walks out with the finished object. The artist receives the price they set for the artwork and usually gets some share of the profits based on the framing and matting charges. Kiosks such as this are already in operation at prestigious museums and galleries, such as the MOMA in New York and the National Gallery in London. While these operations draw upon the institutions they serve for the imagery that is reproduced in the form of an inkjet print, it is totally feasible for original digital art files to be presented and marketed in this way through the same sort of terminals. The implications for the art that is sold in this manner will be discussed later.

b) Web-based, Print-on-demand and Framing Centers
The print-on-demand aspects of the kiosk marketing model can be extended to (or perhaps, even a part of) a larger web based operation. In this model an artist usually subscribes to a web based gallery operation that places their work on customized viewing pages for a fee. Potential buyers go on-line to select the work and, as with the kiosk model, have the opportunity to select size, substrate, frame and mat. The print is made at a printing center, framed and shipped to the client. To reduce shipping costs it is feasible that a web based printing gallery could have several print and frame centers in far-flung locations. Again, the artist gets their asking price plus a share of the framing charges wired to their bank, a Pay Pal or similar type account. Some of these operations provide the buyer with a way to contact the artist directly for the purchase of the original work of art and take no fees for this service. Again, the bulk of the print-on-demand business is in the form of providing a reproduction of the artwork seen on the web. As with the kiosk model the artist provides only a set of digital files and is more-or-less “hands off” the process after that.

One of the disadvantages that the kiosk and all web-based operations have in common is that the client’s satisfaction is often determined by how well and accurately the view screen upon which they select their purchase is set-up. Through no fault of the artist or the printing process, if the buyer does not see an accurate image of the print at the point of purchase they may be dissatisfied by the printed results no matter how closely the file-to-print match truly is. Remember, they have only seen a screen image, which is not actually the artwork itself.”