COCHRANE— A new piece of Cochrane's cultural mosaic is set to open this Saturday.
The Route 22 Artist Collective Gallery will be hosting its grand opening on Saturday (June 13). The gallery will be open to the public but will be limited to ten people at a time due to COVID-19 public health protocols.
The project is being led by gallery director Lara Kruger.
“We’ve tried to capture the whole areas art communities,” Kruger said. “We got a really strong response.”
Route 22 Gallery has been a long time in the making she said and will serve as a hub to unite and allow artists in the community to collaborate.
The driving force behind the gallery has been the non-profit organization the Cochrane Integrated Arts Society. The organization has been working to bring art facilities to Cochrane and grow the art scene in the community.
Kruger, who hails from Cochrane, brought with her experience managing art galleries in Banff and Canmore.
“Cochrane is my home town and I’ve just always felt there’s a gap for the arts and culture,” Kruger said.
Cochrane Integrated Arts Society has renovated the retail space to create a multi-discipline visual arts gallery based on a mandate to increase the cultural vibrancy of the Cochrane community.
As part of this mission Route 22 Gallary has collaborated with as many artists as possible to make the dream into a reality Kruger said, explaining that they have included all areas surrounding Cochrane including Rocky View, Foothills, Stoney Nakoda First Nation and Mountain View.
The gallery has had more than 80 people collaborate and share opinions to help get the art collective going, she said.
Kruger added that Cochrane Tourism executive director Jo-Anne Oucharek played an incredible role in helping the gallery take shape and open its doors to the public.
Route 22 Gallery is volunteer-based right now, she said but they hope to help the project grow and become sustainable to maintain a permanent position for someone to be employed in the arts in Cochrane.
“This has really been hundreds of different hours of people volunteering their time,” Kruger said.
It has been amazing helping to create a space to celebrate artists in the community, she said.
“There’s some really great people with some really great passion for trying to get something like this going,” Kruger said. “It’s been interesting to see the dynamics.”
In the past, there have not been many collaboration opportunities for the different art groups that exist she said, explaining that the hope is the new gallery will serve as a place to bring people together.
“We have a diverse group of artists that can collaborate, work well and benefit from each other,” Kruger said.
Pieces featured in the gallery will be rotated every month and are submitted before a jury before being displayed.
The first show will feature around ten artists, she said. Kruger added that the goal is to grow shows so they can feature 20 to 30 artists at a time in the future.
The gallery will be able to feature all types of art from painting and photography, to sculptures and bronze work and everything in between.
Kruger said the gallery is still welcoming members, she said, and any artists that join the 2020 season will be considered founding members in the collective.
Route 22 Gallery will be open from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The gallery will also feature a gift shop of small creative items.
The new gallery is located in Cochrane Town Square Plaza next to the Pet Planet.
For more information visit the Route 22 Artist Collective Gallery website at route22gallery.com.
