Inaugural exhibition, "re:con-figure", runs May 1 – June 27, 2009
Featured artists are : Adriane Colburn, Midori Harima, Randy Hussong, Packard Jennings, Jeff Kao, Scott Kildall and Victoria Scott, Srdjan Loncar, Gary Nakamoto, Leslie Shows and Bayeté Ross Smith
27 February 2009 – Berkeley, CA: Kala Art Institute (www.kala.org) celebrates its 35th anniversary with the opening of a new expanded facility and the inaugural exhibition in the Kala Gallery, titled re:con-figure (May 1–June 27, 2009). Kala's expanded new exhibition space at 2990 San Pablo Avenue in West Berkeley is located around the corner from Kala Art Institute’s studios at 1060 Heinz Avenue. Since 1979, Kala Art Institute has operated in an 8,500-square-foot space in the historic former Heinz Factory (where the iconic "Heinz 57" brands were produced), located on San Pablo Avenue between Ashby and Heinz Avenues. This new 6,700-square-foot expansion on the San Pablo side of the building provides a highly visible and easily accessible street-level entrance, and includes more than 2,000 square feet of new exhibition space for Kala Gallery, additional workspace for artists, Print and Media Study Center, Conference Room, a classroom equipped with a printing press, offices, and storage. The grand opening of Kala’s new facilities takes place on Friday, April 24th, with a private reception for supporters of Kala Art Institute.
On Friday, May 1, Kala Gallery celebrates the opening of the inaugural exhibition in the new space with an artists’ reception from 6pm–9pm, which is free and open to the public. The exhibition, titled re:con-figure, features works by Adriane Colburn, Midori Harima, Randy Hussong, Packard Jennings, Jeff Kao, Scott Kildall and Victoria Scott, Srdjan Loncar, Gary Nakamoto, Leslie Shows, and Bayeté Ross Smith, and continues on view through June 27, 2009.
Since its founding in 1974 by Archana Horsting and Yuzo Nakano, Kala Art Institute has helped artists sustain their creative efforts by offering access to state of the art traditional printmaking and other image-making equipment, as well as professional development opportunities for artists, including exhibitions, technical advising, instruction, and sales. Kala Art Institute's mission is to help artists sustain their creative efforts over time through its Artist-in-Residence and Fellowship Programs, and to increase appreciation of this work through exhibitions, public programming and educational efforts.
“The success of Kala Art Institute in performing its mission over the years had left us bursting at the seams,” says Archana Horsting, Kala Art Institute co-founder and Executive Director. “This expansion comes as a result of years of planning and hard work by our staff and supporters. The new space, along with improvements to our original facility, allow us to also expand our vision, as we improve our ability to provide artists and the public with access to quality exhibitions, classes, and programs, while further enabling artists to explore and expand their work in our even better-equipped studios.”
For more than three decades, Kala has encouraged innovative artwork of the highest quality, and offered artists—from professional to aspiring—the tools, training, and freedom to realize their artistic visions. The new exhibition facilities provide Kala Gallery with the opportunity to present more comprehensive exhibitions accompanied by artists’ talks, a lecture series, video screenings and performance works.
“This is a great moment for art organizations committed to providing a place for artists to make and show their work,” says Kate Eilertsen, Chair of Kala’s 35th Anniversary Celebration. “For 35 years, Kala has nurtured a community of both local and international artists who are phenomenal. The opening of an expanded facility is a great sign of the appreciation for such an amazing community. Bravo Kala!”
As a public benefit organization, Kala has been committed to offering quality art education to artists, the general public, and to public school students. Kala’s core Artist-in-Residence and Fellowship Programs are complemented by on-site classes taught by artists, and an Artists-in-Schools youth outreach program.
“Over the years, the Kala Art Institute has admirably gone about its business of nurturing local, national and international artistic creation with consistency, resourcefulness and a kind of purity of purpose that is rare,” said René de Guzman, Senior Curator of Art at The Oakland Museum of California.
Each year, Kala welcomes over 100 artists through the Fellowship Award and Artist-in-Residence Program; hosts more than 80 art instruction classes and workshops; curates 8 to 12 exhibitions in the Kala Gallery and outside venues; produces lectures, artist talks, and special events; and facilitates the Artists-in-Schools program that provides curriculum-based visual arts education to schools in Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland.
The first exhibition in Kala Gallery’s new location features innovative works by eleven artists recently affiliated with Kala Art Institute through the Kala Fellowship program, the James D. Phelan Awards program and residencies funded by the James Irvine Foundation. The exhibition, titled re:con-figure, explores daily boundary-blurring experiences of continuously streaming images and information. Images and objects meshed with simulations, virtual reality and consumerism inform the shape-shifting approach shared by these artists, who present visually exciting new works in print media, paper sculpture, digital collage, photography and video.
re:con-figure
May 1–June 27, 2009
Artists’ reception: Friday, May 1, 6-9 pm
Featuring works by Adriane Colburn, Midori Harima, Randy Hussong, Packard Jennings, Jeff Kao, Scott Kildall and Victoria Scott, Srdjan Loncar, Gary Nakamoto, Leslie Shows, and Bayeté Ross Smith
Kala Gallery, 2990 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday, 12pm–5:30pm; Saturday, 12pm–4:30pm;
CLOSED Sundays/Mondays
Kala Gallery is FREE and open to the public.
Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley, CA 94710
Classes are offered days, evenings and weekends with free course catalogs available. Tours of the Kala studio, gallery and print and media study center are available by appointment by contacting Kala at (510) 549-2977,
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. www.kala.org
