04 Apr 2011

grunt gallery Media Lab Unveilling

Grunt gallery is pleased to unveil its recent renovation, modifying its kitchen area into a high-tech media lab entitled: gruntKitchen. This opening represents the culmination of two months' of renovation and several years' of fundraising and planning. In addition to the support of our funders and the work of grunt's staff and volunteers, this project has been realized through the particularly strong show of support in donations made from the individuals that make up grunt's community.

Initially based on the vision of grunters including Mary Ann Anderson, Dana Claxton, Bobbi Kozinuk, Archer Pechawis, and Steven Tong, this project has come to realization through the work of Media Lab Development Coordinator Malcolm Levy, Architect Innes Yates of bnode Architects, Technical Consultant Matt Smith; and to Contractor Mac LaPort of MKL Custom Homes, Project Manager Jeremiah Hart and Mark 'the Apprentice' Eilers for their work on the construction and installation.

Grunt gallery's former kitchen space has been transformed into a lab for the development and presentation of new media artworks, educational support, and adjunct programming for our exhibitions and performance programs. It will also facilitate the streaming of live content allowing us to develop more international impact for the artists we support.

This media lab will also be a key component of grunt's Activating the Archive project. Activating the Archive is a multi-year project that involves bringing the archive of grunt's 26 years of production into the digital realm through the development of an online, interactive, database driven website. The media lab will provide facilities for the initial digitization of records and capturing of video. It will also become a site for a curated program of contemporary artists to develop and present new media and performance based work in response to materials found in grunt's archive.

Grunt's kitchen has been central to grunt's history as the literal and metaphorical heart of the organization. This small room has been the 'think-tank' of our collective where programs and exhibitions have been developed while sipping a cup of coffee. It has also been the place where many new ideas and organizations have come into fruition. Grunt's kitchen has been at the core of what we do. Please join us as we launch this newly equipped space and grunts' continued commitment to providing artists with new ways of presenting and disseminating their work.