audart


                                                                            message from audrey regan                                                                                   

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 with her mother and sisters when she was eight years old, and remained there through high-school. 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; or the incredible resources available to children and teens."  

Jeffrey Simpson, author, and editor for the Globe & Mail,  published "Star-Spangled Canadians" in 2000 and Audrey appeared first in the section covering Canadians who had moved to New York.  With her partner, Audrey developed the Audart Gallery in 1995, although "gallery" hardly describes what Audart was all about.  As Creative Director, Audrey curated, and co-produced, several group exhibitions that filled the entire fourteen room space, as well as a number of smaller shows that highlighted the works of one or two chosen artists. Many of Audart's exhibitions were interdisciplinary, and three included large installations.  Audrey worked directly with over 150 artists, in all media, and with a number of outside curators who brought their expertise to the Audart Gallery.

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.

Audrey 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 runs an internet shopping service for unusual home items and functional art.  

Audrey has a daughter and granddaughter living in Toronto, Ontario, and a daughter living and working in New York City.


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