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Catalogue Sponsor
since 1986
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Director/Curator’s Welcome
It
is my distinct pleasure and honour to welcome you to the Prairie Art Gallery’s 30th Annual Art Auction on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Prairie Art Gallery, its staff and volunteers, and the communities that it serves. The longevity and success of this event stands as a testament to the strength of this community’s commitment to the Gallery’s mission of building and sharing the art experience. For 30 years, artists in this community have donated the products of their talents, skills, and dedication to this event and bidders at the event have never failed to respond to the challenge that the quantity and quality of donated art has posed. It is clear to me that if it were not for the generosity shown at the Art Auction over the years, the Prairie Art Gallery would certainly not be the success it is today, and it might not have survived at all. Our ambition to serve the public with the highest quality art experiences always has been and always will be greater than the amount of money we have to fund it. The generosity of artists, sponsors, buyers, and volunteers at the Art Auction has allowed us to continue to grow both our ambition and our funding. As we enter our final phase of facility development this year, the Gallery is now poised to double its service to the public beginning in the fall of 2011. This dramatic
growth demonstrates the history of generosity you have shown, and I believe that it will excite, and incite, even more dramatic generosity from the community in the future, for the return in service to the community from your investment of support in the Gallery is now higher than ever before. We wish that all those who have been involved with the Art Auction over the years could be here this evening to celebrate this anniversary, and we remember all of those who are no longer with us. Their legacy at this event, and ours, is not the event itself, nor even the Gallery itself, it is growth and development of so many minds young and old, past and future - that have experienced, and will experience, the beautiful mystery of art solely through the opportunities funded by this event. – Robert Steven Executive Director/Curator The Prairie Art Gallery
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Live
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Dennis J. A. Brown Saltair View 2009 Acrylic 14” x 18” The landscape is a powerful element that influences my work. When I sense the spirit of a unique location, I push the color and design to capture what I feel about it.
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Patricia Peters Where the Red Grass Grows 2009 Multimedia 36” x 12” I attempt to capture my response to a moment in time. There is nothing like the creative process – it is the very essence of life! I seek to reflect this joy and energy in my work.
Jody Farrell “Bombel”, France 2009 Oil on canvas paper 15” x 13” Jody Farrell paints landscapes and cityscapes in oils and acrylics. She often focuses on little urban scenes, like alleys and corner grocers, that are fast disappearing from our city neighbourhoods.
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Pam Chorney Charleston Window 2009 Photograph 16” x 20”
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I enjoy looking at the world through my camera and capturing a small piece of beauty. Things we may just walk by or see through can be very beautiful images when captured on film in the right angle or format.
Leslie Bjur Osmosis 2010 Black pipestone and silver 8” x 10” x 4”
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Osmosis is the result of an experiment combining Science and Art / pipestone and silver. While the piece seemed noble and rigid at first; work eventually deteriorated into play and more experimentation. Osmosis encourages us to explore.
Dale Syrota Winter Light 2010 Watercolour 14” x 10.5”
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I use transparent watercolours in a clear and unique way; representing my experiences of the landscape of western Canada.
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Whitney Lee Hayes O’Brien #17 2009 Acrylic on board 12” x 24”
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I enjoy working in this time-intensive style. My work reflects who I am: a perfectionist with everything in its place. My work consists of landscapes, still life and high design abstracts.
Marjorie Taylor Shapes in Shadows 2010 Acrylic and mixed media on canvas 60” x 18”
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This painting is a continuing exploration of fragmentations of ancient walls. With the passage of time, walls become worn, weathered, a contrast of light and dark, casting shadows while carrying secrets of souls gone before.
Todd Schaber Visions: The Bigger Picture 2008 Acrylic on OSB 49” x 34”
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This is a larger detail of my “Vision From the Keewatin” series one. Painted with acrylic and layered acrylic glazes on OSB (orientated strand board) panel.
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Deb Courvoisier Tree-O 2009 Porcelain - Raku 18” x 8.5” / 15.5” x 2.5”/ 14.5” x 2.5”
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My vessels evolve from nature, its colour, texture and line. I fire my work in a primitive raku kiln and embrace the element of surprise and the awaited imperfections.
Toni Schuler Downtown Back Alley 2010 Watercolour 29” x 21”
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I was captured by the warm colors reflected in the melting water in this back alley in downtown Grande Prairie. The buildings and their features lent almost automatically to a strong composition. My main media, watercolour, was just perfect for this painting.
Terry Kazakoff Paintbrushes 2009 Acrylic on canvas 36” x 48”
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An introspective work, the focus is on my relationship with the media and tools of painting.
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Carmen Haakstad Moonscape 2010 2010 Oil on board 36” x 24”
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I cannot believe it has been 30 years that I have been donating to The Prairie Art Gallery’s Art Auction. Time truly flies when you are having fun! Thanks to everyone who has helped the Gallery grow over the years!
Peter von Tiesenhausen Martyr 2010 Carved wood 15” x 7.5” x 2”
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Has the time arrived yet to leave no toxicity behind or is it still too expensive to do the right thing?
Tina Martel Parallel 2009 Mixed 12” x 12”
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Parallel was created for an exhibition entitled Aleatoric – “relating to or denoting …forms of art involving elements of random choice (Oxford dictionary)”. Each piece was based in some fashion on chance: happening upon a specific colour in an obscure corner, the discovery of a found object, or the accidental formation of poured paint. I also found myself heavily influenced by the urban location of my current Calgary studio with its traffic, lights, crowds, ubiquitous cranes and construction sites.
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Cathy Stafford Sunflowers #2 Oil 16” x 47”
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Cathy studied art at the Grande Prairie Regional College between 1995 and 1999 and has been active in the art community for the past 11 years.
Edward Bader Eifell Tower: Paris 2010 Ink on paper 24” x 32”
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For the past 30 years, Edward Bader has exhibited his drawings throughout Alberta. His work can be found in the following collections: QEII Hospital, City of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Canada Council Art Bank.
Jim Stokes Winter Sketch 2010 Acrylic on canvas 22” x 36”
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I really enjoy making paintings, and sharing with others, a passion for trying to capture some fragment of the “natural world.”
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Carrie Klukas The Fog is Lifting 2009 Acrylic on board 12” x 48”
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Imaginary landscapes are created by layers of transparent paints, sanded away leaving traces and ghosts of things. Klukas’ process oriented practice uses multiple layers of underpainting and overpainting. The luminous surface quality is achieved by several applications of acrylic varnish.
Suzanne Sandboe Voices In the Air 2010 Watercolor 22” x 30” (full sheet)
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I currently work mainly in transparent watercolor enjoying the spontaneous, fresh and playful nature of the medium. I feel fortunate to have our never ending landscapes, people and history from which to create as I share with the viewer what inspires me to create. Congratuations PAG on 30 successful years!
Helena Mulligan Garden Muse 2009 Concrete, cement sealer and oil paint 3’ x 12” x 12”
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This sculpture was created to be in a garden, and since my mother was an avid gardener, I thought about her the whole time I worked on it.
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Dan Arberry Still Life: Wine and Flute 2010 Pastel 8” x 10” In working with series, I discover the object. The personalities and qualities within objects help me to reflect on everyday life.
Ed Ashton MacKey’s Barn (Teepee Creek, Alberta) 2009 Pen and ink 16” x 20” Member of Artists North since 1992. Works in watercolour, and pen and ink. Known for watercolour paintings of Alberta grain elevators. Works with grain elevators (original sites), rustic works like barns, fences, wagons, etc.
Nicole Bauberger Ask 2009 Acrylic 5” x 7” As a new development in my popular raven paintings, I’ve been using black acrylic paint in a sumi-e style. The wild sparseness of this technique evokes the character of these unpredictable birds.
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Grant Berg Canadian Maple 2009 Soapstone and marble 19” x 8.75” x 7.5” Grant has developed a uniquely Canadian contemporary style with his stone sculpture. Carving the intangibles and creating movement are two features often seen in Grant’s work.
Dan Boulos D-Vine Creation 2006 Photography 10” x 17” Photography has always been an interest of mine. Starting off taking pictures of graffiti, my horizons have been broadened over the last several years. Nature becoming a main focus and new found passion.
Cheryl Brown Prairie Harvest 2010 Jewellery – Sterling Silver chain, handmade lampwork beads, precious metal clasp. (Necklace, earrings, bracelet.) This work symbolizes components of our prairie harvest. Handmade lampwork beads display golden grain stalks on a background of blue prairie skies. Additional components represent gears and machine parts that are key to harvest success.
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Eric Cameron Dipped Painting: 3 Nails 2009 Dipped Painting 1.5 x 17.5 cm When Sarah Milroy wrote in the Globe and Mail that my Thick Paintings are produced by dipping objects in paint, I tried dipping some objects in paint to demonstrate the difference. I now find myself taking the results increasingly seriously.
Kate Clifford Energetic Improvisation 2002 Acrylic inks 11.625” x 8.75” “Energetic Improvisation” is an acrylic ink painting that Kate created using a technique she likes to call maskings. She enjoys experimenting in all mediums and is well known for her watercolour landscapes.
Sue Cloake Ocean Green 2010 Mixed media collage 12” x 12” Her unique mixed media collages are created with layered paper products, acrylic paints and a variety of inks. Layers of rich colours and textures radiate through a metallic sheen surface to reveal impressions of natural objects. Sue resides in Peace River, Alberta, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from U of A.
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Leona Cochrane Down Town 2008 Oil on canvas 30” x 40” Recently I have focused on spaces in the urban environment. The paintings are based on a representation of a specific space. The painting develops to represent an internal space.
Calvin Cornish Rain Misted Roadside Creek 2009 Acrylic on canvas 24” x 32” Calvin’s work is largely wildlife pencil art, but he has also worked in landscapes of northern Canadian scenes. This piece is a roadside creek up the Alaska Highway, close to the Yukon/BC borders.
Corinne Cowan Blue Moon 2010 Acrylic 16” x 20” A full moon reflected on a northern winter landscape is one of the most magical subjects an artist can work with.
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Sheila Craipley Canola/Jones Lake 2009 Oil on canvas 10” x 26” I enjoy painting my landscapes on location, working with oil and acrylic. Peace Country scenery being my subject of choice.
Janet Enfield Cougar 2009 Oil on canvas 22.5” x 10” This is a “Storyland Valley Zoo” cougar. I was lucky enough to get the photo that I worked from. I love animals and love capturing them on canvas.
Lena Gilje McCall’s 8131 2010 Mixed media 11” x 11” A love of design and pattern inspired this mixed media piece. Lena wanted to incorporate some of the vintage material she has found searching second hand stores, flea markets and garage sales from travels around the world.
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Shauna Hoffos Stormy Night 2010 Acrylic on canvas 10” x 48” With each blank canvas, I essentially have a clean slate where a new challenge and a new adventure begins. I enjoy the freedom to use different materials and try new techniques, thus making my work predominantly experimental. “Stormy Night” is simply the result of this spontaneous process.
Vicki Hotte Gift Horse 2010 Acrylic on canvas 30” x 24” A visual artist working out of Beaverlodge, Alberta, Vicki uses acrylic paint, various drawing media and found materials to create 2D and 3D images that reflect her connection to the land. Sensitivity to nature, a rural lifestyle, and the creative process all influence her work.
Ken HouseGo Upswipe, June 2007, NW of Whitecourt 2008 Encaustic and oil stick on wood panel 16.25” x 14.75” My art contains the embers of a personal landscape that I leave behind for others to discover.
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Kim Lan Huynh Predicate #3 1996 Lithography 34” x 24” Kim Huynh is a sculptor, installation artist and master printmaker. She is currently an associate professor of art at the University of Calgary, specializing in printmaking and drawing. This piece is a sample of her immense and varied print works.
Katarina Kardelisova Poison Kiss 2009 Acrylic on canvas 80 cm x 100 cm I’m favouring shape simplification, flatness and purity of lines and colours in response to a computer, cartoon aesthetics. I like order and chaos together, clean lines and painting gesture. I’m attracted to opposites. I must identify with my work. When I’m finished I’m totally satisfied.
Donna Kaut Sweet Surprise Oil on canvas 12” x 15” I am presently concentrating my artistic efforts on realistic oil paintings of wild flowers and berries of northern Alberta, many of which are found close to where I live. This particular subject stems from growing up in the Peace River area and having a life-long appreciation of wild roses, crocuses, saskatoon berries and other wild flora.
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Lynn LeCorre Evergreens 2008 Acrylic on board 6” x 16” I seek inspiration from nature. When painting “en plein air” I strive to capture the fleeting light and striking colours of the land. It is the immediacy of painting in the moment that inspires and challenges me.
Kristine McGuinty Evolution 2009 Acrylic 36” x 31” I am drawn to the narrative qualities in a piece of art, where a story is being told. I aim to portray those qualities in my own art when I work with line and texture to develop the energy in the painting.
Catherine McLaughlin Come to Bed 2009 Colour photograph 8” x 10” Making photographs can be a deeply meditative process for me. Some images mirror my current life path – light, darkness, answers, questions. I often know the title as I am shooting.
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Gordon Perret Growth 2006 Mixed (clay, wood, copper) 45 x 46 cm Through the use of textured layers of clay I suggest growth from the earth. The faded red barn wood background gives it a rustic rural feeling that is often used in my artwork.
Holly Perret Dinosaur Park 2010 Acrylic on canvas 20” x 16” I like the colours and textures of the hoodoos in Dinosaur Park. Looking at them is kind of like looking at clouds. You see different shapes and things in them and they change as the light changes.
Klaus Peters Expressions of Love 2010 Photograph printed on canvas 14” x 32” To be able to express our feelings is a gift and a privilege. To be good at expressing yourself is a challenge.
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Avril Powell Dog Sledding In The Prairies 2010 Photograph Most of my artwork is photography. My more serious photos have always included nature and capturing outdoor environments in different seasons. The prairies are one of my favourites because the skies are ever changing and so beautiful.
Laurel Rohne Natural Order 2010 Encaustic 8” x 10” The process of encaustic painting involves combining two materials, beeswax and oil pigment. Although an ancient technique, encaustic painting is experiencing a revival partially due to its versatility as a medium. In the piece “Natural Order” I have combined found organic material, encaustic medium, as well as traditional drawing to create a one of a kind art piece.
Sabine Schneider Unihipili 2010 Mixed media 19.75” x 19.75” Hawaiian culture calls the inner child, Unihipili. Carl Jung refers to it as a figure of vulnerability, creativity and spontaneity. This piece celebrates our profound innocence and the inner wisdom inherent in us all.
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Bernadine Schroyer Loner 2007 Mixed media on canvas 29.5” x 61” I am interested in the layering of various surfaces and materials, and also in the more subtle non-material layering that exists – of shadow, reflection, and light. The majority of my work involves building or layering a painting using this interplay of materiality/non-materiality.
Tanya Sedore A Walk to Remember 2009 Photograph 20” x 24” Tanya Sedore was born and raised in Grande Prairie and is now the owner operator of T. Sedore photography. Tanya feels “blessed to have been able to make a career out of something she truly loves to do.”
Marian Jacoba Shilka Pearlescent 2010 Acrylic 14” x 14” Working in acrylics, watercolour or several media, and often intertwining these with natural materials such as sand and seeds, I continue to be amazed by the shifting place where inspiration becomes tangible.
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Laura St. Pierre Untitled (Urban Vernacular Series) 2009 Archival ink jet on polypropylene 27” x 8.625” The Urban Vernacular Series proposes a new type of vernacular architecture for urban North Americans, comprised of our most accessible and plentiful material: trash. The structures are located in abandoned or overlooked sites, becoming trash architecture in trashed space.
Wendy Stefansson Prolonged Exposure to Oxygen, Day 3, 6:18:04 pm 2009 Digital photo (copper leaf on sandstone) 24” x 16” This is a photograph of an outdoor installation I created on my mother’s beach in Prince Edward Island. I applied copper leaf to the sandstone rocks, then photographed them over the next three days as they changed with exposure to the elements.
Paulina Stevens Prairie Surfer 2009 Photograph printed on canvas 30” x 40” This piece was inspired by the family barley fields and the now unused surfboards from our travels around the world.
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Karen Stroebel Yoo Hoo Fishes 2007 Watercolour 10” x 14” I have made my living working in the bush. I have had many opportunities of experiencing wild spaces and wild things. Watercolours mixing and moving provides me with surprises as much as invoking memories while I paint. Many times as a young girl I had my face pressed to the ice wondering if there are fishes... Grande Cache Watercolour Society member.
Evelyn Suter High-Country Road 2010 Watercolour monoprint 18” x 24” For this artist working with the many variables that exist in producing a 'painterly print', there is both a challenge and joy in being part of the on-going, if not surprising evolution the method excites.
Larissa Tiggelers Untitled 2009 Acrylic on panel 8.75” x 8.75” In my current painting practice I use systems in order to play with space; employing colour, surface texture, scale and the relationship between these elements. I break the rules and confines of creating illusionary space, while also acknowledging the existence of real space by deliberately painting on the sides of the works and creating raised areas of paint.
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Leslie Webb Pysanky IV - Tradition 2010 Ostrich egg with beeswax and dye 6” x 6” x 8” I’ve always enjoyed art in various forms, but it wasn’t until I married into a Polish family at 19 and became aware of their rich culture and heritage, that I found my “niche”. I began by cross-stitching dance costumes for all my kids as they progressed through Ukrainian dance, then settled on the Art of Pysanky which is an integral part of this culture. After hours of waxing and dipping on dozens of eggs over the years, it’s still a surprise when the wax is finally removed and the pattern emerges.
Acknowledgements Auction Committee Patricia Trout Rob Swanston Tina Nelson Brandi Martin Carrie Klukas Kristin Eiserman Catalogue Photography
Catalogue Graphic Design
Platinum Event Title Sponsor Investor’s Group Financial Services Inc. Pearl Catalogue Sponsor Quinn’s Landscaping Gold Sponsor Ken and Teresa Sargent Family Foundation Silver Sponsors Canadian Tire Gail Haakstad of Royal LePage Realty Menzies Printers Visa Truck Rentals & Leasing Bronze Sponsors JET Gas and Heating ISL Engineering & Land Services Scott Mason Chartered Accountant Pizza Hut AON Reed Stenhouse V the Vacation Store Sole Addiction
Acknowledgements Sound Consultant – Keith Lowe Catering – Jakes Downsouth Esquires Coffee Music – James Oldenburg and SoJazz Table Centres – Marcy’s Flower Boutique Printing – Menzies Printers Graphic Design – Irons Design Cover Photo – South Peace Regional Archives Gift in Kind Auctioneer – Dave Neale of Alberta North Auction Services Master of Ceremonies – Ken Truhn Audio/Visual – Joel Park Lighting Consultant – Robert Cole Linen Sponsor – Canadian Linen Transportation – Visa Truck Rentals
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The Prairie Art Gallery History
The
Prairie Gallery Society was incorporated on June 5, 1975 by a group of volunteers whose goal was to increase the appreciation and awareness of visual arts in the Peace Region. In 1985, the Gallery opened in its permanent location in the historic 1929 Grande Prairie High School Building. The Building, having been vacant and having fallen into disrepair, was facing demolition, but the Gallery Society led the ambitious project to restore the exterior to its 1929 appearance and have the building designated as an Alberta Historic Resource, while at the
same time renovating the interior to the highest standards of the day as a public art gallery. It was at this time that the Gallery’s permanent collection and other programs began to grow rapidly. Since 2003, everyone involved with the Prairie Art Gallery has been working tirelessly to expand the Gallery’s service to the community through growth of the facility. The Gallery’s plans to expand as part of the construction of the Montrose Cultural Centre were only slightly delayed by the collapse of much of the Grande
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YEARS
2010
Prairie High School building in 2007. In 2009, after two remarkable years of high quality programming in temporary and non-traditional locations, the Gallery successfully reopened in the Montrose Cultural Centre, where tonight’s event is being held, and the first year in the Centre promises to show a tripling of visits to the Gallery over any other year in its history. Expansion, however, has not yet been achieved. The area the Gallery occupies in the Montrose Centre is in fact considerably smaller than the area it occupied in the Grande Prairie High School building for over 20 years. The completion of the expansion project is expected to occur in the fall of 2011, when the exterior of the Grande
Prairie High School building will be restored exactly to its 1929 appearance, and the interior will be completely renovated and connected to the Montrose Cultural Centre. The expanded Prairie Art Gallery will be an architectural experience unlike any other in Grande Prairie, even compared to the rest of the Montrose Centre. Like the art experiences that will unfold within the new Gallery, its plan is too beautiful to do justice in words, so we invite you now to visit its three new floors of exhibition, learning, and gathering spaces as soon as they open, and to return as often as you can from then onwards, for we truly believe that you will be happy you did.
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