CoPA's Member Exhibition & Virtual Gallery Tour

Future Technology Builds Virtual Galleries

Apr. 19, 2012

3:09 a.m.

The Coalition of Photographic Arts plans to open its “7th Annual Members Exhibition” on Gallery Night, April 20. More than 100 CoPA members from around the Midwest participate in the show that presents a vast array of photographic art portraying a variety of creative minds. A temporary gallery at 262 East Menomonee across from Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in the Historic Third Ward houses the art in over 5000 square feet of space.  Also on display for the weekend will be a virtual CoPA gallery on a computer that viewers will be able to access and visit with assistance. Robb Quinn, a past CoPA board president and founder of Studio Q, has been working with a class at Marquette University titled “Broadcast and Electronics Communications” under the direction of Michael Havice. Robb collaborated with the class to build the virtual gallery on a website developed by Virtual Worlds on Demand where his Gallery Island can be found (<a href=\"http://www.galleryisland.com\">www.galleryisland.com</a>).  On Gallery Island, the person sitting behind the computer creates an avatar to represent him/her so the avatar can fly or walk around Quinn's virtual island and into the virtual gallery to study the art, in this instance CoPA artists. Havice meets Quinn in the gallery with another student (all as avatars) from his class, and then they are able to “text" with each other on screen or actually talk directly to one another through voice control. An interest in a certain painting seen on a gallery wall allows the avatar to move closer to the image, and then click on the painting to visit that artist's website directly. Moving through the virtual gallery requires experience with the computer, as does commanding the voice control. Yet, anyone from anywhere in the world could potentially walk through the CoPA virtual gallery, look at the art and even meet the artist in the virtual gallery to discuss the painting and the creative process or any other artwork. Quinn also designed a lecture hall inside the gallery where the avatars can sit and listen to a class on art, where everyone could participate through the voice control application.   <o:p> </o:p> Gallery Island could be a space that develops numerous art venues so they could be able to exhibit more work and <o:p /> anyone in the world could (by means of their avatar) visit all of them simultaneously from one virtual site. This new technology could allow art galleries to show all one artist's work continually, including paintings and sculptures that are in their private collection and in storage at a physical gallery. An art collector could view all the work in a virtual gallery and then actually ask questions or visit the physical gallery space with the preselected work that they might be interested in. A gallery owner with their own avatar would have the opportunity to greet and meet them in the virtual gallery first and walk them through an artist's work, answering their question immediately if a time was preselected for the meeting. <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> While the refinement of this process and virtual gallery world is still a few years away, Quinn believes the technology has potential and will continue to make his virtual gallery more realistic and user friendly, expanding his Gallery Island. With the intent to send CoPA's art into the world where someone will be able to appreciate it more easily. Viewing art on line will never replace what an actual image represents: the brushstrokes, the defined color, an impasto texture, a minute line to depict an eyelash would need to be appreciated in a physical gallery.Yet, this could be one way to acquaint both the novice and the serious collector about new art, or studying art on an international level without ever boarding a plane.  So when enjoying the annual CoPA exhibition, visit the virtual Gallery World on exhibit, and think about the possibilities. Could one walk through the Louvre galleries at a leisurely pace without ever traveling to Paris? Could the Milwaukee Art Museum mount their entire permanent collection in a virtual gallery on view at all times? Who knows what the future holds? Perhaps someone could spend a Milwaukee Gallery Night virtually flying from venue to venue on Gallery Island sitting at a desk behind a computer screen. That person could be located in Brazil, China or England while viewing some of the exact artists that Milwaukee collectors would be enjoying. And then perhaps meeting as Avatars in the virtual gallery world to tweet and twitter their opinions about  the art. A step further than what technology offers in 2012 for discussing art from around the world. Walk through galleries at one\'s fingertips 24/7, seven days a week.   CoPA presents the "7th Annual Members Show”at 262 East Menomonee Parkway through May 12. For Gallery Night, CoPA will host a reception Friday, 5:00-9:00 p.m., while for the following weekends gallery hours will be Friday and Saturday, noon until 8:00 p.m. and Sundays, noon until 4:00 p.m. <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p>

Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.