| "It
was not uncommon to find Audrey Regan walking barefoot around the
space, even when it was opened for regular business to the Wall Street
crowd. And, it was not uncommon to find an artist here and there
who was taking a nap after working on an installation. The gallery’s
daytime visitors came to expect such things and most of them loved
it, many even bringing their lunches with them and finding a quiet
place to sit somewhere within the gallery – to get away from corporate
fluorescence for just one hour." LINDA GARTH: "THE AUDART ADVENTURE ON WALL STREET" |
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, when she was eight years of age, 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 city it is." she claims, "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 appears first in the section covering Canadians who 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.
and
"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 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. In addition, she developed and edits www.art-is-life.com , an arts magazine representing art in all its forms. She 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. Audrey also has four internet businesses, including a shopping service for unusual home items and functional art.
She has two grown daughters - Mandy, who lives in New York City and Dana, who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Audrey shares her home with Desi, the Wonder Dog and Sophie, the cat.
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