An Aurora curator has opened a new gallery in the St. Andrew’s Shopping Centre, in the hopes of tapping into a local “renaissance of the arts."
Katie Micak grew up in Aurora but has worked for 20 years in the art world, including at galleries in Toronto, New York, and Washington D.C. She said it’s been a “lifelong process” starting her own gallery, which is called Micak Contemporary Art Gallery.
She said she chose now to move back to town because there’s been a renaissance of the arts locally, pointing to the opening of Aurora Town Square and The Postmark Hotel in Newmarket.
The first showing in the gallery, called Emerging Vistas, features all Canadian pieces in a variety of mediums, but predominantly landscape paintings, and is aimed at providing different perspectives on landscape artwork. One notable piece is called Blaze, by Sarah Carlson, depicting a wildfire.
All the pieces shown in the gallery are for sale, with Micak keen to help people find pieces of art they connect with. In addition to running the gallery, she will be hosting art advisory consultations to help clients find artwork they may want to take home.
“I wanted to choose works that were livable, that people can live with and wanted to have in their space,” she said.
While this first show focuses on Canadian paintings, Micak aims to have new showings about every six weeks, pulling from her international network of artistic connections.
She plans to display pieces in a variety of mediums, including glass, ceramics and digital art, something Micak specialized in for part of her own career as an artist.
She's also planning regular workshops, artist talk, and interactive experiences starting in the new year.
Micak Contemporary Art Gallery, located at 2 Orchard Heights Blvd., unit 40, opened its doors officially on Wednesday, Oct. 30, ahead of its grand opening celebration on Saturday, Nov. 2.
Starting Nov. 3, the gallery will be open Wednesday to Saturday noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with art advisory consultations available by appointment.
