Saskatchewan Art News

New Art Space for Regina - Artful Dodger Cafe and TAE Gallery

Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood, just east of downtown, will soon host a new multifaceted art space:  the interesting Pisch Block, at 1631 11th Avenue, will contain The Artful Dodger Cafe, the TAE Contemporary Art Gallery, a gift shop, and several artist studios.

All facilities are intended to open by the end of April 2012, with The Art Dodger Cafe and the TAE Art Gallery hosting an ongoing schedule of exhibitions, music and live theatre. On the building’s second floor, the Crazy Great Space will feature artist studio spaces, offices for the likes of Queer City Cinema, a jewelry co-op and the band Library Voices, an arts and culture lending library, and a camera library providing both film and photography cameras.

Owner Carol Cairns, herself a visual artist, explains “I wanted a space where you could showcase all that is happening in the arts; musicians and actors and writers and visual artists would have a space to create....I wanted a place where people were comfortable going in....Sometimes you go into an art gallery and some of the general public may feel uncomfortable, but when you have a coffee shop and art is all around you, you feel like you can enter that even when you’re not an artist or part of the art world.”

The Artful Dodger Cafe will be open from 8 am to 11 pm daily, while the TAE Gallery will be open 10 am to 5 pm daily.

For more information, and to donate books or cameras to the libraries, visit the Crazy Great Space website: www.crazygreatspace.com.