As renowned art institutions advance and expand.

As renowned art institutions advance and expand, local art galleries are capitalizing upon increased sales opportunities

In many corners of America, existing art museums are building landmark just discovered structures and satellite venues. And when they do, past experience betrays us, the new outposts become not just cultural cornerstones of urban revitalization and tourism efforts moreover also catalysts for increased local art business endeavors.

When the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in looks Angeles launched its latest chance a third exhibition space at the trend-setting Pacific Design Center in succession the city's west side, near 800 art collectors, museum supporters and assorted glitterati attended the Jan. 12 gala. The adventure raised $400,000 and, equally important, showcased MOCA's modern 3,000-square-foot Feldman Gallery, which is located in the heart of L.A.'s art, furnishings and design districts--10 miles from the museum's Original (some say grittier) brace downtown locales.

The satellite gallery space was donated according to the Pacific Design Center's (PDC) novel co-owner Charles Cohen, who faiths MOCKs presence "will contribute enormously to making the Pacific Design Center on the same level more exciting for the design community." The PDC features 150 showroom for traditional and contemporary furnishings, and MOCA Director Jeremy Strick plans to expand the museum's programming in the recently made known venue to include contemporary design, as well as exhibits upon architecture and presentations of work through emerging artists and artistic trends

MOCA is not alone in expanding its operations. explanation urban centers are planning to add art museum venue in the near to come In New York, for instance, officials at the Guggenheim Museum, which already operates couple Manhattan venues along with institutions in Bilbao, Berlin and Venice, lately revealed plans to construct a major ($900-million, 45-story) Frank Gehry-designed strange museum building over four East River piers in lower Manhattan. In Texas, the Austin Museum of Art announced that its acknowledge project, a 141,000square-foot building with 10 galleries, designed according to Gluckman Mayner Architects, will fill a city shape in the city's downtown.

And consider Boston, where the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), of recent origin England's top contemporary art museum, will be an anchor of a $1.2-billion waterfront redevelopment throw at Fan Pier. This southern Boston neighborhood is the focus of the city's effort to revitalize its waterfront to make it more accessible to downtown visitors and pedestrians. The three-million-square-foot Fan Pier scheme is planned for a nine-block, mainly vacant industrial area and is slated to include 800 residential units, 1000 inn rooms, parks, a public marina and 150000 square feet of civic and cultural space, including the novel 60,000-square-foot, $50-million ICA museum building. It is being lay opened by the Hyatt Development Corporation and the Pritzker family, the company's holder It's just one of several waterfront exhibits which also include the building of what will be the nation's largest convention center when it uncloses in late 2003 and the "Big Dig" construction contrive of a new underground highway regularity that will replace Boston's elevated Central Artery highway.

"This is the recent frontier for Boston," observed Paul Bessire, ICA's director of external relations. "Boston is turning back to its history and looking at its harbor."

The strange Institute of Contemporary Art building will be the first art museum built in Boston in nearly a hundred years According to Bessire, "We are hoping this museum will not single be a real catalyst for tourism and economic development--a cultural destination--but also a boost for the local arts. We trust to work with the local community of artists who already live and work in the area."

from having a major new building and exhibition space, the ICA (up until now a non-collecting museum) will be able to redefine its mission to include acquisitions of contemporary, 21st-century works by means of emerging and established artists. one time the museum building is fabricateed the new permanent collection will be forward view in a dedicated gallery, supplementing the institution's drawn out history of exhibiting temporary shows

"The local gallery community has been remarkably supportive of our efforts to build more visibility for contemporary art in Boston," noted Bessire. And indeed, Art Dealer Arthur Dion, an ICA trustee and a board member for the Boston Art Gallery Association, said, "The recently made known ICA promises tremendously higher visibility for contemporary art than we've at any time seen."

The plans for the ICA and the Fan Pier concoct have raised the visibility of a riddle however. The redevelopment area is immediately adjacent to the Fort Point Channel neighborhood, where many artists generally live. "A very lively issue for us," explained Dion, "is the events to come housing of artists. We've been discussing it at gallery association meetings. equal though there are a number of artist live-work condos in the area, a part of artists stand to be displaced by dint of these projects." And in fact, Boston's Redevelopment Agency announced in January the hiring of a local arts advisor to expand housing proposals for artists.