Installation Gallery, Sponsor of Artwalk, Suspends Showings

Faced with mounting debts, a downtown alternative gallery for the avant-garde has laid off its two-member staff, accepted its director’s resignation and suspended its exhibition schedule.

Saying that the nonprofit Installation Gallery at 930 E Street is at a “crucial juncture” and may be hindered by “my sometimes outspoken personality,” former director Dan Wasil tendered his resignation about 10 days ago, he said Tuesday.

“I laid off the staff on May 1,” Wasil said. “I let it be known during Artwalk (April 22-23) that, unless we found ways of coming up with the money, there was no way I could continue.”

Wasil also canceled a May-June group exhibit of artists from San Diego and Los Angeles.

The gallery is $12,000 in debt, said Beverly Schroeder, a member of Installation’s board of directors. Most of the debt is unpaid rent and staff salaries, she said.

“We are not throwing in the towel,” Schroeder said. “It just got to the point where he (Wasil) couldn’t keep working without getting paid. The board is meeting, like, three times a week. We have a group on the board that is functioning as an operating entity.” The group is looking at several fund-raising possibilities, she said.

Founded nine years ago by artist Gary Ghirardi and his wife, Carol Roskos, Installation has served as a forum for artists “to do some new thinking,” Schroeder said. In recent years the gallery has expanded from three-dimensional room installations of artworks to include original videos and performances.

Installation is best known as the sponsor of the annual downtown Artwalk each spring, in which the public is invited to visit artists’ studios and galleries. This year’s Artwalk drew 35,000 people, according to police estimates. However, the event wound up costing Installation $3,500.

Schroeder denied recent allegations made by several artists that Installation had used a grant from the city earmarked for Artwalk for its ongoing operations and to pay its debts.

“No,” Schroeder said. “We have a separate bank account. Everything is separate for Artwalk.”

Although Artwalk is a popular event, some Installation events, such as two recent exhibits critical of Father Junipero Serra and of businesses, have generated controversy.

“It’s hard to get corporate funding when you’re showing things like that,” Schroeder said. “But I think that these kinds of shows need to be shown. Usually there is some truth in them.

“We showcase experimental kinds of works. They’re not commercial kinds of works. It gives young artists a chance to show experimental things.”

Schroeder said Installation’s board of directors is still planning to co-sponsor a local exhibit of the “Rosenberg Era Art Project,” possibly in the fall, with the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art.

“That’s a real strong show that needs to come to San Diego and needs to be seen,” Schroeder said.