**UPDATE #2** A big, public thanks goes out to my good friends and gracious hosts, Daniel Wong and Mary-Anne McTrowe. The above photo illustrates their respective personalities; Dan is so cool and Mary-Anne is so cheerful. And I have carb-face. I blame the Alberta beef.
**UPDATE** A fragrance forum is scheduled to follow my product launch talk on May 1. I’m so grateful (and a little intimidated) that the gallery could get Jim Drobnick and Deb Saucier to participate as discussants.
I’m working with curator Ryan Doherty to develop an Institutional Wellbeing project for the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge, Canada. This manifestation of IW will take advantage of SAAG’s storefront presence to create an on-site wellness center (or centre, in Canadian …). This project has taken a decidedly different turn from previous incarnations of IW. In fact, after this project is complete, I will begin offering the Wellness Centre as an autonomous service through the boutique wing of Contraposto Home Decor, c (pronounced /k/). Those who visit the c-Wellness Centre at SAAG will experience three of four wellness modalities – light, scent, and sonic therapies. The fourth modality, physical therapy, will be developed this summer.
Of course, this project still climaxes with product launch of SAAG’s very own Environmental Wellness Fragrance. In fact, the institution has invested in a semi-permanent olfactory installation for their new space. A scratch and sniff wall. The term “scratch and sniff” does not do the piece justice, but it is difficult to explain it concisely any other way. Suffice it to say, it will be an intimate experience for the gallery patron. Almost as if the building perspired when it was massaged. I say “semi-permanent” because, like a Sol Lewitt wall drawing, it can be deinstalled and reinstalled by simply following a set of instructions.