Fundació Vila Casas
Introduction
The Fundació Vila Casas, founded in 1986 by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur Antoni Vila Casas, is a private, non-profit making organisation which has the promotion of contemporary Catalan art as its main aim.
With five exhibition centres, all part of our architectural heritage, the foundation has become a platform for exhibiting the permanent collection and holding temporary shows of the artists featured in the collection.
In the socio-sanitary field the foundation promotes research with the aim of establishing dialogue between health professionals, the media and society
History
Antoni Vila Casas’s growing interest in collecting contemporary Catalan art, impelled by his desire to contribute to the enrichment of the culture and preserve the traditions of his country, first became evident in 1998 with the refurbishing of the Modernista building known as Casa Felip in the Barcelona district of Eixample, the first floor being headquarters to the Fundació Vila Casas. In the same year, in the village of Pals in the Empordà region of Catalonia Ca La Tona, a small sculpture museum which now no longer exists, was opened. These were the first artistic and architectural projects undertaken by the Fundació Vila Casas.
In 2000 Museu Art 2000 was opened to the public. It was located in the Palau Solterra, a small 15th century palace in the Empordà town of Torroella de Montgrí. To begin with much of the painting collection was exhibited there. Now it is known as the Palau Solterra Museum of Contemporary Photography and currently houses the Fundació Vila Casas collection of national and international photography. Two years later, in 2002, Espai Volart, the foundation’s first gallery for the public in Barcelona was opened, for holding temporary exhibitions.
As the collection grew more exhibition space was needed, so in 2004 Can Mario, a disused cork factory in Palafrugell (Empordà), was converted into a museum for showing painting, sculpture and photography, taking over from Ca la Tona, the small museum in Pals. Today it is known as the Can Mario Museum of Contemporary Sculpture.
At the end of 2008 a second gallery for temporary exhibitions – Espai Volart 2 (adjacent to the Espai Volart) and a year later, in 2009, the Can Framis Museum of Contemporary Painting, a converted textile mill in the Poble Nou 22@ district of Barcelona were opened.
Fundació Vila Casas Museums
- Can Framis Museum of Contemporary Painting, Barcelona[1]
- Espai Volart and Espai Volart 2, Barcelona[2]
- Museum of Contemporary Photography, Palau Solterra
- Museum of Contemporary Sculpture, Can Mario.
Can Mario Museum
Fundació Vila Casas Awards
- ACCA The Art of Collecting at the Fundació Vila Casas. ACCA de la Crítica d’Art First Prize for the best initiative. 27th edition[3]
- Fundació Vila Casas. Winner of the National Award for Cultural Heritage[4][5]
Fundació Vila Casas Prizes
The Fundació Vila Casas holds an annual open prize[6] competition for artists. The competition is held in a different discipline - painting, photography or sculpture - each year.[7]