Multi-Year National Outreach Initiative Funded by Michael Nesbitt Launches with Fogo Island Weather Station Français
Art to Reach Communities Across Canada
OTTAWA, ON, Nov. 3, 2022 /CNW/ - The October 6, 2022 launch of a new sculptural installation on Canada's Fogo Island signalled the beginning of a multi-year National Outreach initiative made possible by a $752,000 donation from renowned Canadian philanthropist Michael Nesbitt.
Coordinated by the National Gallery of Canada (NGC), in conjunction with the NGC Foundation, the National Outreach initiative is designed to give Canadians access to the Gallery's collection in their own communities. The first installation – A Variability Quantifier aka The Fogo Island Red Weather Station – is designed by artist Liam Gillick, and is an artwork intended to function as a working weather station.
The National Outreach initiative has been funded for the first three years, with year-one funds already allocated to create two new full-time positions (Producer and Senior Manager, held by Josée Drouin-Brisebois, and Program Manager, held by Lynda Hall) and their related travel budget. The ongoing initiative will allow the NGC to collaborate with local institutions to offer new ways of bringing art from the Gallery's collection into communities from coast to coast to coast: through long-term loans, permanent and semi-permanent location of artworks across the country, and the commissioning of new works by Canadian and international artists.
"I am pleased and honoured to support this forward-looking initiative. It will allow world-class visual art to be shown across Canada in communities that may not otherwise have this opportunity," said Mr. Nesbitt. "Perhaps, more importantly, this will inspire and encourage a positive dialogue amongst all Canadians." For his contributions, Mr. Nesbitt will be recognized as a lifetime Distinguished Patron of the National Gallery.
"We are grateful for Mr. Nesbitt's generous support of this important initiative," said Angela Cassie, Interim Director and CEO of the NGC. "This donation is an investment in the vision of the strategic plan, opening up possibilities to share the collection with communities in bold new ways, and allowing us to build momentum for the years to come. This is an opportunity for people from coast to coast to coast to have access to art that can inspire, connect, and foster constructive dialogue in all of our communities."
The first year of the initiative will focus on placing works across Canada and exploring opportunities for long-term commissions with institutions and communities. In the initiative's second year, the focus will be on developing and implementing projects in each province and territory. Throughout these first three years, the Gallery will also commission at least one project per year, with the aim of growing that number as the initiative continues.
Mr. Nesbitt's donation is also designed to build new and meaningful relationships across Canada. "His generosity will allow more Canadians to have access to the Gallery's collection while it explores exciting new opportunities for exhibiting art across the country," said Lisa Turcotte, Executive Director of the NGC Foundation. "These projects allow for new types of collaboration and exchange, and will be transformational for artists and audiences in helping to establish an impactful cultural footprint across Canada."
About Mr. Michael Nesbitt
Mr. Nesbitt is Chairman and Owner of Montrose Mortgage Corporation Ltd. He resides in Winnipeg and currently serves on the Investment Committee of H.E.P.P., the pension plan for healthcare workers in Manitoba. Michael has served on the Board of Directors of BPO Properties Ltd., having previously been a Director of Brookfield Asset Managment Inc., the parent company of BPO Properties Ltd., and served on the Board of Trustees of the Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust. He is actively engaged in work with several community organizations, including acting as Chair of the Winnipeg Art Gallery Foundation Investment Committee and serving on the Ducks Unlimited Pension and Corporate Fund Investment Committee. Mr. Nesbitt was recognized as the 2020 Outstanding Philanthropist by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
About the National Gallery of Canada
Ankosé — Everything is Connected — Tout est relié
The National Gallery of Canada is dedicated to amplifying voices through art and extending the reach and breadth of its collection, exhibitions program, and public activities to represent all Canadians, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Ankosé—an Anishinaabemowin word that means Everything is Connected—reflects the Gallery's mission to create dynamic experiences that open hearts and minds, and allow for new ways of seeing ourselves, one another, and our diverse histories, through the visual arts. The NGC is home to a rich contemporary Indigenous international art collection, as well as important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian and European Art from the 14th to 21st centuries. Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada has played a key role in Canadian culture for more than a century. To find out more about the Gallery's programming and activities visit gallery.ca and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. #Ankose #EverythingIsConnected #ToutEstRelié.
About the NGC Foundation
The National Gallery of Canada Foundation is dedicated to supporting the National Gallery of Canada in fulfilling its mandate. By fostering strong philanthropic partnerships, the Foundation provides the Gallery with the additional financial support required to lead Canada's visual arts community locally, nationally and internationally. The blend of public support and private philanthropy empowers the Gallery to preserve and interpret Canada's visual arts heritage. The Foundation welcomes present and deferred gifts for special projects and endowments. To learn more about the National Gallery of Canada Foundation, visit ngcfoundation.ca and follow us on Twitter @NGC_Foundation.
About Josée Drouin-Brisebois
Josée Drouin-Brisebois is Producer and Senior Manager of National Outreach at the National Gallery of Canada and was formerly Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. She recently curated the Kaunas Biennial – Once Upon a Time, Gyveno Jie Jau Kitaip the inaugural event for Kaunas 2022 Cultural Capital of Europe and co-curated Movement: Expressive Bodies in Art at the National Gallery of Canada. She also commissioned works by Rashid Johnson and Geneviève Cadieux for the museum's public spaces.
She has been highly involved with the Canadian participation at the Venice Biennale for the last decade. She was curator of the Steven Shearer (2011) and Shary Boyle (2013) exhibitions and also served as project director for Geoffrey Farmer's 2017 participation, and was the lead curator of Isuma's exhibition for the 2019 Biennale edition. She has curated monographic and thematic exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (MOCA) and The Rooms in Newfoundland and Labrador. From 2016 to 2020 she was the Jury Chair for the Sobey Art Award, the pre-eminent prize for contemporary Canadian art. In addition to publishing catalogues for the National Gallery and the Venice Biennale, her writing on contemporary art has appeared in a variety of publications and periodicals in Canada and abroad.
About Lynda Hall
Lynda Hall is the Program Manager of National Outreach at the National Gallery of Canada. She was the Senior Exhibitions Manager of Àbadakone| Continuous Fire | Feu continuel (2019), the second in an ongoing series of international contemporary Indigenous art exhibitions at the NGC, and the New Generation Photography Award exhibitions at the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival (2019/2020). Permanent public art installations commissioned by the City of Ottawa were managed by Lynda during her time as a Public Art Officer, notably A View from Two Sides by Kenneth Emig, which received the 2017 Urban Design Award of Merit for an urban element. As a Registrar, she managed loans from the NGC collection to exhibitions across Canada, and internationally. Most recently, she was part of the NGC team that brought together the works for the General Idea retrospective, scheduled to tour to Europe in 2023.
SOURCE National Gallery of Canada
For media only: For more information or to set up an interview, please contact: Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Officer, Media and Public Relations, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]; Denise Siele, Senior Communications Manager, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]
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