MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS PRESENTS: NICOLAS PARTY | L'HEURE MAUVE

Nicolas Party, Portrait with Mushrooms, 2019. Private collection. ©Nicolas Party. Photo Adam Reich

Swiss-born artist Nicolas Party, known for his meticulously composed pastels, painted sculptures and colorful installations, is having his first exhibition in Canada. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) has given the 41-year-old artist carte blanche in creating a dialogue between his works and a selection from the Museum's wind ranging collection. The exhibition runs February 12 - October 16, 2022. 

Through more than 100 of his works and a series of murals realized in situ, Party presents a dreamlike experience on the theme of nature. The Museum's galleries provide the canvas onto which the visual artist and muralist -- cum curator and exhibition designer -- expresses the full measure of his art. 

Partial view of the exhibition Nicolas Party : L’heure mauve, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

©Nicolas Party. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière

Nicolas Party, Sunrise, 2018. Private collection, courtesy of Xavier Hufkens, Brussels. ©Nicolas Party.  
Photo Isabelle Arthuis.

The exhibition, named after the iconic painting L'Heure mauve (Mauve Twilight) by Canadian symbolist Ozias Leduc, found in the MMFA's collection, brings together watercolors, pastels and sculptures by Party -- including about 20 works that have yet to be exhibited. The landscapes, portraits and still lifes illustrate the complex and often inextricable ties that bind humans to nature. 

Partial view of the exhibition Nicolas Party : L’heure mauve, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. ©Nicolas Party.

Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière

Party's creations combine figurative and Surrealist genres that are set against some 50 works from the MMFA's extensive collection that spans four centuries. Selected by Party, they range from paintings by such artists as Gustave Courbet, Otto Dix and Lawren S. Harris to chairs by Wendell Castle and Shiro Kuramata. 

Throughout the galleries in the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, Nicolas Party explores the many-faceted relationships that humans have had with nature through the ages: original sin, conquest, ruined landscape, sublime space and as a place of desire, chaos, death and metamorphosis.

"At turns poetic and provocative, Nicolas Party's exhibition is an invitation to dream and to re-imagine the terms of our relationship to nature," says Mary-Dailey Desmarais, Chief Curator of the MMFA. "Setting masterpieces of the MMFA collection in conversation with his singularly fantastical creations, Party shows us that the past is deeply relevant to our present moment and that works of art have infinite stories to tell."

Nicolas Party. Photo Richmond Lam.

NICOLAS PARTY  | L'HEURE MAUVE

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Michael and Renata Hornstern Pavilion

February 12 - October 16, 2022

Tickets Available Online

An exhibition set to song by Pierre Lapointe

At the Museum’s invitation, Quebec singer-songwriter-composer Pierre Lapointe created a soundtrack comprised of 14 songs that add a musical dimension to this major immersive exhibition. 

Structured in seven themes, the album contains original creations and revisits works by masters of song from Quebec and abroad – from Félix Leclerc to Kurt Weill, as well as Charles Aznavour, Claude Léveillé and Pete Seeger. Produced by Lapointe and arranged by Philippe Brault, its sounds combine piano, guitars, percussion and voice. Some of the titles – in which the Molinari Quartet notably participated – integrate beguiling arrangements composed of choral music, strings and wind instruments. 

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY RECEIVES $100 MILLION GIFT FOR CREATION OF A NEW BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER

 

Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG)is the recipient of a $100 million transitional gift to support the creation of a new building in downtown Vancouver. The Audain Foundation's gift is the largest single cash gift to a Canadian art gallery and comes at a time when the VAG is celebrating its 90th anniversary. 

The new Vancouver Art Gallery at the Chan Centre for the Visual Arts will be located between Cambie and Beatty streets, with a front entrance on Georgia Street. It will include more than 80,000 sq. ft of exhibition space, more than double the existing space. There will also be visible art storage, a theatre, library/research center, artist studios, accommodation for visiting artist and a visual arts preschool and daycare situated around a 40,000 sq. ft. courtyard. The building will also house the Institute of Asian Art, a new Centre for Art and Communication and a multi-purpose Indigenous Community House.  The project is expected to create an estimated 3,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs in the tourism sector.

Rendering of the wooden exterior of the new Vancouver Art Gallery

The building is being designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron together with Vancouver architects Perkins & Will, in consultation with Coast Salish artists. The collaboration is reflected in the building's design and use of sustainable practices. The new Gallery will be the first Passive House art gallery in North America, a voluntary standard for energy efficient, significantly reducing the building' ecological footprint. With this new facility, the VAG demonstrates its commitment to environmental sustainability and acknowledges its location on the ancestral terries of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. 

According to Anthony Kiendl, CEO and Direct of VAG, the objective is to raise an additional $160 million from the public and private sectors. The Audain Foundation gift follows a visionary gift of $40 million by the Chan Family Foundation to establish the Chan Centre for the Visual Arts.

The current home of the Vancouver Art Galley ©SueFrausePhoto 

'Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic' to make its Canadian debut at the Royal Ontario Museum

'Pooh sitting on his branch ... beside  him, ten pots of honey'. Winnie-the-Pooh chapter 9, line block print. Line illustrations copyright E.H. Shepard. Coloring of the illustrations copyright 1970 and 1973 E.H. Shepard and Egmont UK Limited. Reproduced with permission from Curtis Brown Group Ltd on behalf of The Shepard Trust. From the Egmont UK Ltd Collection held at University of Surrey, Ref No EGM/1/74.


Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is the exclusive Canadian venue for an exhibition celebrating the magical world of one of the most adored literary characters of all time. Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic will be on view at the ROM from March 7 to August 3, 2020. Organized by London's Victoria and Albert Museum, the exhibition will explore the origins, creation and enduring legacy of the classic stories by A.A. Milne and illustrations by E.H. Shepard.

Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic examines the real people, relationships and inspirations behind the character and its imaginary world. The exhibition gives new insight into Milne and Shepard's creative collaboration -- highlighting Milne's unique storytelling style, his clever use of language and Shepard's illustrations.

More than 200 works are in the exhibition, spanning 90 years of Winnie-the-Pooh history, from 1920 to the present. They include original illustrations, letters and proofs, early editions, photographs, cartoons, ceramics and fashion -- all featuring Winnie and his friends: Christopher Robin, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Piglet, Rabbit and Tigger. 

The exhibition holds special meaning for Canada, as a Canadian veterinarian purchased a female black bear cub from a trapper in Ontario and named her "Winnie" after his hometown of Winnipeg. Read more about the Canadian connection in my blog post, Winnie the Pooh hails from Winnipeg (and has his own gallery)

Victoria's Royal BC Museum awards grants to 21 indigenous communities for repatriation projects

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site in British Columbia
©SueFrausePhoto (2005)

The Royal BC Museum's Indigenous Advisory and Advocacy Committee (IAAC) has announced that funding will be granted to 21 First Nations communities across British Columbia to support their work in repatriation. 

The grants will be used to support a host of repatriation activities, from establishing planning committees to facilitating the return of ancestral remains to home communities. A total of $586,160 will be distributed among the 21 First Nations communities, cultural societies and associations and museum societies. 

"Museums around the world, including the Royal BC Museum, have a moral obligation to support indigenous communities engaged in repatriation," said Prof. Jack Lohman, CEO of the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.

Examples include the K'omoks First Nation, which is using their funding to build a community grave house, build a database for repatriated items, construct cedar burial boxes, establish a repatriation committee and conduct cultural ceremonies. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation is using its funds to develop a Repatriation Policy and repatriate Ancestral remains (the "Little Lady" from Simon Fraser University). 

The repatriation grant program is a first in Canada, part of an ongoing collaboration between the Royal BC Museum and Indigenous communities throughout BC. The program addresses the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the direction provided by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The repatriation grant program was made possible through the Province of BC's investment of $2M to the Royal BC Museum in 2016 to develop a First Nations department and repatriation program. 

More information about the program, including a list of recipients and their projects goals, is available on the Royal BC Museum's website. 

'Walking Figures' by Polish sculptor now in collection of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

 Photo ©MMFA, Denis Farley

Three sculptures by the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930-2017), Walking Figures, are now in the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). They were donated by art lovers Marcel and Caroline Elefant, and now "stride along" the Path of Peace in the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace. The pavilion is located on the Level 3 terrace, now named for Marcel and Caroline Elefant. This is the first acquisition of the Polish artist's work by a Canadian museum. 

The three silhouettes of Walking Figures symbolize democracy and one of its tenets, freedom of individual expression. They were produced between 2004 and 2006 at the Śrem foundry near Poznan, Poland under the direction of Magdalena Abakanowicz, who was 76 at the time. Each figure is different, having been designed as a single work. The trio were taken from a group of 16 figures, a special commission for the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale (2005-2007).

©Photo Sebastien Roy

The installation of the three sculptures on the terrace was a technical feat. Each "walker," whose individual weight is nearly a ton, was anchored in preparation to be lifted 17 meters (55 feet) in the air with a crane. Once hoisted to the rooftop, a half-dozen workers built a system of pulleys to fasten each sculpture to the others and to make a metal base. 

©Photo Sebastien Roy

Often censored in the past, Abakanowicz created the headless, asexual humanoid figures to evoke a vision of people queuing for hours to obtain food, to survive. As described by Nathalie Bondil, MMFA's Director General and Chief Curator: "With both legs firmly planted on the urban ground, they follow in the footsteps of ancient Greek sculptures, the kouri, as well as The Walking Man -- the work of Rodin and Giacometti. Each of these monumental figures has its own expressionist texture, resembling wrinkled skin or tree bark. The choice of the raw material -- corroded cast iron -- evokes the fragile human condition as its telluric force." View a video: Installation of Walking Figures.

Photo @MMFA, Denis Farley

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA)

1380 Rue Sherbrooke O

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs makes North American debut at Victoria's Royal BC Museum

Victoria's Royal BC Museum opened the international ancient Egypt exhibit Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs in May and it will be on view until December 31, 2018. Artifacts were selected from four key ancient Egyptian collections, including three German museums: Egyptian Museum in Berlin; Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim; Gustav-Lubcke-Museum in Hamm; and the University Museum of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Pictured above is a sculpture of the head of Hatshepsut, a female Pharaoh, from her temple complex at Deir el-Bahari that is located on the west bank of the Nile, across from Luxor. It's one of more than 300 original Egyptian artifacts dating back 4,500 years.

The exhibition showcases the most impressive and intriguing Pharaohs, along with information about the scribes and writing that enabled their empires. 

The exhibition is family-friendly, with lots to touch, play with and learn. Scale-model replicas of famous pyramid complexes are included, along with games and cutting-edge multimedia. A complementary film, Mysteries of Egypt, is playing at the IMAX Victoria Theatre for the duration of the exhibition.

Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs
Royal BC Museum
675 Belleville Street
Victoria, BC | Vancouver Island
royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
Photos courtesy Royal BC Museum


Inn at Laurel Point's 'Time of Pharaohs ' package

Includes waterside accommodation
Two adult admissions for 'Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs' at the Royal BC Museum
Egyptian made keepsake pyramid and journal
Complimentary parking
'Key to the City' discount for local businesses
Rates start at $366/Canadian ($281 US) per night
Royal BC Museum is walking distance from Inn at Laurel Point
Reservations: www.laurelpoint.com or 800.663.7667
©SueFrausePhoto

Further Afield ... 

I spent a week in Egypt in April of this year, which included a visit to the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. My husband and I were with a small group tour coordinated by Alex City Travel based in Alexandria, Egypt. Highly recommend. ©SueFrausePhoto

Montreal and Vancouver: New exhibitions featuring Jean Paul Gaultier and Claude Monet

LOVE IS LOVE: WEDDING BLISS FOR ALL A LA JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
May 27 - October 9, 2017

Jean Paul Gaultier, Punk Parisienne collection, Women's pret-a-porter spring/summer 1997. Photo ©Rindoff-Garcia / Angeli

The Montreal Museum of Arts presents LOVE IS LOVE: WEDDING BLISS FOR ALL A LA JEAN PAUL GAULTIER. Opening May 27 and running through October 9, 2017 this original installation brings together more than three dozen of the French designer's haute couture bridal creations.

Jean Paul Gaultier, Gay Wedding collection. 'Les Maries' wedding ensemble, men's pret-a-porter spring/summer 2005. Photo ©Patrice Stable/Jean Paul Gaultier

The exhibition features 36 wedding gowns and suits created between 1990-2017, all designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. The exhibition LOVE IS LOVE is a reflection of the ongoing commitment of both Jean Paul Gaultier and the MMFA to promote the acceptance of diversity and continue the fight against homophobia. The show's title is an allusion to the speech given by President Barack Obama in 2015 regarding the legalization of homosexual marriage in all American states.

Jean Paul Gaultier, Cutters collection, 'La Mariee' wedding gown, haute couture spring/summer 2001. Photo ©Patrice Stable/JeanPaul Gaultier 

Presented in the museum's Contemporary Art Square, the exhibition is organized around a monumental wedding cake featuring female and male mannequins -- couples of every gender and orientation. The faces of some of the mannequins are animated. LOVE IS LOVE is part of the MMFA's Year for Peace, reflecting the Museum's humanist values and commitment to peace and acceptance.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

1380 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal Quebec

mbam.qc.ca

CLAUDE MONET'S SECRET GARDEN

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY

June 24 - October 1, 2017

Claude Monet | Nympheas, 1903 | oil on canvas | Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris
Photo ©Bridgeman Giraudon/Press

Claude Monet's Secret Garden is being hailed as the most important exhibition of French painter Claude Monet's work that has been shown in Canada in two decades. The exhibition, from the collection of the Musee Marmottan Monet in Paris, presents 38 paintings that span the course of Monet's long career. The Vancouver showing is the only presentation of the exhibition in North America. His art reflects a diversity of subjects, from the portrayal of modern life in his early figure studies to the inventive treatment of light in his scenes of the Parisian countryside and view of the River Thames. 

Claude Monet | Nympheas, 1916-19 | oil on canvas | Musee Marmottan Monet Paris | Photo ©Bridgeman Giraudon/Press

The exhibition culminates in a major series of paintings of his famous gardens in the French village of Giverny, where Monet lived from 1883 to the end of his life. In this series, Monet has created a visual exploration of plants and water. His renderings of weeping willows, waterlilies and the Japanese bridge in his garden are among the most iconic imagery in Western painting today. 

Stephen Shore | Waterlilies (from the Giverny Portfolio), 1977-83 | chromogenic print | collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery

Running as a complement to Claude Monet's Secret Garden is an exhibition by contemporary American photographer Stephen Shore. Twenty-five photographs from VAG's collection are being shown for the first time in Vancouver. Stephen Shore: The Giverny Portfolio is comprised of images he made during several visits to Monet's garden at Giverny between 1977-1983. 

Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street, Vancouver

www.vanartgallery.bc.ca

Cool car returns to Victoria for Canada 150: Royal BC Museum goes back to the future with the Esso 67-X

The main lobby of Victoria's Royal BC Museum is known for its flashy cars. In 2016, John Lennon's "psychedelic" Rolls-Royce returned to the museum, much to the delight of both Beatles and Rolls-Royce fans. The 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V Touring Limousine was on public display for two months.

The lobby of the RBCM is once again a glass garage for a piece of automotive memorabilia. But this time, it's the Esso 67-X, one of the rarest cars in Canada. It is shown here as it arrives at the entrance to the RBCM.

Fifty years ago, the oil and gas corporation Esso commissioned the creation of the futuristic car to celebrate Canada's 1967 centennial. This is the only licensed model to have survived, and the museum is providing a free viewing in its glass lobby now through Sunday, March 12, 2017.

The 67-X was designed by George Barris, a California car customizer who created the first Batmobile. Barris stretched an Oldsmobile Toronado with its massive 385 horsepower aluminum motor and used such innovative concepts as front-wheel drive, fiberglass panels and disc brakes. Inside, Barris added swivel seats, a writing table, picnic cooler, two tape decks, two radios and children's headphone jacks.

Four of these cars were built as grand prizes for a contest designed to encourage families to explore Canada. This may be the car won in BC, although its history is unclear. The 67-X is now owned by Royal BC Museum supporter Trevor Weflen, who has loaned it to the museum for this temporary display.

Photos courtesy of the Royal BC Museum

Note: This won't be the only iconic Canadian motor vehicle to be on display in the Royal BC Museum's lobby during Canada's 150th celebration in 2017. From April 12 - October 1, as part of the feature exhibition Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada, the museum will display the original Ford E250 Econoline van that provided shelter for Terry Fox during his Marathon of Hope. 

Royal BC Museum's traveling exhibition, Species at Risk, goes on the road across British Columbia

Vancouver Island Marmots, one of Canada's most endangered mammals, suffered significant losses this past winter. The unique marmot may be found on mountain slopes and alpine meadows around central Vancouver Island, but the rodents are at risk due to habitat loss.

The Royal BC Museum's traveling exhibition, Species at Risk, highlights the plight of British Columbia's vulnerable flora and fauna, such as the Vancouver Island Marmot, and emphasizes positive ways people can help their non-human neighbors. This is the second summer the traveling exhibit will be touring around BC.

The traveling Species at Risk exhibition. 

Species at Risk is making stops throughout the province this summer at schools, museums and events on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Okanagan and, for the first time, the Kootenays. The public is invited to visit, explore and learn for free.

Species at Risk will be at Victoria's BC Legislature Grounds on Canada Day, July 1, for its send-off from Vancouver Island to the mainland. "We created Species at Risk to tell a story that is of critical importance to this province," said Prof. Jack Lohman, CEO of the Royal BC Museum. "We are extending our research and expertise to communities around the province to better explain what we do."

Beautifully designed Mini-Museum kits featuring real specimens and hands-on activities travel with the exhibition. The eight kits, four of which are new this year, are distributed to schools around the province and used throughout the school year. Two knowledgeable interpreters work with the regional partners to bring the exhibition to life and engage with local communities.

This butterfly, a subspecies of the Western Branded Skipper, is found in Garry Oak and coastal sand spit ecosystems around southern Vancouver Island. It is a species at risk because of habitat loss and pesticides. 

Species at Risk Tour Schedule - Summer 2016

July 1 | Canada Day Send-off, BC Legislature Grounds, Victoria

July 5 | Science World at TELUS World of Science, Vancouver

July 6 | Surrey Art Gallery and Bear Creek Park, Surrey

July 7 | Beaty Biodiversity Museum, UBC Campus, Vancouver

July 9 | Kamloops Museum & Archives, Kamloops

July 11 | Big Little Science Centre, Kamloops

July 12-13 | Okanagan Science Centre, Vernon

July 18-22 | Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art & History, Nelson

July 25-August 1 | Creston and District Museum, Creston

August 4 | Wildsight, Invermere Branch

August 8-12 | Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre, Cranbrook

August 15-19 | Rossland Museum and Discovert Centre, Rossland 

Photos and Images by Royal BC Museum

John Lennon's Rolls-Royce returns to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, BC

John Lennon's Rolls-Royce at the Royal BC Museum in 2011.
 ©SueFrausePhoto

John Lennon's "psychedelic" Rolls-Royce has returned to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, BC. Conservators of the museum squeezed Lennon's massive 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V Touring Limousine through the front doors of the museum into the main lobby. It will be parked on public display through April 28, 2016. 

The Beatles rode to Buckingham Palace in this Rolls-Royce to receive medals from the Queen in 1965. But back then, it sported its original color, matte black. 

Two years later, Lennon sent the Rolls to artist Steve Weaver, who designed custom paintwork in a Romany Gypsy style, with elements of the psychedelic era. The car was delivered to Lennon just before the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album was released. 

The paint that Weaver used was ordinary but very vulnerable latex house paint. The Royal BC Museum monitors the paint condition closely and has done conservation work on the paint over the years. 

BC entrepreneur and philanthropist Jim Pattison donated the vehicle to the Royal BC Museum in 1987 after its display at Expo '86 in Vancouver. Since then, it has been on display at various Royal BC Museum special events. It has also been exhibited across North American, most recently at exhibits in Montreal and in Vancouver at the 2015 PNE. The Rolls Royce was selected as one of the Royal BC Museum's 100 Objects of Interest in 2014 (click on to read more details about the Rolls). 

The Beatles arrive at Buckingham Palace in the 1965 Rolls-Royce. Photo courtesy Joe Johnson's Beatle Brunch Club.

'Treasures of the Chinese Scholar's Studio' opens at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

A Gathering of Literati handscroll, ink and colours on silk attributed to Qiu Ying (1494? – 1552), but an exquisite 18th century copy Intended Gift of Robin Bassett.

Traditional Chinese culture highly values all things related to the scholar's studio -- where most of the nation's art and literature were created. To appreciate the scholar's studio up close, see the new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Treasures of the Chinese Scholar's Studio opened August 14 and runs through November 15, 2015. 

According to AGGV's Asian Art curator Barry Till, Chinese scholars were the educated and privileged elite -- officials, academics, poets, calligraphers, painters and connoisseurs. "They were highly esteemed," said Till. "Their tastes and artwork had tremendous influence on their country's culture." 

The AGGV's collection of 200 treasures on display gives a glimpse into the life of a Chinese scholar. The exhibition includes pieces from the Shang dynasty (16 to 11 century BCE), to the later Ming dynasty (17 century ADE) and Qing dynasty (early 19 century ADE). It includes many recently donated pieces that have never been previously exhibited. Among the artifacts are the scholars' studio materials, antiques and works of art.

Till says that a Chinese scholar's studio would have been strewn with brushes, inkstones, paper, seals, paper weights, teapots, wine cups, incense burners and paper. "The most important were known as the four treasures, and they were the essentials: brush, ink, inkstone and paper," said Till.

The exhibition includes 20 important ancient inkstones recently donated to the AGGV. Inkstones are the stones used for the grinding and containment of ink. Because the stone affects the texture of the ink, a good inkstone is as important as good ink for serious calligraphers and painters.

Running in conjunction with the exhibition are a lecture and a tour, both included with Gallery admission or membership:

• The Rocks, Stones and Seals: An Excursion into Daoist Aesthetics. September 9, 2PM. Dr. Jordan Paper highlights the relevance of sealstones, inkstones and rocks as they pertain to Daoist aesthetics upheld by Chinese scholars. 
• Curator's Tour led by Barry Till. September 30, 2-3PM. 

Canadian Museum for Human Rights opens in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Canadian Museum for Human Rights - Winter 2014 - ©Aaron Cohen Photos/CMHR

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights opens to the public in Winnipeg on September 27, 2014. As Canada's first national museum built since 1967, and the first established outside the capital city of Ottawa, the museum's grand opening celebration on September 20 was greeted with much fanfare and controversy (CTV National News).

I first learned about the new museum at Manitoba House during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. A year later, while in Winnipeg following a trip to Churchill, I saw it under construction. Built at a cost of $351 million -- with funding by private donations and public contributions -- it rises from the ground at the Forks of the Red and Assinboine rivers. It sits on Treaty One land and the Metis homeland, a meeting place for thousands of years. 

The museum was designed by Antoine Predock of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The American architect's notable projects include the La Luz community in Albuquerque, Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College and Petco Park for the San Diego Padres. Designed to resemble a mythic mountain surrounded by a massive glass cloud, it includes:

• One kilometer (.6 mile) of glowing white alabaster ramps where visitors will take "a journey of light through the darkness"
• 100-meter shining Tower of Hope (equivalent to a 23-story building)
• Interior Garden of Contemplation that features basalt rock, water and greenery

The goal of the museum is "to enhance public understanding of human rights, promote respect others and encourage reflection and contemplation." The 11 galleries were designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates and include:

What are Human Rights?

Indigenous Perspectives

Canadian Journeys

Protecting Rights in Canada

Examining the Holocaust

Turning Points for Humanity
Breaking the Silence

Actions Count

Rights Today

Expressions

Inspiring Change

WHY WINNIPEG?

"The CMHR stands as the first national museum built outside the National Capital Region in Ottawa. It sits on a historic site, surrounded by a city with an inspiring human rights legacy -- from the labour rights struggle of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike to Nellie McClung's fight for women's right to vote, defence of French-language rights, the push for Aboriginal self-determination ... and so much more. Winnipeg is a city of diversity, home to the country's largest urban Aboriginal population, immigrants from around the globe, and the largest French-speaking community in Western Canada. It boasts globally-inspired cuisine, world-class arts organizations and vibrant ethnic festivals. It is also a growing centre of human rights scholarship at its four universities." Canadian Museum for Human Rights

More About Winnipeg | By Sue Frause

Winnipeg's St. Boniface: Western Canada's largest French-speaking community 

Winnipeg's St. Boniface Cathedral: Provincial Heritage Site

Winnie the Pooh hails from Winnipeg

Toronto's Design Exchange (DX) exhibition celebrates French shoe designer Christian Louboutin

Pigalle Ring Strass by Christian Louboutin. Photo by Luke Hayes.

A Christian Louboutin exhibition presented by Holt Renfrew opened at Toronto's Design Exchange on June 21 and runs through September 15, 2013. Curated by the Design Museum London in conjunction with the French shoe designer, it celebrates Louboutin's career that has pushed the boundaries of high fashion shoe design. 

Inspired by Louboutin's travels and personal inspirations, the exhibition reflects on his 20 years of design, revealing the artistry and theatricality of shoe designs that range from stilettos to lace-up boots, studded sneakers to bejeweled pumps. Here are some of the highlights: 

• Shoe collections are displayed on a whimsical carousel, along with decor inspired by dressing room mirrors, reflection and illusion
• Influenced by music, a large spinning top with a stepped piano keyboard displays shoes around a central mirrored column
• A landscape and architecture area is displayed in the form of a topiary garden
• An atelier section features imagery and decor taken directly from Louboutin's personal atelier
• Showgirls and the iconic red soled shoes are highlighted in a section featuring a live Dita von Teese hologram
• One-off designs allow visitors to engage with them via magnifying glasses, which give a detailed look into the ideas, forms and materials that make up the creations
• Various shoe silhouettes may be explored in projected shadow form, allowing viewers to challenge their perceptions of what compromises the perfect silhouette

Biography section of the exhibition. Photo by Luke Hayes.

The Design Exchange (DX) is Canada's only museum dedicated exclusively to the pursuit of design excellence and preservation of design heritage. At a crossroads of multiple disciplines from furniture and architecture to graphics and fashion, DX exhibitions and talks reflect popular contemporary culture.  The Design Exchange is located downton in the historic Toronto Stock Exchange building. Toronto is also the home of the Bata Shoe Museum.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Presents 'Chihuly," a Canadian Exclusive Featuring the Glass Art of Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly, Mille Fiori (detail)
Chihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle, Washington, 2012
Photo by Sue Frause

American glass artist Dale Chihuly has taken his work across the border to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for a four-month run. The Canadian exclusive exhibition, simply titled Chihuly, opened June 8 and runs through October 20, 2013. Chihuly was invited by MMFA's Director and Chief Curator Nathalie Bondil to assemble an exhibition of glass sculptures specifically designed for the Museum's interior architecture. The pieces are displayed in the galleries of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion.

The exhibition follows the successful Louise Comfort Tiffany: A Passion for Colour exhibit in 2009. Two years later, the MMFA reinstalled its collection of design and studio glass during the Museum's expansion. Bondil sees Chihuly as an ideal follow-up: "No other artist has wrestled so mightily with glass; these works have to be seen to be believed."

Chihuly, an acknowledged master of site-specific installations, measured the various galleries of the Museum's pavilion to create a unique layout. It consists of eight immersive environments, four designed specifically for the Museum. Some of the pieces are placed alone, while others are in groups along the galleries. Here are some of the highlights:

• Sun - Located in the city's public space on Sherbrooke Street, the round tower is five meters in diameter, emitting rays composed of tendrils in primary colors.
• Turquoise Reeds - A vast, idyllic forest with dozens of spear-shaped forms springing from trunks of salvaged old growth Western Red Cedars. 
• Persian Ceiling - A multitude of overhead shapes, forms and vivid colors arranged in layers over plates of transparent glass. Maybe lie on the floor to truly appreciate this Persian carpet!
• Chandeliers and Towers - A combination of blown glass with steel frameworks, with five chandeliers and one tower displayed in a single gallery.
• The 'Boats' - Horns of plenty on the reflecting surface of a rostrum. The spherical shape are an allusion to the glass floats used by Japanese fishermen, some of which Chihuly found while beachcombing as a child in Puget Sound, Washington.
• Macchia Forest - Sculptural bowls characterized with undulating sides and rims, the result of gravity, and by their large formats. They're assembled on slender steel pedestals.

Chihuly also created four special installations for MMFA: 

• Persian Colonnade - Colorful flowers arranged rhythmically on a wood framework that adorns the peristyle colonnade at the head of the Hornstein pavilion's staircase.
• Ruby Pineapple - A lost chandelier made anew for the MMFA. The original chandelier was on a ship from France to Seattle  that was hit by a storm, with one of the containers falling overboard -- taking the work with it. Fifteen years later, Chihuly recreated it for the MMFA.
• Mille Fiori - Created specifically for the MMFA, this is part of Chihuly's Fiori series introduced in 2003. An enchanted garden of shapes from nature including reeds and herons.
• Glass Forest #6 - Fluorescent structures made of blown white glass filled with argon gas and neon, producing shades of pink. 

Chihuly Garden and Glass | Seattle, Washington | In May 2012, Chihuly Garden and Glass opened on the grounds of Seattle Center. It's a fitting locale for the artist who was born in nearby Tacoma and graduated from the University of Washington. Read my review of the new venue, which also includes a slideshow of my photos.

Here's a piece in The (Montreal) Gazette about the exhibition: Studio glass pioneer exhibits at MMFA (A rare breed of abstract artist, Dave Chihuly’s work has both commercial and popular traction)

Trans-Canada Air Lines: Air Canada Predecessor at Seattle's Museum of Flight

Tran-Canada Air Lines Super G at the Museum of Flight
Photo by Sue Frause

I finally made my debut at the Museum of Flight, located near Seattle's Boeing Field. What a wonderful collection, both inside and out. One of the 150 planes in the museum's Airpark is a Trans-Canada Airlines Lockheed 1049G Super Constellation. Simply known as the Super G, it was the most successful version of the Lockheed Super Constellations and one of the last great piston-engine airliners. 

This particular airplane was delivered to Trans-Canada Airlines in 1954. After a career flying passengers and later cargo, the aircraft was converted into a cocktail lounge and lunch delicatessen in Toronto. You can see more of its history at this Constellation Survivors Website.

Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) flew from 1937-1965, founded on April 10, 1937 with $5 million and three airplanes: a tiny Stearman (crop dusting plane) and two Lockheed Electras. The latter is on view at the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg. 

Phillip Gustav Johnson, who was President of Seattle's Boeing Airplane Company at the young age 31, was VP of Operations for Trans-Canada Airlines, headquartered in Montreal. Coincidentally, TCA's first flight in 1954 was between Vancouver and Seattle. TCA eventually morphed into Air Canada.

TCA airstairs at Museum of Flight's Restoration Center at Paine Field
Photo by Sue Frause