Report on the survey of English speaking artists in Quebec conducted by the English Language Arts Network, February—March 2006

Report on ELAN Visual Arts Survey

Survey Team:
Paul Litherland
Jessica MacCormack
Nadia Myre
Colleen Ovenden
Kim Waldron

Report compiled by Paul Litherland

Goals of the Survey

The English Language Arts Network (ELAN) conducted a combination survey/awareness campaign in February, March and the beginning of April 2006. The primary role of ELAN is to build bridges between artistic disciplines and also between English-speaking and French-speaking communities.

The goal of the survey was to identify the needs of English Speaking visual artists in Quebec and to build a service directory.

There were five members of the visual arts survey team; Nadia Myre, Jessica MacCormack, Kim Waldron, Colleen Ovenden and Paul Litherland.

Methodology

An initial list of artists was developed through the personal contacts and research of the survey team, and consisted of roughly 650 names of individuals, and another 300 names of organizations related to the visual arts in Quebec. Artist's names were added as organizations supplied them, or when the artist called the ELAN office after seeing information posted by the arts organization. The list of artists should not be considered complete; significantly, artists in the extreme north of Quebec (Kuujuac, etc) were not contacted.

Artists and organizations were contacted by telephone and email. Organizations were contacted with the goal of identifying their anglophone members and making both the organization and their membership aware of the existence of ELAN.

Of the 645 artists listed, 140 surveys were received. A few artists did not want to participate in the survey, but provided useful information or insights that are presented in Section 2: Notes and observations emerging from the survey.

Section 1
The Questions
  1. Questions to determine where artists acquire information about grants, employment and material or other resources
  2. A series of Yes/No questions regarding services the artists might use. Accountants, grant writer, proof reader, publicists, translators, web designer, other
  3. A series of Yes/No questions regarding services the artists might wish to offer others (Illustration for books or posters, photographic documentation, proof reader, multimedia design, video documentation and production, other)
  4. A series of Yes/No questions to determine the need for possible services that ELAN might offer. This included: Development workshops, exhibition of work on ELAN's showcase, promotion of future exhibitions on ELAN's events calendar, receiving newsletters about events opportunities and services, social events to meet other artists.
  5. A series of Yes/No questions to determine the artist's knowledge of the RAAV, whether or not ELAN's involvement is important to them, and if they would like more information about the RAAV.

The majority (approximately) 65%) of the survey information collected was via telephone interview, the rest as email responses and a few meetings in person. Telephone interviews generally took between 15 minutes to an hour.

Although many of the questions were yes/no, many people ignored the limitation to describe their particular experience in more detail. This should be kept in mind when reading the graphs. The qualified answers are presented in this report.

The data collected

NB: The number following the text is the number of responses out of 130 respondents who cited the reference (i.e. Internet, 43; means that 43 out of 130 respondents get their information from the internet). Please consult the charts for a graphic interpretation of these results.

Where artists received grant information

The following is a list of the organizations or methods artists used to find information about grants and exhibitions.

Where artists receive information about employment
Services that artists indicated they needed
Interest in events organized by ELAN
Survey respondents' comments regarding the workshops
Survey respondents' comments regarding the need for the web showcase
RAAV Survey results
Have you heard of the RAAV?

Comments from qualified answers:

Is it beneficial for you that ELAN is working with the RAAV to provide services in English?

Comments from qualified answers:

Section 2: Observations and notes from the survey
Translation

There was a large interest on the part of anglophone artists to have access to translation services. To have their work and exhibitions made more visible to Francophone audiences, and to have important resource material available in English.

French editors are not able to evaluate English revisions of texts, and expect to pay a low rate for the service. How can translators charge a realistic living wage?

A need for English revisers in artist run centres. It takes the director of the institution to ask anglophones to read things over. Sometimes this happens, sometimes not. Presently that is a volunteer service, and to use it as a paid service might overwhelm the translation budget. Is there a way to create a network of anglophone revisers?

Depending on the content of certain texts, services such as proof reading could be volunteered.

Is ELAN going to provide services to anglophones or non-francophones?

Resources related

Tax issue: Artists living in their residential live in studios: Rent is not an allowable expense unless the artist is making a profit …

Tax issue: Artists not generally aware of tax issues with regards to copyright income. It would be good to have a list of deductions relevant to artists that could be consulted by an accountant who is preparing taxes for artists

If practical matters such as accounting are dealt with, it is easier to spend more time with work.

Rental exchange of equipment an equipment sharing process on a points system or something.

Perceptions of language limitations on presentation or practice

The ability of artists to function in French greatly affects their abilities to participate in events and networking.

Are there parallels or lessons can we learn from the music scene? Montreal music is very present internationally at the moment

Possibilities for ELAN projects

ELAN has to specialize in something that other groups aren't already providing.

Encourage better connections, i.e. MAWA, mentorship, bringing older artists into contact with younger artists. Creating less formal connections between younger and older artists.

Could ELAN assist in the adjustment to the changes at the Canada Council? i.e. if CAC is moving to a more Art star / product oriented system (privatising the jury process), could ELAN play a part in bringing artists to curators, dealers or galleries.

Create a physical forum (magazine) as well as an Internet forum.

Condition of the Artist – observations

Granting situation has diminished artist communication due to competition. Art historians and not artists are changing the landscape.

Institutionalising services can sometimes work against the goals of accessibility. (I.e. Can't go to an artist run centre and say I want to play, because I need a whole list of prerequisites) Where is the room for experimentation? Part of the mandate should be not institutionalising. The institution should be auto-destructive.

Artists feeling isolated an ongoing issue.

An artist makes the observation that there is less room for risk and experimentation in artist run organizations, running counter to the point of their existence in the first place. i.e. not taking risks in fear of having funding cut.) Artist's mentalities being framed by ideas of goals, creating a dilemma of success or failure with regards to fulfilling grant goals/expectations. Exhibitions or expectations in fulfilling exhibition goals play into this as well.

Responsibility of organization to be flexible and growing with participants input and needs … a flexible form, ability to change and adapt.

An ability to manage difference … different needs, different backgrounds (exchange of knowledge) clarity. How can "non professional" or "traditional" artists find common ground with "professional" and "experimental" artists.

Administrative ideas or suggestions for ELAN

The administrative structure of ELAN must represent the networking structure it is trying to create. A top down structure will not be effective, because it makes one form of connection more important than another. Perhaps a decentralized, non-hierarchical form, (i.e. envisaged by the web site liveplasma.com) has a better possibility of handling the diversity of members.

How can ELAN be organized so that the members are active participants in its functioning and design? i.e. how will member input be used in designing the website?

ELAN needs to generate interesting projects for volunteers to implement. Generate an active membership.

ELAN direction/administration needs to demonstrate that it has a reasonable understanding of the current visual art world to elicit confidence or respect or participation from potential membership. Political positioning around language and other art issues needs to be especially clear. How is a "professional" artist defined in ELAN's terms?

Acknowledgement of different backgrounds and starting points of artists. Inuit networks very different from urban Montrealer, for example.

Try to develop the perception of ELAN as a tool for artists.

Political issues

A few artists were critical or sceptical of the formation of a language-based organization such as ELAN. Some expressed concern that orienting the organization on linguistic lines would be more divisive than cohesive. Others were concerned that it would add another level of ineffective administration to their lives.

Could artists obtain access to Health and Dental insurance?

Employment insurance?

Is ELAN planning to engage with questions of marginalization of cultures other than Québécois?

In the arts milieu, artists are terribly underpaid. Could ELAN play a part in standardizing the rates paid to workers? Developing guidelines for real fees for survival.

ELAN web site

The number one concern is that it needs to be consistently up to date.

It should also be intuitive and easily searchable.

Perhaps it needs to be operated or moderated by a full time person.

Member Profiles should modifiable by users, updated instantaneously, with email feedback.

Sign-up and modifications need to happen quickly, i.e. within minutes.

Presently web site management seems unresponsive. Updating is too slow, inconsistent and unreliable. Once this is widely known, it will be very difficult change the perception of the ELAN website as being out of date or relevant.

Electronic newsletter is presently not working very well. Should be in point form, with some kind of built-in navigation. Shouldn't exceed the size of the mail window. Perhaps links to stuff on web site.

Could web site be used to develop a barter system?

Create a moderated forum. Have moderated web discussions rather than free-for-all.

Resource database:

Diffusion—Publicity ideas and suggestions

Production of a publication that will include interviews, profiles and general information of the Quebec visual arts scene in English.

Format of publication can be every two months or quarterly, perhaps 12 pages or so. Every once in a while special edition DVDs (annual) for music or dance.

Could be an interesting forum for writers and visual artists to collaborate on projects for example.

ELAN and RAAV

Many artists did not know of the existence of the Regroupment des Artistes en Arts Visuels (RAAV).

They felt that it was a good idea, but wasn't particularly effective in realizing its stated goals.

The membership fee is too high to be part of something that you don't know anything about.

Conclusions

If there was one need that artists voiced more than others, and that is reflected in the survey results, it was the need for translation service that specializes in visual arts texts.

Many projects such as artist's talks and workshops were suggested. One way of creating an active membership is to create a space for members to bring the projects into existence.

Up to date listings of gallery and grant deadlines, employment opportunities, resources and services are very valuable to most artists. Organizations such as akimbo, articule, instant coffee and popstart send out lists of events, but it is also useful to have a province wide listing of services and resources relevant to artists. ELAN could provide this service with relatively few resources. It should be noted that the Montreal version of the instant coffee listings was discontinued in January, because the volunteer who coordinated the mail outs was no longer able to provide the service. It would be a simpler affair to pick up on this already established network than to generate a whole new one.

Section 3: Appendix
Acronym References
AIIQ
Association des Illustrateurs et Illustratrices de Quebec
ARPRIM
Regroupement pour la promotion de l'art imprimé
CAA
College Art Association
CAC
Conseil des Arts du Canada
CALQ
Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Quebec
CAUT/ACPPU
Canadian Association of University Teachers / Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d'université
CC
Canada Council for the Arts
CCCA
Centre for Canadian Contemporary Art
CHIN
Canadian Heritage Information Network
CIAM
Centre Interuniversitaire des Arts Mediatiques
CMA
Canadian Museum Association
CMAQ
Centre des médias alternatifs du Québec
ELAN
English Language Arts Network
FADO
Not an acronym
IMAA
Independent Media Arts Alliance
OAAG
Ontario Association of Art Galleries
RAAV
Regroupment des Artistes en Arts Visuels
RCAAQ
Regroupement des Centres d'artistes autogérés du Québec
SMQ
Société des Musées Québecois
WOM
Word of Mouth
YES Montreal
Youth Employment Services Montreal
Arts Organization Listings
Akimbo

Akimbo is a Toronto-based company that promotes contemporary visual art, video, new media and film locally, nationally and internationally via the internet. Established in November, 1999, Akimbo has built a readership of more than 5,000 Canadian and international media and visual arts professionals and a client base of some of the country's most important galleries, museums, art institutions and film and video festivals.

Akimbo is focused and selective about the information we distribute, and readers get the most up-to-date and vital information about exhibitions, publications, performances, screenings, talks, lecture series, launches, calls for submissions, and jobs related and relevant to visual culture in Canada. Akimbo clients get better media coverage, more filled seats and bigger attendance numbers.

Arts Engine

Arts Engine, Inc. supports, produces, and distributes independent media of consequence and promotes the use of independent media by advocates, educators and the general public. By fostering the production and use of independent film, video and new media, Arts Engine connects media makers and active audiences in order to spur critical consideration of pressing social issues.

Popstart

Three interdisciplinary art companies (bluemouth inc from Toronto, Vancouver's Radix Theatre and Les Productions Nathalie Derome from Montreal) met at Toronto's Free Fall Festival in October 2002. We were inspired by each other's work and stimulated by the oppotunity to meet other artists classified as "interdisciplinary," and concluded that there exists a real need for a pan-Canadian interdisciplinary artist's network, in order to share ideas, approaches and information regarding our work. And so, Popstart was born.

With Popstart we wish to start a swell of popular support for interdisciplinary art. It is necessary and urgent for artists to organize themselves and to exchange information regarding their artistic practice, as well as the problems and challenges of production and dissemination of interdisciplinary creation, which resemble each other from one end of the country to the other. We dream that this too big country of ours finally becomes navigable for interdisciplinary creation.

Community
Rhizome Community

Rhizome is based in a wide and diverse community of new media artists, curators, critics and enthusiasts. Our commitment to open-access structures, our community's shared interest in new media and their utilization of Rhizome as an on-line forum for exchange, combines to create an environment that naturally encourages the development of connections and understanding between people from a wide range of backgrounds, geographic areas, and disciplines.

Rhizome is a Member-supported organization. You can view the profiles of our international network of Members in the Member Directory.

Harbourfront Centre

Harbourfront Centre, on Toronto's waterfront, is an innovative non profit cultural organization which creates events and activities of excellence that enliven, educate and entertain a diverse public.

From its beginnings as "Harbourfront Corporation", a federal Crown Corporation established in 1972, Harbourfront Centre was formed on January 1, 1991 as a non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to organize and present public events and to operate a 10-acre site encompassing York Quay and John Quay (south of Queens Quay West).

Since its inception, Harbourfront Centre has been introducing Toronto audiences to artists and art forms that would not normally be seen in commercial venues, exploring new and bold frontiers in the arts and creative expression.

Our Vision: A vibrant home for the culture of our time, inspiring people through the magic of the creative spirit.

Our Mission: To nurture the growth of new cultural expression, stimulate Canadian and international interchange and provide a dynamic, accessible environment for the public to experience the marvels of the creative imagination.

AbsoluteArts

The largest marketplace for contemporary art, art news, research, art gallery, and artist portfolios, online since 1995

Generator.x

Generator.x is a co-production between Atelier Nord and the National Touring Exhibitions of Norway (Riksutstillinger), as a result of an initiative by Marius Watz.

Visual AIDS

Visual AIDS strives to increase public awareness of AIDS through the visual arts, creating programs of exhibitions, events and publications, and working in partnership with artists, galleries, museums and AIDS organizations.

By mobilizing the visual arts communities, Visual AIDS raises money to provide direct services to artists living with HIV/AIDS.

Alliance of Artists Communities

The mission of the Alliance is to contribute to America's cultural vitality by supporting our membership of diverse residency programs and advocating for creative environments that advance the endeavors of artists.

The Alliance of Artists Communities grew out of the MacArthur Foundation's 1990 program entitled "Special Initiative on Artists' Colonies, Communities, and Residencies." The eighteen recipients of grants under this one-time program began meeting in early 1991, then formed the Alliance in September of 1992 with seed money from the MacArthur Foundation and the NEA. The Alliance was originally based in Portland, Oregon, before relocating to Providence, Rhode Island in January of 2002.

Since its founding, the Alliance membership has grown to roughly 250 organizations and individuals; we've convened 14 conferences and symposia, produced seven publications (including three editions of our popular Directory), and contributed greatly to the stability of our member organizations and the strength of the field at large. Our recent research for the third edition of the Directory indicates that over 12,000 artists were served by residency communities each year, a 3-fold increase in the number indicated only a few years previously. That translates into roughly $36 million in direct support to artists each year.

There is a great list of services here on Mike Patton's site.

I like this list of links on Mercer Union's site.

interesting art/content websites:
16 Beaver

16 Beaveris the address of a space initiated/run by artists to create and maintain an ongoing platform for the presentation, production, and discussion of a variety of artistic/cultural/economic/political projcts. It is the point of many departures/arrivals.

republicart

"An effective concept of postmodern republicanism must be defined au milieu on the basis of the lived experience of the global multitude." (Michael Hardt/Antonio Negri)

Republic is not about reforming a form of state, nor countering the crisis of the nation-state, nor transforming it into one or several super-states. Our investigations focus on the concrete experiences of non-representationist practices, the constituent activities particularly in the movements against economic globalization. Yet, the art of res publica does not imply acclaiming a new global community with revolutionary pathos. It is about experimental forms of organizing, which develop in precarious micro-situations for a limited period of time, testing new modes of self-organization and interplays with other experiments. The "organizing function" of art (Walter Benjamin) creates new spaces in the overlapping zones of art practices, political activism and theory production.

University of the Streets Café
The University of the Streets Café creates gathering places for community members to pursue lifelong learning and engagement in the form of collective discussions. They are an opportunity for people of diverse backgrounds and socio-economic realities to meet, where all people and perspectives are welcome.

Centres / Galleries
Zeke's Gallery

A Contemporary Art Gallery in Montreal—Writing about Art World stuff happening in Montreal, Quebec and Canada.
3955 Saint Laurent Montreal, Quebec H2W 1Y4 (514) 288-2233 / info@zeke.com
Open from 3 pm to 7 pm everyday except Friday (Wednesday 5 pm to 9 pm)

ArtsNDG

Located in Montréal, Québec, ArtsNDG is an artist-run gallery dedicated to the promotion of art and art practices in the community. Please browse the links to the right to access our Flash Bulletins,Call for Submissions, Exhibition Announcements, Mission Statement and Member/Donor form.

MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels)

An independent, non-profit organization, le Regroupement pour le développement des pratiques artistiques interculturelles was created by the Table de concertation sur le dialogue entre les cultures, informed in 1990. In 1998, the Regroupement created MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), with the support of the City of Montreal. Provided with a theatre, a gallery space, a café and two rehearsal rooms, MAI officially opened to the public in May 1999.Thanks to its intercultural vision, MAI intends to reach new audiences for the arts. Located in Milton Park, on the boarder of downtown and Plateau Mont-Royal, MAI is at the confluence of languages, at the heart of artistic and intercultural activity. Its audience is that of Montreal and of the metropolitan area, including its various cultural communities, university and student communities and members of Youth Culture movements. MAI's space brings together artists and audiences from different artistic disciplines to share in a casual atmosphere.

Maison de la culture Montréal
Parisian Laundry

Parisian Laundry is an exhibition and project space that assists local, national and international artists with the presentation of their current practices and serves as a cultural centre for the community at large.

Our activities include exhibitions, performances, conferences and residencies. Parisian Laundry is dedicated to bringing a unique programme to Montreal by presenting emerging artists as well as exhibitions of historically significant artists.

The Society for Arts and Technology (SAT)

Founded in 1996, the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) is a transdisciplinary centre dedicated to research, creation, production, presentation, education and conservation in the field of digital culture. It brings together creators who work with digital technologies, fostering collaboration among diverse artistic and scientific disciplines, establishing partnerships with industry and educational institutions and promoting its members at home and abroad.

Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery

The Gallery presents six major exhibitions annually. Its exhibition programme focuses primarily on the examination of contemporary art but it also occasionally investigates practices and issues from the past from a contemporary viewpoint. From time to time it also presents exhibitions that feature its permanent collection. Capsule and Collection are two exhibition programmes inaugurated in 2005 that investigate aspects of the Permanent Collection. Exhibitions are either generated by the Director, the Max Stern Curator when devoted to the Collection, the Visiting Curator of Contemporary Art (named for a period of two years) or by independent curators invited because of their specific approach to the practice. Along with in-house exhibitions and guest-curated projects, the Gallery hosts traveling shows from Canada or abroad that are selected for their capacity to enhance and complement the gallery's programming. As an art gallery within a university housing a large and important Faculty of Fine Arts, the gallery also wants to support the work of a rising generation of artists and does so by organizing the Annual Undergraduate Exhibition as well as Ignition, a show of selected projects by graduate students. A credited curatorial practicum focusing on curatorial writing is offered and involves the participation of graduate students in Art History.

VAV Gallery

The VAV Gallery is a democratically run student exhibition space, and the only one of its kind in Canada. Situated in the heart of downtown Montreal, the VAV offers a view into the interests of a new generation of visual artists to both the Concordia community and wider Montreal public. Exhibits are held September through July; through weekly and biweekly exhibits, the gallery aims to showcase the excellence and diversity of works produced by Concordia students.

Studio 303

Founded in 1989, Studio 303 is a not-for-profit registered charity, dedicated to the development innovation in new dance and interdisciplinary practices. Situated in downtown Montreal, Studio 303's 2000 sq foot sunny loft is used for workshops, rehearsals and monthly presentations. The space, and its equipment, may be rented.

Artistic Mission Statement: Studio 303 exists to promote the evolution of live artistic practices. Concentrating on the physical body, Studio 303 is a unique resource centre, which offers cutting edge workshops, innovative administrative services, and a flexible, intimate studio laboratory where new works may be created and presented. Studio 303's programming aims to stimulate enriching exchanges between a variety of artists, art forms and the public.

OFF Interarts

We're off!

"Off" the beaten path. Maybe a little "off" the wall. Certainly, "off" in all directions.

OFF Interarts is a start, a jumping "off" point. It represents new challenges, new work, and new directions. It's about collaboration and ideas, and showing itself "off" through its store-front showcase window, located in the heart of the artistic community of Montreal.

Agence TOPO

Agence TOPO is an artist-run center dedicated to the production, dissemination and distribution of independent multimedia works. Founded in 1993, TOPO provides assistance on a proposal basis for the development of projects presented by its members and other representatives of the artistic community. Agence TOPO's focus is primarily on the convergence of visual arts and literature with new media. The interest is to mobilize the web as an instrument and a space for the renewal of the narrative genre, and for the presence of artists coming from diverse cultural and artistic practices and backgrounds.

Art for Healing Foundation

The Art for Healing Foundation is dedicated to bringing the healing power of art and art education to hospitals, hospices and shelters and to improving the welfare of those participating in the healing process as healthcare givers and as patients.

Artexte

Artexte Information Centre was established in 1980 to collect and disseminate information on all aspects of contemporary visual art. To provide access to the fruits of the intense activity in contemporary art, and to let these resources play out fully in relation to current critical thought on artistic creation, Artexte has developed three complementary modes of intervention: research, documentation and publishing.

Art Matters

Art Matters is a festival of Fine Arts that celebrates and supports the young artists and developing talent housed at Concordia University, setting a precedent for Universities throughout Canada.

Culture Montréal

Culture Montréal is an independent non-profit organization bringing together people from all backgrounds interested in promoting culture in all its forms as an essential element of Montreal's development.

Culture Montréal is a place for reflection, dialogue, and action aimed at the cultural community, political and business decision-making entities, and citizens.

Through research, analysis, communication, and educational activities, Culture Montréal is involved in defining and recognizing Montreal culture in all its richness and diversity.

RCAAQ

The RCAAQ was created in 1986 in order to give a voice to the artist run centers near the public and authorities governmental. Instrument of promotion and rallying, the RCAAQ aids with the recognition of the professional statute of the centers of artists and with the improvement of their financing. It offers sessions of formation to its members and contributes to their promotion by publishing a triennial Repertory. While collaborating with the representatives of other Québécois communities and Canadian company, the RCAAQ and its members take part in the development and the definition of the artistic and contemporary cultural stakes. (rough translation)

Canadian Centre for Architecture

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) was founded in 1979 as a new form of cultural institution to build public awareness of the role of architecture in society, promote scholarly research in the field, and stimulate innovation in design practice.

The CCA is an international research centre and museum founded on the conviction that architecture is a public concern. Based on its extensive collections, the CCA is a leading voice in advancing knowledge, promoting public understanding, and widening thought and debate on the art of architecture, its history, theory, practice, and role in society today.

Museums
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Canada's Premier Contemporary Art Museum. The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal was founded by the Québec government in 1964. At first, the museum was a department within Québec's ministère des Affaires culturelles. In 1983, the government changed the museum's status, making it an autonomous body with its own Board of Directors. Our mission is to promote and preserve contemporary Québec art as well as Canadian and international contemporary art, through exhibitions and numerous other cultural activities.

The Musée moved to the heart of downtown on May 28, 1992. Truly a museum for the twenty-first century, the Musée d'art contemporain is part of the Place des Arts, Canada's only cultural complex devoted to both the performing and visual arts.

A major Canadian institution dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, the Musée offers a varied program ranging from presentations of its Permanent Collection to exhibitions of works by Québec, Canadian and international artists. The Permanent Collection comprises some 7,000 works, including the largest collection of art by Paul-Émile Borduas. Through Education and Documentation Department, the museum presents a host of educational activities further to connect the general public with contemporary art. The Musée also stages numerous multimedia events, including performance, new dance, experimental theatre, contemporary music, video and film.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Conserving Art for All to Share

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, true to its vocation of acquiring and promoting the work of Canadian and international artists past and present, has a mission to attract the broadest and most heterogeneous public possible, and to provide that public with first-hand access to a universal artistic heritage.

One of the first museums in North America to amass an encyclopedic collection worthy of the name, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has, over the past 144 years, has built up a collection of over 30,000 objects—painting, sculpture, works on paper, prints and drawings, photographs and decorative art objects—from Antiquity to today.

Year after year, the Museum continues to acquire new works to enrich its collections of Ancient Cultures, European Art, Canadian Art, Inuit and Amerindian Art, Contemporary Art and Decorative Arts.

In order to make our cultural heritage accessible to the greatest number of people, the Museum has adopted a policy of free admission to its galleries displaying works from the collections.

Le Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec
Artist-run centres
articule

articule is an artist-run centre dedicated to the presentation of new art practices that are socially and aesthetically engaged. Our artistic direction is founded on the shared belief that the relationship between the creative and the political is not contingent but necessary. articule's activities reflect the constant transformations of this relationship. We support a range of discursive and alternative activities that test the limits of aesthetic gesture, promote dialogue and build networks with artists' collectives and other organizations. Our open structure encourages the direct participation of an active membership and we recognize the importance of directing this vitality to give it the cohesion and professional bearing it requires.

DARE

DARE is an artist-run centre which has about 90 membres. Since its inception in 1985, the centre presented the work of more than 1000 artists.

The board of directors is formed by Clara Bonnes, Constanza Camelo, Marie-Suzanne Désilets, Marc Dulude, Mathieu Fraser-Dagenais, Jean-François Prost and Geneviève Rousseau.

The staff is composed of two coordinators: Marianne Thibeault (administrative) and Jean-Pierre Caissie (artistic). Rosalie Dumont-Gagné and Émilie Terrasse are student interns for 2006.

http://www.clarkplaza.org/
http://www.dazibao-photo.org/
Publishing
Dazibao, centre de photographies actuelles

Dazibao is an artist-run centre dedicated to the dissemination of contemporary photography and its related art forms. By specializing in one discipline, the centre is able to engage in a more profound and critical reflection upon image-based media and consequently, foster a discourse that can define as well as defy the very notion of photography. In a context where we speak increasingly about the image within a wider framework, one that now extends over several art practices, this focus allows us to discuss important developments within the contemporary arts.

Dazibao supports artistic projects and theoretical explorations that offer innovative approaches to photography or that propose fresh links with other disciplines. As an organization, we are committed to exhibiting a broad spectrum of work ranging from work with a strong conceptual basis, to installation, to work that embraces the most recent technological advancements in the production and diffusion of images.

Dazibao welcomes artists from Quebec, from elsewhere in Canada and abroad. The centre serves as both a launching pad for young artists and as an ideal space for more established artists to initiate and present exhibitions with a more experimental approach. As well, in order to continually offer differing views on contemporary photography, Dazibao annually invites an artist to curate an exhibition. This event, Carte grise,provides an opportunity to discover, through an exhibition and publication, one artist's particular view on contemporary photography.

Since its inception in 1980, Dazibao has organized more than 300 events including exhibitions, performances, readings, conferences, concerts and discussions. The centre acts as a link between artists, curators, theorists, authors, critics, the university and college communities, the artistic milieu and the general public.

In its publishing ventures, Dazibao sees the book as a space or site that provides an additional forum for exhibiting photography. To accomplish this, the centre harbours three collections: DES PHOTOGRAPHES, les essais and LES ÉTUDES. DES PHOTOGRAPHES offers a space where genres can intersect, a site where photography and writing can come together in a single work with two points of entry. Les essais offers a site for reflection where different trends of thought about photography can engage in debate. LES ÉTUDES allows an author to investigate in depth a subject or an artist's practice. In addition to these collections, we occasionally publish texts to accompany individual exhibitions.

In order to nourish the effervescence that is currently stimulating and redefining contemporary photographic practices, Dazibao encourages intellectual and aesthetic initiatives that come directly from artists. As a result, the centre acts as a link between artists, curators, theorists, authors, critics, the university community, the artistic milieu and the general public. Dazibao, in sum, defines itself as a site for exchange and research, a gallery, a distributor and publisher, and an archival information centre.

OBORO

Founded in 1982 with the conviction that living transcultural artistic experiences contribute to the betterment of humankind, OBORO is an artist centre that favours the development of art practices locally, nationally and internationally. OBORO's sphere of activity encompasses visual and media arts, new technologies, new performing arts and emerging practices.OBORO's more specific mandate is to support creation in various cultural practices; to encourage innovation, experimentation, the exchange of ideas and the sharing of knowledge; to set up exhibitions, residencies, publications, conferences, performances, workshops, network projects, as well as research, production and training activities.OBORO wishes to contribute to a culture of peace.

OBORO's research and production laboratory in media arts and new technologies offers a vast array of equipment and professional resources.

OPTICA

Since its creation in 1972, OPTICA, located in the downtown area of Montreal, has helped to promote the practices of contemporary artists from the local, national and international scenes.

The centre's multidisciplinary program comprises exhibitions, lectures and meetings with artists, in addition to publications and the production of thematic projects and new artworks. Its aims is to present a calendar of activities that facilitate critical discussion and reflection within the Montreal and Canadian communities.

Once a year a selection committee chooses among projects submitted by artists or curators, while other projects are generated by invitation. Each project is given the skilled technical support required for its achievement. The centre's goal is also to offer a broad platform for ideas by taking on contributors from other horizons, in the process allowing a greater number of artists and curators to enjoy the benefits ofOPTICA's resources and extending debates on contemporary art to a wider audience.

In proposing new ways of exhibiting artwork, OPTICA questions various means and attitudes towards art dissemination. Thematic projects initiated and produced by the centre stimulate exploratory artistic creation and facilitate the development of critical thinking through lectures and the publication of critical essays intended as reference works. Our goal in creating such activities is to serve as a focal point where artists, curators and researchers from Montreal and elsewhere can expect dynamic encounters and discussions around contemporary art.

In recent years, OPTICA has developed a program of public presentations in conjunction with artists in university settings, taking an active part in the cooperative life of these institutions. The presentations or lectures probe stimulating issues within contemporary art practices, in an open manner that encourages participation.

Skol

The Centre des arts actuels Skol is an artist-run centre and a member of the RCAAQ (Regroupement des centres d'artistes autogérés du Québec). Our primary mandate is to present the experimental work of emerging artists. Since its foundation in 1986, Skol has presented over 150 exhibitions, performances, panels and conferences, poetry readings, and musical and theatrical events. Many artists from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and elsewhere held their first major event at Skol.Since 1991, Skol has published catalogues documenting the exhibitions of each year's program. We have also published landmark books on current issues, including L'installation. Pistes et territoires, and Les commensaux. Quand l'art se fait circonstances/When Art Becomes Circumstance.Installation, sculpture, painting, video, multimedia, performance, relational practices …. contemporary art unfolds in many ways. Accordingly, Skol means to reflect the effervescence of these constantly changing theories and artistic practices in its program. Theoretical activities are set up every year to complement this programming: "observatories" (evenings of discussion on a theme), symposia, or conferences initiate and sustain reflections on themes connected to the exhibitions or to topical issues.For several years now, we have also organized educational activities, including encounters with university and college students and open visits for the general public or community groups. We have come to realize that widening our audience requires making an effort to demystify contemporary art.Skol is a meeting place for artists, theoreticians, authors, and art-lovers. By participating in various committees, following their own tastes, knowledge, or availability, members can contribute in different ways, as in programming, publication, or special projects.Welcome to all!

Vidéographe Distribution

Vidéographe Distribution serves to update and promote its catalogue of titles through:
participation in international events and festivals;
development of the televisual market;
solicitation of secondary markets such as museums and galleries, educational institutions, community organization.

Over the years, Vidéographe has fostered the international recognition of media artists. Vidéographe Distribution is always increasing its international presence through participation in numerous festivals, exchanges with various distributors, and the acquisition of works by artists from diverse backgrounds.

A gathering place for a vast community gravitating around video, sound and new media creations, Vidéographe Production is aimed at developing various avenues of experimentation to stimulate the creative expression of the artists it supports throughout the production process.

Sensitive to technical and formal experimental forms and the inherent challenges of these new technologies, Vidéographe supports productions of all genres.

Vidéographe encourages the independent productions of its members by giving them access to its equipment at discounted rental rates. By "independent production", we mean a production where the creator exercises full editorial control throughout the creative process.

Vidéographe offers four creative production support programs: Co-production, Artist-in-residence, Research & Experimentation, and La Parallaxe (with Prim partnership).

Studio XX

Founded in 1995, Studio XX is Montreal's foremost women's digital resource centre. Through a variety of creative activities and initiatives, the Studio works with women to demystify digital technologies, to critically examine their social aspects, to facilitate women's access to technology, and to create and exhibit women's new digital art.

Studio XX is committed to providing digital technology training and instruction to women at all levels of experience, both artists and non-artists. It is the Studio's goal that women not only use these technologies, but are a defining presence in cyberspace.

VOX Photo
VOX seeks to provide a propitious setting for public access, research, and experimentation by providing experienced or emerging artists, curators, and scholars an opportunity to participate in a continuous laboratory of reflection and artistic creation. VOX is resolutely interested in the various forms of expression that images, experimentation, innovative points of view and critical discourses can take. The questions VOX is concerned with emerge from photography and extend into the culture of the image today.

Commercial Galleries
Venues
Casa Del Popolo

Established in September 2000, Casa Del Popolo (The House of the People) is Montréal's only family-run neighborhood vegetarian hot-spot! Part fair-trade café, part music venue, part bar, and part art gallery … Where else would you find an eclectic mix of music, art, snacks, film, zines, spoken word and the hottest bartenders in town!

The Casa holds up to a 100 people at its capacity and is an intimate and warm place to see live performances. We are also open from noon to show time for soup, salad and sandwiches. Come on by and enjoy a relaxing afternoon on our backyard terasse.

Weekly FREE events at Casa include the MONDAY DJ NIGHTS & TUESDAY R'N'R DJ NIGHTS.

Monthly events at casa include the spoken word night, the 3rd Sunday of every month, WORDS AND MUSIC AT THE CASA. We also host a monthly COMIX JAM the last Wednesday of the month, where artists get together to create impromptu graphic art.

Funding Bodies
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec

The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec is a government corporation dedicated to the development and diffusion of the arts.The Québec government, through the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, grants assistance to professional artists and non-profit cultural organizations. The principal mandate of the Conseil is to support creation, experimentation and production in all the regions of Québec, in the fields of the visual arts, arts and crafts, literature, theatre, music, dance, multidisciplinary arts, circus arts, media arts, popular song and architectural research and to foster their diffusion in Québec, in Canada and abroad. It is also mandated to support the development of professional artists.The Conseil is responsible for advising the Minister of Culture and Communications on any question relating to fields and matters under its jurisdiction.Lastly, the Conseil may institute competitions to grant awards for artistic excellence, and administer, with the authorization of the government and under conditions it determines, financial support programs entrusted to it by a government department or agency, receive gifts, legacies, subsidies or other contributions for the development of arts and letters in Québec in the exercise of its attributions.The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec is a government corporation under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Culture and Communications. Its head office is located in Québec City. The Conseil has an office in Montréal also.

Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council for the Arts is a national arm's-length agency created by an Act of Parliament in 1957. According to the Canada Council Act the role of the Council is "to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts." To fulfill this mandate, the Council offers a broad range of grants and services to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations in dance, interdisciplinary and performance art, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing. It also promotes public awareness of the arts through its communications, research and arts advocacy activities. The Council administers the Killam Program of scholarly awards, the Governor General's Literary Awards and the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Public Lending Right Commission operate under its aegis. The Canada Council Art Bank, which has the largest collection of contemporary Canadian art in the world, includes some 18,000 artworks, 6,400 of which are currently rented to more than 200 government and corporate clients.

Residencies
Banff Centre for the Arts

The Banff Centre is a globally respected arts, cultural, and educational institution and conference facility. The Banff Centre is internationally recognized as:

  • a leader on the local, national and international stages in the development and promotion of creative work in the arts, sciences, business, and the environment
  • a catalyst for creative thought, lifelong learning, the development and showcasing of new work, and the advancement of applied research
  • a resource for individual and group renewal and transformation, and an enabler of innovation and creativity for participants and staff to question assumptions, explore ideas, embrace change, and exemplify excellence
  • a destination of choice for conferences

For almost 75 years, the impact of the inspiring mountain location, the creative atmosphere, the diverse group of participants from many backgrounds and disciplines, and the strong support from Centre staff have combined to make a powerful experience that is intellectually, physically, and emotionally stimulating.

Mission: The Banff Centre is a catalyst for creativity, with a transformative impact on those who attend our programs, conferences and events. Our alumni create, produce and perform works of art all over the world, lead our institutions, organizations and businesses, and play significant roles in our cultural, social, intellectual and economic well-being, and in the preservation of our environment

SAGAMIE

SAGAMIE is a center of production and of diffusion in contemporary art, specialized in computer graphics of art, photographs numerical, numerical impression large size and current print. SAGAMIE operates one of the most important programs of artist in residence in Canada. The center receives annually more than 50 artists of Quebec, Canada and abroad. SAGAMIE offers to the artists the access to an imposing data-processing laboratory (including/understanding equipment of numerical impression to the fine point of technology) and specialized technicians necessary to the realization of their research projects in contemporary art. (rough translation)

Dawson City Arts Society

They formed the Dawson City Arts Society (DCAS), a non-profit organization, with a mandate to create an environment for advancement of the arts.

Res Artis

Res Artis is the largest existing network of artist residency programmes, representing  the interests of more than 200 centres and organisations in 50 countries worldwide that offer to international artists facilities and conditions conducive for making art.

Est nord est

Est nord est was founded in 1987 by a group of artists. Its name was inspired by its geographic location: a region east of major urban centres. The purpose of Est nord est's residency program is to enable artists in visual arts to have access to a wealth of human ressources and unique technical services in an atmosphere that stimulates artistic practice. Bringing together up to six artists from Quebec, Canada, and throughout the world, our two months residencies take place three times a year: in spring, summer, and autumn. Our top priority is to encourage artistic research and experimentation in contempory art.

Our residencies offer space and time for reflection and work, as well as the opportunity to meet and exchange with other artists. Meetings are scheduled to allow each artist to present his/her work to the other artists in residence. We invite also guests or curators to visit the centre during the residency. Est nord est also organizes thematic events, lectures and produces publications.

Magazines
Parachute

A reference in the world of contemporary art. In both French and English, plus translations. Thematic issues all year round. One issue a year dedicated to an emerging metropolis for contemporary art. Artists and authors of various disciplines. Artists' point of view. Articles on art aesthetics and theoretical issues. A laboratory for ideas. Column on recent publications. Plus Para-para-, a broadsheet on exhibitions, events and current topics.

Canadian Art
MIX