INTRODUCTION

Located in downtown Montréal on the campus of Concordia University, one of Québec’s most culturally diverse universities, the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery focuses on the presentation and critical investigation of Canadian and international art with an emphasis placed on contemporary art. The Gallery has a permanent collection of over 1700 works of Québécois and Canadian art.

Founded in 1966, the Sir George Williams Art Galleries was renamed Concordia Art Gallery in 1984. In 1992, the Gallery was relocated in the newly constructed library complex and inaugurated as the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery in honour of important benefactors to the University.

The Gallery is part of the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies of Concordia University. It is supported by Advisory Council composed of members of the external community and of the university and by expert advisors in programming. Its operating budget is provided by the University but its programming is funded by the Canada Arts Council and a few endowment funds. It also periodically receives funding from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Heritage Canada.

Exhibitions, events and activities

The Gallery presents 6 to 7 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 IGNITION, an annual exhibition featuring works by students from Concordia’s Graduate Studio Arts programme (MFA).

In conjunction with its exhibition programme, the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery offers a variety of public events and activities. They include artist and curator talks, panel presentations, video and film screenings and concerts. Tours are offered and are developed to appeal to the university and art communities, and the general public alike. Bilingual Walk-In Tours are also regularly offered with each exhibition.