For the first time in Winterlude’s history, skaters can stop to admire an exhibit from the portrait gallery under the Bank Street Bridge.
The National Capital Commission has teamed up with the Portrait Gallery of Canada to exhibit an 11-piece portrait collection on the Rideau Canal and skaters are taking notice.
“This is my second time coming to look at them,” said Ottawa resident Diane Bondy. “I came back purposely to take a closer look.”
David Malloy, an Algonquin College student, said he wasn’t expecting to see the enlarged, full-colour portraits flanking the skateway.
The prints are displayed just a couple metres apart, and were installed under the cement arches of the Bank Street Bridge. Malloy said a trip to the Rideau Canal for skating and Beavertails is a family tradition, but the artwork is a new reason to stop.
Visiting from Toronto, Malloy’s brother Matthew said the public exhibit is something he wouldn’t normally get to see.
“People come to skate, but they get something else too,” he said. “They get to experience more culture.”
This is the first year the portraitgallery of Canada has displayed artwork on the Rideau Canal, said gallery spokesperson Stephane Vigneault.
“It’s really interesting for us,” he said, because the audience includes “people who might not necessarily visit art galleries.”
About 1.5 million people visit the Rideau Canal each winter. Vigneault said this exhibit is an opportunity to show the gallery’s collection in an interactive and “unexpected” setting.
The head-turning enlarged reproductions on exhibit include prints of former Prime Minister R.B. Bennett by Robert La Palme, Wayne Gretzky by Andy Warhol, and Mohawk chief Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow by John Verelst, among others.
Dr. Lilly Koltun, the gallery’s director, selected the portraits displayed on the skateway to be representative of Canadian culture and the gallery’s entire collection.
These prints are only a glimpse of the gallery’s more than 20,000 portraits. But they are currently among the only ones that people can visit. The gallery does not have a permanent home to show its exhibits.
The Conservative government announced it would abandon the original plan to relocate the gallery to the former location of the American embassy on Wellington Street after the estimated costs to renovate the building were too high.
The government has since invited Canadian cities to place bids to determine where the gallery will be located, in hopes that private sector involvement will reduce the costs.
Meanwhile, the portrait gallery has been looking for creative ways to keep their portraits in the public eye.
Kathryn Keyes, a spokesperson for the National Capital Commission, said she hopes this kind of alternative experience with art will continue in Ottawa in the coming years.
“I think it adds a little bit of ambience to the skateway,” said Keyes, “It’s a more contemplative activity which has been very well received.”
While Canadian cities are making proposals to decide the future home of the gallery, organizers plan to hold exhibits this spring at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Carleton University Art Gallery to continue sharing portraits with the public.
Ottawa residents say this is a good way to give Canadians more exposure to the arts, especially while the portrait gallery is relocating.
“I think it’s great to have art in non-traditional settings,” said Ottawa resident Anne Winship, “Bring the portraits to the people!”
The exhibit will be open until the Rideau Canal closes the skating season.