the heart of a community As an artist and audience-centered institution, we, at KWAG, begin the new year with a continued commitment to our community. By embracing art as a means to engage our imaginations, challenge our perceptions, and inspire change, the Gallery, together with creatives across... Read More
The KWAG Blog
Like many art museums, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery cares for a Permanent Collection of artworks that has been gathering and growing since our first acquisitions in 1957. Through generous donations and thoughtful purchases, KWAG has been steadily adding artworks to our Collection for all but... Read More
Earlier today, the Province of Ontario ordered a province-wide lockdown of all non-essential businesses in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. This lockdown takes effect at 12:01 am on Saturday 26 December. Based on this directive and out of an abundance of concern for the... Read More
It has been over six months since the Gallery closed in mid-March due to COVID-19, and over three months since we reopened in mid-June. During this challenging time, art museums have had to re-calibrate their purpose and find new ways to reach their audiences. For the team at KWAG, this has meant... Read More
While few among us can imagine any hint of international travel in this unusual summer, one work of art in our Permanent Collection has gone abroad for a special journey to the 11 th Berlin Biennale . Shuvinai Ashoona’s Composition (Clock) (2014) left the Gallery last month to begin its journey... Read More
At at time when COVID-19 prevented our usual public gatherings, KWAG hosted its first virtual Curators Talk on Wednesday 24 June to introduce the curators and ideas behind Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts . Moderated by KWAG Senior Curator Crystal Mowry, this conversation hosted on Zoom and... Read More
Watching multiple incidents of deadly violence against Black people unfold before our eyes – Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Regis Korchinski-Paquet – and the protests that have erupted in response, has left us feeling distraught, aghast and angry. Systemic racial... Read More
This week has been a quietly momentous one at the Gallery as staff have returned to their newly-distanced desks – many for the first time in three long months – and collectively taken on the many tasks of preparing the Gallery for a safe reopening. As we welcome a new season with our featured... Read More
Earlier this week, the Province of Ontario announced a regional approach to Stage 2 of reopening businesses, which includes those operating in the Region of Waterloo. Under Stage 2, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery is now permitted to reopen to the public , with restrictions in place to ensure... Read More
As a public art gallery, one of KWAG’s core purposes is to steward our Permanent Collection, which now numbers over 4300 works of art that we retain for present and future generations. That duty of care goes largely unseen in the racks and rooms where artworks are safeguarded from the elements, but... Read More