New Additions to the Collection

Also joining the collection are Lita Fontaine’s stunning Purple Sweetgrass painting and Pink Tipi print, which were featured in her solo exhibition, Winyan in 2024. Both arise from a body of work created during the pandemic, as a result to global, familial, and personal grief. Purple Sweetgrass (2023) is a collage, or montage, of found objects, paint, and glue on wood panel. Similar to the process of beading, the symmetrical, and intentional arrangement of found objects and dots of paint on the wood panel reveals the long, meditative process undertaken by Fontaine to create medicine meant to be shared. Purple Sweetgrass can be seen on the side of a historic building across from the Gallery at Memorial Blvd and St. Mary Ave, thanks to our partnership with Sussex Realty.

The collection was further bolstered with Portrait of Miss Julia Hopwood (1770) by Francis Cotes, a notable English portrait painter of the 18th century. A pioneer of English pastel drawing, Cotes achieved significant commercial success from his oil portraits and was a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768. Portrait of Miss Julia Hopwood is an excellent example of the influential Grand Manner style and the Golden Age of British portraiture. As the first work by Cotes to enter the WAG-Qaumajuq collection, it gives the collection better breadth and depth in speaking to Canada’s British art-making lineages.

Another familiar addition is Ekene Emeka Maduka’s Morning Assembly, which appeared in recent exhibitions Disorientations and a matter of time. You can watch this video with the artist explaining more about her work. This large oil painting, along with Mohamoud’s photographs, strengthens the Gallery’s growing representation of Black artists in the collection.

Several works by Michelle Sound and Dana Claxton were acquired, which are currently on view in Reframed. We added birchbark biting pieces by Angelique Merasty and beadwork by Paige Miswagon, increasing the representation of First Nations artists in the collection – an important priority as we continue to address areas that have historically been underrepresented.

Rounding out this year’s new class of acquisitions are a number of Inuit carvings and wall-hangings, including works by Omalluq Oshutsiaq, whose drawings are currently on view in Giizhig in Qaumajuq; and Embossed Bird by Abraham Anghik Ruben. You can experience a retrospective of Ruben’s remarkable work in Qaumajuq’s soaring Qilak gallery.

Thank you for helping enrich the WAG-Qaumajuq permanent collection for everyone in the community. Each work adds a new perspective and story, helping ensure that these remarkable windows to the world continue to inspire and educate now and for future generations.

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