$1 Million Gift to Inuit Art Centre

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Mrs. Louise Leatherdale stands with Elias Semigak's "Dancing Bear," 2014 after announcing a gift of $1 million to the Winnipeg Art Gallery's Inuit Art Centre on behalf of herself and her late husband, Doug Leatherdale.

Doug and Louise Leatherdale have donated $1 million for the Inuit Art Centre under construction in Winnipeg.

A gallery in the new building, next to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, will be named in their honour.

"We are thrilled to see the centre act as a catalyst for promoting and raising awareness of Inuit art, artists and culture to a much wider national and global audience," says Louise.

Doug, born in Morden, Man., attended United College, now the University of Winnipeg, before moving to Minnesota and serving as CEO of the St. Paul Companies. He died in 2015. Louise graduated from Indiana University and taught elementary math and science for many years before working in marketing for United Heathcare. Together, they started Leatherdale Farms, a Hanoverian horse farm west of Minneapolis.

The new $65-million centre will house the world's largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art with more than 13,000 carvings, drawings, prints, textiles and new media works.

The 40,000-square-foot, four-storey building includes a glass enclosed visible art vault, a conservation facility, art studios, an interactive theatre and classrooms.

It's expected to open in 2020, Manitoba’s 150th anniversary.

Source: Winnipeg Art Gallery