Audain Gifts $100 Million for new Vancouver Art Gallery

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Rendering of the exterior of the new Vancouver Art Gallery building (© Herzog & de Meuron.)

The Audain Foundation is donating $100 million to help construct the Vancouver Art Gallery’s new building in what is being billed as the largest single cash gift to an art gallery in Canadian history.

“We hope the splendid new building will work well to exhibit the work of our leading artists as well as introduce youngsters to the wonders of art,” Michael Audain, the foundation's chairman, said Thursday.

The new building, downtown between between Cambie and Beatty streets, will increase the existing exhibition space and also act as a multi-function art centre and community space. It is expected to cost $400 million. No date for the start of construction was announced.

Anthony Kiendl, the gallery's director, said an additional $160 million now needs to be raised from private and public sources.

“We hope this historic donation will encourage others in our community and across the country to support our vision,” he said. 

“Art galleries foster society’s capacity to solve problems by engaging the visitors’ ability to think creatively and see the world in different ways,” he said. “We are building capacity for future generations to be resilient, creative and healthy.”

The donation comes atop a $40-million gift from the Chan Family Foundation and an initial investment of $50 million by the provincial government. The City of Vancouver’s pledge to designate a city-owned site is valued at over $100 million. In addition, $50 million has been promised by individual donors and foundations.

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron are designing the 300,000-square-foot building with Vancouver architects Perkins & Will to be environmentally sustainable. The new building is expected to be the first Passive House art gallery in North America, a voluntary standard for energy efficiency that significantly reduces the ecological footprint.

The gallery, located on the ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, has worked with Indigenous artists to develop the exterior facade design that includes a copper-coloured metallic weave that evokes a traditional shawl or basket.

“The new Vancouver Art Gallery – from its conception and design – will reflect a Coast Salish world view,” says Vancouver Art Gallery Elder-in-residence Skwetsimeltxw Willard ‘Buddy’ Joseph, who has been engaged as a project and design consultant since March, along with Debra Sparrow, Chepximiya Siyam’ Janice George and Angela George.

“The rich exterior expression is much more than a design,” says Joseph. “It represents spiritual energy and protection.”

The gallery will include some 80,000 square feet of exhibition space, more than double the existing amount. It also includes a theatre, a library and research centre, artist studios, accommodation for visiting artists and a visual arts preschool and daycare. The building will house the Institute of Asian Art, a new centre for art and communication, and a multi-purpose Indigenous community house.

Source: Vancouver Art Gallery