New Inuit Art Centre to bring the Arctic to Winnipeg

Sustainable and welcoming are two tenets of the $60 million Inuit Art Centre slated for downtown Winnipeg, says Stephen Borys director and CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

In a recent tour, Borys showed the CBC's Janet Stewart how the new gallery will transport the Arctic to downtown Winnipeg through architecture and, of course, the work of Inuit artists. 

The province of Manitoba promised on Friday to contribute $15 million to the project, $30 million has already been collected in private donations to help fund the new four-level, 40,000-square-foot centre.

Winnipeg is home to the world's largest collection of Inuit art, with more than 13,000 pieces in the Winnipeg Art Gallery's collection. Most of the pieces, which include textiles, sculptures and paintings, are currently housed at the gallery's vault. The goal of the new art centre, is to put the collection on display for the public to see, said Borys.

Construction is planned to begin at the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017 and expected to be completed in two years. 

• Nunavut's art collection heading to the Winnipeg Art Gallery

• Manitoba announces $15M for Inuit Art Centre at Winnipeg Art Gallery

A tour of the WAG's Inuit Art collection

9 years ago

Duration 3:57

Darlene Coward Wight, the Winnipeg Art Gallery's Curator of Inuit Art, shows CBC's Janet Stewart artifacts the in basement vaults few people ever get to see.