2025 Acquisitions: Purchases 

Focused on the work of historical and contemporary artists who have contributed to the artistic life of the Ottawa-Gatineau region, our Permanent Collection is an essential part of the OAG’s activities. We are excited to look back and share a roundup of our 2025 purchases, and the ways in which these works help to enrich our Collection. 

We’re thrilled to share that we made three exciting purchases in 2025! 

The OAG purchased Annieville Dyke Revisited, a powerful piece by Ottawa-based artist Norman Takeuchi. Previously featured in OAG’s 2023 exhibition The Shapes In Between: Norman Takeuchi, this work depicts imagery of Annieville Dyke on the Fraser River, which was the site of the iconic photo of fishing boats impounded by the Royal Canadian Navy in December 1941.  

Purchased from de Montigny Contemporary with the generous support of the Stonecroft Foundation, as well as the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program, a program of the Gordon Foundation and administered by the Ontario Arts Foundation, this piece is representative of Takeuchi’s work that engages with the history and legacy of the Japanese-Canadian Internment that took place during and after WWII (1942-1949). Juxtaposing the artist’s signature abstract forms, archival imagery of the Japanese Canadian experience, and Japanese art historical motifs, this purchase expands the scope of his career represented in our holdings as well as the first that was purchased. 

In 2025, the OAG also purchased a work by multidisciplinary artist Chun Hua Catherine Dong from their photographic series Unmask Opera (2023). Previously exhibited in OAG’s 2024 exhibition Through the Ground Glass: Reframing William James Topley, work from this series present self-portraits that deconstructs sexism and cultural appropriation through the transformative power of performance. Created in response to a Victorian photograph taken by historical Ottawa photographer William James Topley, depicting William Allan in Chinese costume, Dong travelled to China to stage these photographs in which she wears the original Beijing opera costumes. By putting on this clothing, she reinvents history and unmasks racial and gender stereotypes. This purchase represents the first work by Dong to enter the collection.    

Additionally, in 2025, the OAG purchased Algae Specimens, a sculpture by Ottawa-based artist Cindy Stelmackowich. In this work, pages from texts related to the natural sciences, including botany, are repurposed to create sculptures, which are then presented to the viewer as specimens. Offered up in bell jars for study and contemplation, the pieces are presented as they might appear in a laboratory setting, displayed on a vintage medical table. Previously displayed in the OAG’s inaugural exhibition in 2018, this work represents the tenth work by Stelmackowich to enter the collection.