A Message from Alexandra Badzak

As Ottawa marks its 200th anniversary, we at the Ottawa Art Gallery have been thinking deeply about what it means to tell the story of a city.

Of course, Ottawa’s story did not begin 200 years ago. We live and work on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation, whose presence, culture and creativity are fundamental to understanding this place—past, present and future.

For OAG, this anniversary has been an opportunity not simply to look back, but to ask: Who are we now, and what stories will we carry forward?

This fall, that question comes alive in extraordinary ways.

Our Arts Corridor culminates with 15 major public artworks installed in three phases across the downtown—bringing the work of Pascale Arpin, Jimmy Baptiste, Simon Brascoupé, Jordan Bennett, Eric Chan, Emilie Darlington, Caroline Monnet, Meryl McMaster, Rich Loen, Sam Loewen, Pony, Peter Owusu-Ansah, Norman Takeuchi, Ryan Stec, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Lucas Verreman into the public realm. Realizing a project of this scale has meant working across jurisdictions, institutions and property lines with an extraordinary network of public and private partners. Together, we are demonstrating what can happen when we treat art as part of the fabric of our city.

Inside OAG, Frame by Frame: Animation in Ottawa, created with the Ottawa International Animation Festival as it celebrates its 50th anniversary and in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, tells another remarkable Ottawa story. Spanning more than 80 years, it reveals a city that has quietly become an important centre for animation—where artists, filmmakers, researchers, studios and institutions have pushed the medium from the experimental to the wonderfully strange and deeply human.

And during the anniversary weekend, OAG and the National Arts Centre will illuminate our buildings simultaneously for the first time with a new commission by Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabeg artist and writer Jay Odjick. Exploring Anishinaabe presence and continuity in the region since time immemorial, the work offers a powerful reminder that commemorating Ottawa’s history must also mean understanding the much longer history—and living culture—of the territory upon which the city stands.

And it all comes together on Saturday, September 26, when the downtown becomes a connected celebration of art, culture and public space. From the Ottawa 200 Block Party at City Hall and SoundScape under the Plaza Bridge, to Nuit Blanche in the ByWard Market; from newly commissioned animations lighting up digital screens along Rideau Street, to animation workshops and a free edition of Pique at OAG and Arts Court—the invitation is to move through the city, encounter something unexpected, and experience our downtown in a new way. OAG is proud to be part of this extraordinary collective effort, alongside artists, cultural organizations and partners across the core, to make creativity visible, accessible and alive in the streets of Ottawa.
So this September, I invite you to join us. Come to OAG, walk the Arts Corridor, encounter art in unexpected places, and explore a downtown alive with creativity.

Alexandra Badzak
Director and CEO