Manitoba Inuit Association Joins WAG on Memorial Boulevard

Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 1, 2015: The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is pleased to welcome Manitoba Inuit Association (MIA) to the corner of Memorial Boulevard and St. Mary Avenue. With its new location in the WAG Studio building, MIA shares more than just a space with the WAG. The two partner organizations have collaborated on numerous projects to celebrate Inuit art and culture, a relationship that will only be strengthened with new initiatives.

Previously located on Ellice Avenue, MIA enhances the lives of Inuit in the province by promoting Inuit values, community, and culture, while connecting Inuit to services that meet their evolving needs. Inuit culture and communities are also at the heart of the WAG, which holds in trust the world’s largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art. With more than 13,000 pieces, the collection is key to the WAG’s mission to drive learning, discovery, and inspiration through art.

“The Winnipeg Art Gallery is thrilled to welcome Manitoba Inuit Association,” comments Dr. Stephen Borys, WAG Director & CEO. “The WAG is committed to Inuit and the Arctic through our collection and in the development of the Inuit Art Centre, as a centre of engagement and inspiration through exhibition, research, education and art-making. This move will support our efforts to increase the conversation around Inuit culture and promote education and understanding by building partnerships and programming.”

“Our dynamic partnership and collaborations over the years has manifested into the recent move of Manitoba Inuit Association offices into the Winnipeg Art Gallery,” comments Rachel Dutton, MIA Executive Director. “The co-location embodies the spirit in which our two organizations work together to raise the profile of Inuit in this province and across Canada and we have found a creative platform that demonstrates how art and education connects Inuit to their culture and ancestral history in a tangible way, but it also connects non-Inuit to this experience that contributes to the dialogue of reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.”

The WAG and MIA have a strong background of joint projects, ranging from The Legend of Kiviuq puppet show to the WAG-Baker Lake Dialogue, an artistic exchange with Bill Eakin and artists from Northern communities, to connecting Manitoba Inuit artists to buyers and supporters.

Learn more about Manitoba Inuit Association at manitobainuit.ca and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. For the latest WAG news, visit wag.ca and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Catherine Maksymiuk
Manager, Media & Marketing
Winnipeg Art Gallery
204.789.1767
Media-Manager@wag.ca

Rachel Dutton
Executive Director
Manitoba Inuit Association
204.774.6848
rachel.dutton@manitobainuit.ca

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