Projects
Studio Contact
Winnipeg Art Gallery Inuit Art Centre
The new building expansion will display, highlight, and celebrate the Gallery’s Inuit Art Collection. PUBLIC WORK collaborated with Michael Maltzan Architecture to establish the conceptual underpinnings of the public realm within the project to extend the experience of the art collection deeper into the city.
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Location
Winnipeg, MB
Scope of Work
Concept and Schematic Design of Vault Plaza
Project Size
0.5ac urban plaza
Role
Landscape Architecture
Client
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Collaborators
Michael Maltzan Architecture (Lead Consultant), Cibinel Architects (Architect of Record), Guy Nordenson and Associates (Structural), WSP (Engineering)
PUBLIC WORK Design Team
Marc Ryan, Gerardo Paez, Chester Rennie, Rémi van Durme

With a collection of nearly 12,000 works of Inuit art, the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) has had a long and continuous commitment to the research, exhibition, and publication of art by the Canadian Inuit. The first significant exhibition was organized in 1964 and, to date, over 160 exhibitions have been organized, more than 50 catalogues published, and immeasurable research provided in this field. The New Inuit Art Centre will be the largest exhibition gallery in Canada devoted to indigenous art and its art will be positioned at the heart of the institution. While many international museums have a collection in visible storage, none have made it the heart of the building. At the Inuit Art Centre, the vault is intended to function as an exhibition space on its own, the ultimate goal being to present the physical collection in a new, memorable way.

PUBLIC WORK served as landscape architect for the Michael Maltzan designed expansion of the WAG during the concept and schematic design phases of the project. Our design focus gave emphasis on defining the new ‘Vault Plaza’ as the immersive heart of the new addition. The public space was conceived to reinforce the vision of the architecture and extend the experience of the collection deeper into the city by establishing powerful contextual linkages beyond the boundaries of the gallery walls to engage the plaza, streetscape, and Provincial Legislature grounds beyond. The Vault Plaza is nestled underneath the mass of the new Inuit Art Centre addition, open to the public. A central idea within the schematic plaza design was to bring contact with the art even closer to the public. The position of the vault within the plaza created a surprising and distinct moment of connection with the collection – establishing the first open-air art experience at WAG within the public realm. That this exciting ‘first glimpse’ of the Inuit artifacts within the vault happens outside in the landscape, was proposed as a turning point for the WAG’s new outreach and position in relation to the city.