An astronaut, an author and an architect were just a few of the famous folks to participate in a new exhibit, Ottawa Selects, that invited high-profile individuals to choose their favourite piece of art from the Ottawa Art Gallery’s Firestone Collection of Canadian Art.
Several of the participants turned out for a reception hosted Thursday at the OAG Annex at City Hall to check out the new show. Acclaimed Ottawa-based architect Douglas Cardinal was there with his wife and 12-year-old daughter. Retired astronaut Steve MacLean, who’s a former Nepean boy, also attended and spoke to the crowd about his top pick, a 1969 Claude Picher painting, entitled Icebreaking — St. Lawrence River.
“This one spoke to me,” said MacLean, who was reminded of his first time flying over massive ice in Northwest Greenland, in the late ’80s, and witnessing a huge chunk of it fall off into the ocean. He saw the giant spray and subsequent waves but couldn’t hear the thunderous roar over the drone of the aircraft engine.
One of the chosen pieces for the select Firestone exhibit is Debacle de la glade (Icebreaking) by Claude Picher Courtesy Firestone Collection of Canadian Art
From left, renowned architect Douglas Cardinal and retired astronaut Steve MacLean were two of the high-profile Canadians to choose their favourite works of art from the Firestone Collection to appear in a new Ottawa Art Gallery exhibit.
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The painting always inspires MacLean to imagine the grinding and groaning sounds of ice, which he also viewed — seemingly motionless and silent — from outer space. He was drawn, too, to the colours and the image of the sun hanging low in the horizon.
As well, MacLean spoke about his positive experience of visiting the OAG’s hidden vaults to spend a morning with staff looking through the vast collection of Canadian art donated by the Firestone family.
“It was a great deal of fun,” he told the crowd. “It really was a special day. We started at nine and I left at 12, but I felt like I was there for five minutes.”
Trisha Owens from the Majic 100 Morning Show chose a 1958 Molly Bobak painting, Williams Lake, B.C.
Selections were also made by Mayor Jim Watson, author Charlotte Gray, sports businessman Jeff Hunt, chef Steve Mitton, radio host Trisha Owens, actress Anne-Marie Cadieux and Peter Tilley, executive director of The Ottawa Mission. The homeless shelter and the OAG are neighbours.
Tilley chose an untitled painting by Marcelle Ferron, who emerged as one of Quebec’s most important artists in the modern era. He was impressed by her involvement with Les Automatistes and their philosophies of spontaneity and freedom of expression. “It’s outside of my box, big time,” he said of the abstract work. “I’m more into the traditional paintings of old houses on streets and boats in the harbour.”
Alexandra Badzak, director and chief executive of the Ottawa Art Gallery, spoke to guests at a VIP reception held Thursday, February 26, 2015, at the OAG Annex at City Hall for the opening of its new exhibit, Ottawa Selects.
On hand for the opening were the gallery’s CEO, Alexandra Badzak, and the chair of its board, lawyer Lawson Hunter, both of whom are major players in the exciting expansion and renovation of the municipal art gallery. Once the project is completed, in 2017, Ottawa will finally have the kind of attractive, modern and adequate gallery space it’s been sorely lacking for years, the room heard.
“As I often say, the National Gallery is not a substitute for a local municipal gallery,” Hunter told the room. “We need to have our own institution that documents, that exhibits, that encourages the visual arts and activities of our city and our region.”
A fundraising campaign, expected to be publicly launched soon, is already making “very, very good progress,” said Hunter. “I’m very proud of what we’re doing and I’m absolutely determined and relentless to make this happen.”
Rideau-Vanier Ward Councillor Mathieu Fleury and Ottawa Art Gallery staff member Meredith Berriman pose at the OAG Annex.
From left, Leslie McKay chats with Brian Toller of Tolcor Investments Ltd. and his pscyhologist wife, Lorna Tener, on Thursday, February 26, 2015.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was seen chatting on Thursday, February 26, 2015, at the OAG Annex with Nepean-born retired astronaut Steve MacLean in front of a Claude Picher painting.
Ottawa Art Gallery board member Richard Roth, director of strategy for ArcelorMittal, with senior curator Catherine Sinclair (who’s expecting!), at the OAG Annex at City Hall on Thursday, February 26, 2015.
Lawson Hunter, chair of the Ottawa Art Gallery board, addressed guests at a VIP reception held Thursday, February 26, 2015, at the OAG Annex at City Hall.
Renowned Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal, seen with his wife, Idoia Arana-Beobide, and their daughter, Lorea Beobide-Cardinal, 12, chose a series of Lawren Harris drawings from the Firestone Collection to appear in a new exhibit that opened at the OAG Annex at City Hall on Thursday, February 26, 2015.
From left, Stephanie Germano, art rental and sales manager at the Ottawa Art Gallery, with Lilly Koltun at the opening reception for Ottawa Selects.
