Galleries: The art that you (Ottawa residents) bought this year
An exhibition of new acquisitions by the City Hall opens Dec. 18.
December brings the annual display of new works of art that were acquired — purchased, donated or commissioned — by the City of Ottawa this year. It’s the 40th anniversary of the city’s Public Arts Program, and this year’s acquisitions include 47 works by 41 local and international artists. (See a complete list of artists at bottom of post.)
Not all of the new works are necessarily included in the annual show, and as there is no theme to the exhibition beyond having been recently acquired, it is always an eclectic display, with many styles and media.
The official opening is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18. It’s after office hours, so enter city hall via the Laurier Avenue entrance. Speeches are at 6 p.m. This is open to the public and admission is free.
Below you can see a few of the new works …
I’m a great admirer of the work of Meryl McMaster. Her works are beautiful and evocative. (We have one on our living room wall.) The city’s latest acquisition of McMaster is a digital video, nipēhtēnān kiteh | We Can Hear Your Heartbeat, 2023, 10:31 min.
Nevisandeh, 2021, digital print on paper, 21 x 28 cm, by Shahla Bahrami.
Fatherly Love, 2024, digital print on paper, 91 x 61 cm, by the artist Oladimeg.
Ăn Nắng (Eating Sunlight), 2023, oil on canvas, 91 x 91 cm, by Martin Vuong.
Réappropriation 2, 2024, oil on canvas, 91 x 76 cm, by Heritier Bilaka. If you’ve been to the Beaverbrook Gallery in Fredericton, N.B. this may remind you of Santiago El Grande, the massive and magnificent painting there by Salvador Dali. Though the subject matter and scale are different, Bilaka’s painting is reminiscent of Dali’s verticality and blue sky background and almost overwhelming sense of dramatic power. (See the Dali painting by clicking here.)
Here’s the complete list of artists whose works were acquired by the City of Ottawa in 2025. Some of the artists will be finding their place in the city collection for the first time.
Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman
Sarah Anderson
Shahla Bahrami
Julie Beauchemin
Heritier Bilaka
Pixie Cram
Tony Fouhse
Jean Christian Furaha Ishimwe
Mark Garland
Martin Golland
James Hewitt
Greg A. Hill
Noah Greyson Holub
Jason Bruges Studio
Jennifer Anne Kelly
Peter Kohut
Don Kwan
Barb Lougheed
Natasha Mazurka
Penny McCann
Meryl McMaster
Lauren Mercer-Smail
Shawn Moreton
Judy Nakagawa
Linh VH Nguyen
Kate Oakley
Ramona Ramlochand
Michael Ricco
Erin Robertson
Sally Lee Sheeks
Jane Spencer
Ruth Steinberg
Erin Szturm
Katherine Takpannie
Amy Thompson
Cara Tierney
Sarah Tompkins
Yvon Villarceau
Martin Vuong
Jian Zhang
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