Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

The art museum was founded as the Nova Scotia Museum of Fine Arts in 1908, in order to house the 200 works of the Crown of Nova Scotia.[4][5] It was renamed the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 1975.[4] During the museum's early history, the museum's collection, and its exhibits, moved between several locations, including at one point, in the gunpowder magazine of Citadel Hill.[5]

Access point to the museum at the Dominion building. The museum moved into the building in 1988.

In 1988, the museum moved to the Dominion Building,[5] opened in 1867 and designed by architects David Stirling and William Hay. The museum expanded its building in 1998 to include two floors of the Provincial Building located just to the south of Dominion Building.[4][5] The two structures are separated by Ondaatje Court, a public space that besides being used for temporary exhibitions, contains several large permanent sculptures. Underneath the courtyard is a large underground exhibition room which connects the two buildings. During the building expansion, work was done to accommodate the home of Maud Lewis into the museum building.[5] Following that expansion, the museum's complex has 6,200 square metres (67,000 sq ft) of space, although only 19,500 square feet (1,810 m²) of it is used as exhibition space.[6]

In 1999, plans were announced by the Government of Nova Scotia to built a satellite branch of the museum in southwestern Nova Scotia.[7] On the 28 May 2006, the institution opened a satellite branch of the museum in Yarmouth, a municipality in southwest Nova Scotia.[8] The satellite branch, branded as the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Western Branch, provides additional exhibition space to exhibit works from the museum's permanent collection.[8] The satellite branch building is housed in a former Royal Bank of Canada building built in 1913, and required renovations to expand its floor space by 900 square metres (9,700 sq ft).[7]

In 2008, the museum published a report that recommended the construction of a new museum building, citing its present downtown building as "seriously inadequate".[9] The museum's administration also noted that the building's lack of climate control, and the region's weather has also made it difficult to preserve works at the location.[9]

In March 2018, a feasibility study was completed that recommended that the museum, along with the post-secondary art school, NSCAD University, move to a new "cultural hub".[10] However, when the museum announced its plans to build a 13,000 square metres (140,000 sq ft) building in April 2019, it did not include joint-facilities with the art school. The proposed building was located at Bishop's Landing, bounded by Lower Water Street, Salter Street, and the Halifax Boardwalk.[11] The cost to build the building is estimated to range between C$130 million to C$140 million, with the majority of it paid by the provincial government.[11] The provincial government has committed C$80 million, while the Government of Canada committed C$30 million.[11] In addition to government funds, the museum has been tasked with raising C$30 million from public and private donors for the construction of the new building.[11]

The restored Maud Lewis Home on display at the museum

As of March 2019, the museum had over 18,000 works in its permanent collection.[12] More than 2,000 Nova Scotian, Canadian, and other non-Canadian artists have works in the museum's permanent collection.[13] Acquisitions for the museum's permanent collection are reviewed by the museum's Curatorial Committee, which includes curatorial and conservation staff; before being assessed by the museum's direct, Chief Curator, and the Curator of Collections.[14] Further approval is then required from the museum's Acquisition Committee, made up of local artists, community members, and members of the museum's Board of Governors, before it is presented to the Board of Goverors itself for final approval.[14]

As of June 2017, the museum had 55 works by Maud Lewis,[15] making the museum's collection the world's largest public collection of works by her.[16] The works are exhibited at the Maud Lewis exhibit, and is the most visited exhibition space in the museum according to the institution.[16] In addition to works by Lewis, the museum's collection also includes her house. Lewis's house was purchased by the Government of Nova Scotia after her death.[17] In 1996, the museum took possession of the home, moving the small building into its Maud Lewis exhibit, along with some restoration work.[18]

In June 2013, the museum acquired a collection of 2,070 images by photographer Annie Leibovitz in June 2013.[19][20] The Leibovitz collection was donated to the museum by the Mintz family, after they acquired it for C$4.7 million.[20] It includes 1,307 editioned prints, and 763 vintage file prints, with the earliest image dating to 1983.[19] However, while the museum maintains ownership of the collection, its copyright is still held by the artist, pending a payment dispute between the donors, certification board, and artist.[20][21]

The museum's collection also features works from a number of First Nations artists, including Kent Monkman.[22] Miss Chief's Wet Dream, a 3.5 by 7 metres (11 by 23 ft) acrylic-on-canvas painting by Monkman, is among the largest works in the museum's permanent collection.[22]

• List of art museums
• List of museums in Nova Scotia
• List of oldest buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia

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