Inuit Art Centre at Winnipeg Art Gallery gets $15 million in federal funding

Ottawa has committed $15 million to the project that will house the largest collection of Inuit art in the world. (Photo: Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Facebook page)

WINNIPEG – The Inuit Art Centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery has received a substantial boost from the federal government.

Ottawa has committed $15 million to the project that will house the largest collection of Inuit art in the world.

The entire project is slated to cost about $65 million and the four-storey building adjacent to the WAG is expected to open some time in 2019.

CEO Stephen Borys says they are still waiting to hear back from the new provincial government of Premier Brian Pallister as to what their commitment will be.

Borys adds that while the roots of the project are in Winnipeg, it will have an impact across the country.

He says the collection is truly international in scope, and its impact will have a great effect.

The City of Winnipeg has also pledged $5-million to the project. It will include exhibition spaces, art studios, classrooms and a two-level interactive presentation theatre.