Canadian Portrait Gallery

So, the Canadian National Portrait Gallery has been indefinitely cancelled.

Conan O’Brien even mentioned it on his late night show, saying that if we had such a gallery it would be filled with Gretzky portraits. While this made me giggle a little, I am feeling pretty blue that this project got silently scrapped by our current federal government.

I have travelled little bits in my life. I have been fortunate to catch the Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery in London two times. It is a true reflection of the best contemporary portrait painting in the world. See the gallery of the 2008 winners.

Wouldn’t it be grand if that kind of art had a place to be on display in Canada? Or, if we had a space for our own portraits of people would live? I wish we were growing these things in Canada, despite the economic crisis. It seems that their is never a convenient or appropriate time to spend dollars on arts & culture.

As an artist and people lover I am inspired by the study of human form and expression. We’d all be enriched and impacted by this space not just because it is a building filled with art but because we are taking an active role to preserve and respect our history.

Here is an article on Drawn discussing the same issue. Art threat has decided to create a Stephen Harper Portrait Gallery and are offering a chance to win fame and riches! Find out more here.

(Above is a Harper portrait done by my husband, Dana. Its a take from Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster, but with our Canadian prime minister, see some of Fairey’s work here)