Often when I visit museums and galleries in Canada, the United States, and abroad, I search for a guidebook or catalogue that offers an overview of the institution and its collection. These publications are not just useful during the visit, they also serve as an excellent resource before and after the trip. Many times after I’ve visited a museum, I have returned to the guide to search out a painting or sculpture or to reminisce about the experience. Since my arrival at the WAG in 2008, I have wanted to produce a similar book of the WAG’s collections for our visitors. So I am very pleased to announce that this spring we are launching a new publication, Winnipeg Art Gallery: Guide to the Collections. Many useful handbooks and catalogues on the various WAG collections have been published over the years, but this is the first volume to provide an overview of all the collecting areas that have come to define Canada’s oldest civic art museum.

The new Guide presents over 400 works from the WAG’s permanent collection, with each object illustrated in colour and accompanied by an extended text. Represented in this 275-page book are artworks spanning ten centuries and featuring a range of media selected from the Gallery’s holdings in European, Canadian, and Inuit art, works on paper, photography, decorative arts, and contemporary studio. Included in the Guide is an illustrated essay on the history of the WAG and a bibliography of selected Gallery publications.

The Guide represents a Gallery-wide collaboration that drew on the expertise and assistance of staff from every department. Beyond the dedicated efforts of our staff, the publication would not have been possible without the lead sponsorships of the Volunteer Associates of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Winnipeg Art Gallery Foundation, The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, and The Winnipeg Foundation. Additional gifts from Robinson Lighting and B.A. Robinson Co. Ltd, , and a directed bequest from the estate of Elsie C. Nesbitt supported the project.

Linked directly to the new Guide is the long-term display of selections from our permanent collection. On view in galleries 1, 2, 3, and 4 are works from the European, Canadian, and Inuit collections. Featured here are paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and decorative arts dating from 1500 to 1950. Many of these pieces are included in the Guide, one more reason for you to visit the galleries again and pick up a copy of this valuable book in the Gallery Shop.

Winnipeg Art Gallery: Guide to the Collections will be launched on April 29 at the public opening of the exhibiton Andrew Qappik: Pangnirtung Memories.