Artists and cultural institutions of Québec are largely concentrated in Montreal; cultural exchanges between Québec artists and Canada and other countries are frequent. As a result, Montreal plays a critical role in artistic promotion and development in Québec. The city’s economic importance in Canada’s development is enriched year after year by successive waves of immigrants, and its vast array of striking architectural styles reflects a dynamic city open to the world.

In the early 20th century, Montreal’s busy port rivaled New York’s as the premier commercial port of North America, but an economic downturn in the mid 1980’s, especially in manufacturing, saw entire buildings closed and whole districts of the city abandoned for many years. Thankfully, a new appreciation of the irreplaceable value of our architectural (industrial) heritage took hold in recent years, making it possible—through a fortuitous combination of Quartier Ephémère’s vision, the cooperation of the City of Montreal and that of other public and private partnerships—to salvage the Darling Foundry and give the former metal-works building a new lease on life.

Although artistic enterprise generally thrives in Montreal, the visual arts can be said to be the poor cousin of cultural production. Few existing buildings are adaptable to today’s visual art practices, and fewer still permit visual artists to create, produce, and exhibit their work in one place. (There are some such mixed-use spaces for the theatre arts, however). The Méduse Centre in Québec city, and the Filature in Hull are two examples where working spaces and exhibition rooms have been successfully combined in Québec, but their limited number serve to highlight the need for similar centers in Montréal.

Over time, Quartier Ephémère was able to bring on board public decision-makers and private entrepreneurs by persuading them as to the necessity and desirability of its proposal for just such a visual arts centre in Montreal. The Darling Foundry Visual Arts Centre aims to be an alternative, professional complex devoted to visual artists and their supporters. Financial realities require it to proceed in 2 phases. The first phase, officially opened June 20, 2002, was conceived by the architects In Situ (www.insitu.qc.ca). On the leading edge in terms of preservation and innovation in design, they designed the reception area, QE’s offices, and the two public exhibition galleries. QE’s offices are upstairs, on the second floor, while the galleries and reception area are situated on the main floor.

The first gallery, at 500 m2, retains its strong industrial character and reflects In Situ’s approach whereby the art displayed within the gallery must interact with its surroundings. The second gallery, much smaller at 180 m2, is more traditional, allowing the works to take center stage in the space.

Also located strategically on the main floor is Cluny artbar. With about 500 clients a week, the restaurant brings greater visibility to QE’s exhibits, while at the same time exposing, incidentally, a diverse clientele to modern art. Even where restaurant patrons may not be particularly receptive to the exhibitions on show, they are inevitably brought into closer contact with art and therefore cultural consciousness grows with the exposure. In this way, the restaurant creates a link between QE, the artists, and the people who work in Multimedia City, while offering them all a comfortable place to meet, eat, and interact.

Phase 2, adjacent to Phase 1, provided artists with studios in which to create their works, along with production workshops to assist them in their creation. Phase 2 was implemented under the able direction of the environmental architectural firm, “L’Oeuf.” Desnoyer Mercure was overseeing the construction and renovation work. Phase 2 contains ten separate artists studios, two residential studios for visiting artists, and five production workshops, all of which encourage even more interaction between artists and add to the cultural dynamic of the Art Centre.