Established Opening 2017 Website www.remaimodern.org Director Gregory Burke | Type Art museum Province Saskatchewan | |
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Location Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Address 950 Spadina Crescent E, Saskatoon, SK S7K 6P8, Canada Similar Mendel Art Gallery, Remai Arts Centre, Wanuskewin Heritage Park, TCU Place, Traffic Bridge Profiles | ||
Remai Modern is a public art museum set to open in 2017 in Saskatoon, Canada. The $80.2-million, 11,582-square-metre museum, plus $19.5-million underground parkade, is located at River Landing, on the west bank of the South Saskatchewan River. The project is supported by the City of Saskatoon, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Canada. The design, by Canadian architectural firm KPMB (Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects) and Smith Carter Architects and Engineers, won the 2011 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence.
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History
In 2011, lead patron Ellen Remai donated $15 million toward construction costs, $15 million to support international exhibition programs and also donated the most comprehensive collection of Picasso linocuts, valued at $20 million, to the gallery’s permanent collection. Remai Modern follows the closure of the Mendel Art Gallery, and will house its collection of over 7,700 artworks. The Mendel Art Gallery, founded in 1964, is set to close in June 2015. One of the galleries in the new building, as well as an annual international lecture series, will be named in honour of the Mendel Art Gallery and its founder Frederick (Fred) Salomon Mendel and family.
The inaugural director and CEO of the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, Gregory Burke, was appointed in 2013. On September 17, 2014, philanthropist and European printmaking specialist Frederick Mulder announced, on behalf of U.K.-based Frederick Mulder Foundation, the gift of a collection of 23 Picasso ceramics to Remai Modern.
Prelaunch
Prior to the 2016 launch Remai Modern is presenting a pre-launch program to foster future programming for the museum. This includes Museum 3.0, a series of public programs and events as well as SUPERCOMMUNITY an editorial project by e-flux journal commissioned for the 56th Venice Biennale by Okwui Enwezor. According to the Canadian Art Foundation, "Selected participants from the May to August run of the Biennale project will participate in a symposium to take place in Saskatoon in Fall 2015."
Controversy
In December 2015, local artists submitted a letter to the Remai Modern's board requesting the removal of board member, John Gormley. In the letter, the artists referred to a tweet made by Gormley suggesting violence against Muslims in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks carried out earlier that year. Gormley remained on the board while an independent third party review was performed. In January 2016, the third-party review found Gormley was not in breach of the Remai Modern's code of conduct, and Gormley remains a "director in good standing".